Midguard Troy

Recently I had a quick work trip back to Oz and caught up with a few of the lads when club mate Gav treated me to a demo game of Midguard, set in the Trojan Wars era.

Patroclus challenges Glaucos!

Really enjoyed the rules and the way that heroes are at the forefront of decision making. Their inspiration (or lack of) can make decisive impact both immediately overall to Force morale.  Particularly apt for Homeric warfare but equally at home in Dark or Middle Ages.

Ajax the Mighty surveils the field!

Sarpedon and his Lycan Warriors

6 players with lots of figs and the game system didnt struggle 

Interesting to see mechanics from many sets of rules (like 

Lion Rampant and SAGA) which meant these felt rather familiar

Greek and Trojan Chariots and light Cavalry clash on the flank

Definitely want to play these rules again!

Achilles Rampant! Farewell to the Lad

Reilly is leaving home very shortly and moving to the Australian State of Queensland (thats 2000kms away) so the club fellahs got together for a big bash game last weekend.  In keeping with his favourite genre it was Trojan War, and 10 mates fought it out before the gates of Troy.  

The 15 foot table was graced with some 30 chariots, 27 horse and 540 foot troops, all in 28mm - looked very impressive

My Trojan line, led by Hector, gets ready to defend their beloved Polis

Oh mighty Zeus give us your blessing this day!

The game was setup with a large swirling chariot and cavalry action on one flank, a broadly open plain for an infantry battle in the centre, and a broken area on the other flank on the banks of the Scamander River.  Here are a selection of pics from the phrenetic, loud and exceptional fun that followed!

The Lad in the centre -playing Achilles naturally! (Yes, I had Hector!)

Crafty Odysseus and his men capture the golden fleece!

Achilles and the Myrmidon seek Hector at the Temple of Apollo

Patroclus advances, seeking his Glory

Paris is Slain by the Greeks, who 

Achilles flanks the main Trojan line

Hector find Patroclus in the centre of the battlefield and challenges him to a duel

...and takes him down!

...followed by an enraged Achilles challenging Hector

Here is the live action of the Duel (5&6s hit- highest wins)

Achilles defeats Hector - Historical Outcome!

What is it with all this defilement by Chariot today!

So with Hector fallen, the Greeks won the day in the end - thanks very much indeed to the guys for coming along to farewell Reilly. He had a blast and we went home to watch the movie Troy (over a few beers of course)!

Rules notes

We used Lion Rampant rules with a few significant modifications, to make the game flow better with so many platers and 60 odd units (!) on the table;.

- Everyone had 6 units, and while they were slightly different to one another, the 5 pairs of players facing one another had identical forces

- Units activation was by "Chit pull" with the Umpire (aka Gav aka Zeus) randomly pulling from 6 Trojan and 6 Greek tokens from a bag Bolt Action style, with everyone on the side indicated attempting to activate a unit of their choice, keeping everyone involved in the action.

- Each Player had a major Hero from the Odyssey: Menolaus faced Paris, Ajax faced Sarpedon, Odysseus faced Aeneas... and Reilly played Achilles facing off against me with Hector, naturally. Each character led a 12 man Foot Companion unit and added their Hero dice to the attack score of their units (eg Odysseus 3 dice, Hector 5 etc)

    For extra authenticity, Achilles was a Level 4 hero, unless Patroclus had been slain - at which time he became a 6!

- VP wise each pair of players had a terrain objective to control at game end worth 3 VPs, and each major unit (not skirmishers) was worth 1 unit if destroyed. Heroes weere worth another 1-2 VPs.

- To reflect the fickle influence of the Gods, each player had rerolls equal to d6: 1=zero, 2-5= 1, 6 = 2... +1. So everyone had between 1 and 3 rerolls, to be used anytime during the game.

Battle of Troy

Battle before the Walls of Troy - Greeks attacking on the left, Trojans sally forth on the right

Awesome day at club mate Gav's this weekend (the day of Salute in fact) with a big 3 v 3 game on the plains before the gates of Troy.  We used his fantastic array of Bronze Age minis with some a home made adjustments to Lion Rampant, and much thematic mayhem was added through Homeric heroes, each with their own Missions - Achilles was after Hector, Menelaus was after Paris etc. 

Whom do you favour this day oh Mighty Apollo? (model by 1st Corps)

My forces arrayed on the Trojan left flank

Each player had about a 50 point warband so that was a lot of figures on the table - an impressive array of Redoubt, Foundry, Black Tree Design and Eureka Miniatures.

Mayhem and Glory in the centre around the Temple of Apollo and the sacred grove

And the game was played under the imposing wall of Troy itself (all resin), with the strange, large wooden Horse making an appearance also...

Gorgeously painted Myrmidons move up to attack the Temple of Apollo

King Menelaus of Sparta vanquishes Prince Paris

In the end the Greeks carried the day overall, with Menaleus punishing Paris for stealing his wife, and Achilles vanishing Hector for slaying Patroclus, and thus the Trojans retired to their city defences. But what was that large wooden Horse left upon the field???...

In the centre of the field Achilles slays Hector, after which the fight went out of the Trojan Army.

A fantastic game - lots of fun and cheering throughout (especially during the Achilles-Hector duelling). Thanks for the great camaraderie and hospitality chaps! It also got my juices flowing for my upcoming Mortal Gods project...