I have long held an interest in the period commonly called the "Dark Ages" (I prefer The Heroic Age) and have equally sought a rules set that, to my mind, would reflect combat in that age. Coming from the era of WRG dominance I first sought comfort in crushingly detailed rules (which often gave the gamer more detailed knowledge of the status of troops that any general of the era could hope for) before breaking with that idea with Tactica and then the unique Dark Ages Infantry Slog found in the original iteration of Wargames Illustrated. These both provided entirely different mechanisms and came closer to my goal but lacked the feeling that I got from reading the Viking Sagas and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Leaders were larger than life in those stories. Then along came SAGA.
SAGA promised much; leadership-driven combat, small units, a lot of characterization. I gave it a try, I wanted it to work, but walked away unsatisfied. Tiny units whizzing around the battlespace on their own, only one hero (in most cases), and the games looked nothing like the battles described in the chronicles of the era. Add to that I had to learn all of the "trick rules" that applied to my army AND all the trick rules of any potential opponent. Oh, and I hate custom dice.
Hail Caesar is great for large disciplined armies but simply doesn't cut it for Dark Ages. It has some good ideas and the neat special rules make it possible to customize units, but the leaders are bland. We tried for years but again were left unhappy.
Lion Rampant provided more unit types than SAGA and was dead simple to learn and play but ended up too "gamey" for my taste. I enjoyed it and still play from time to time but in no way assume that it has any semblance to historical combat.
Needless to say when I first spotted Midgard on the shelf at my local Brick & Mortar I didn't expect much. At first glance I wasn't particularly impressed. But, as I read more about it, I went back and picked up a copy. This seemed to have everything I was looking for. Leaders and Heroes figured large in every step of the game. The mechanics were simple to learn and made sense. Special rules allowed to customize both leaders and units. The morale system emphasized army cohesion and the importance of leaders being seen to lead from the front. All the best bits of the many prior rules sets seemed to have coalesced in this one book. I was intrigued.
Physically the rulebook is nicely presented in the standard "too many pretty pictures" method that has become common over the years. Solid covers, well-bound with study pages this volume will stand up to a good many years of use. Once into the rules you will discover a few things that should be standard; color-coded chapters, clear illustrations of rule mechanics, clearly written rules with a minimum of unnecessary "fluff" and, most of all, a comprehensive index. Add to this a quick-reference sheet that is color-coded to the chapter in the rules and which has the relevant pages of the rulebook noted next to the rule being quoted. The only thing missing in the presentation is the italicized rule highlighted and separated as is found in Flames of War rulebooks. A spiral-binding so that the book could lay flat would be nice but I'm afraid that I'm asking too much.
The rules themselves dictate that a standard unit size, actually a base size, be employed. The frontage of a unit is one "Spear Throw" which is the standard unit of measure throughout the game. I balked at this originally but, once I understood how the rules worked, I no longer had quarrels. Units have a Killing Zone directly to their front which enemy units cannot pass through unless attacking that unit or retiring from it, Examples of movement, and the restrictions on it, are well illustrated in numerous clear graphics and all make sense. Turns are played in an I-go/U-go manner with limited interaction by the non-phasing player.
Units and Heroes are customized by the application of Traits. These allow or forbid certain actions, require tests under certain circumstances, modify movement in terrain and generally give each troop-type or hero a personalized character and impact on the game.
Shooting and combat mechanics involve normal six-sided dice with modifiers being incorporated by altering the number of dice thrown rather than the "to-hit" number. Units have a Combat Value, a Shooting value, an Armor to resist hits and a Stamina which indicates how many hits they can sustain before collapsing in rout. The army lists in the rules provide these values but a gamer can easily divine what values they need to assign if creating an army not covered by the included lists. The mechanics are simple and sound but the real core of the rules are the use of Mighty Deeds and the preservation/accumulation of Reputation points.
Mighty Deeds are the way the rules regulate the command and leadership functions of our miniature generals. Depending on the skill level a leader can have one or more Mighty Deeds points. These are renewed each turn and cannot be stored for later use. They can be expended to get troops to move or shoot more effectively, to allow the hero figure to fight on his own or to add to the impact of a unit being personally led by the hero. This elegantly simulates the "command capacity" of the leaders, forcing the player to decide if they want to expend energy to get movement accomplished or save their Mighty Deeds for shooting and combat. Learning the complexities of the proper use of Mighty Deeds in the first games we played was a revelation and is a crucial factor in winning a game.
The other determinate factor in achieving victory is the amassing of Reputation Points. Each army starts the game with a pool of Reputation Points reflecting the forces willingness to fight. Heroes can add to this pool by leading units into combat, calling out opposing leaders for personal duels and such. Reputation points can be lost by losing duels, heroes evading combat or the destruction of units within the army. Once your pool of reputation is exhausted your army retreats from the field in dismay.
There is a Magic section which we haven't played as we have only run historical games. In reading through it this appears to be as well organized and thoughtfully developed as the rest of the rules. The rules also go into mythical creatures such as giants, ogres and dragons which function as units of their own. The interesting (to me at least) part of this is that you can have a Viking army with shamans confronting a Christian Anglo-Saxon accompanied by a Saint doing battle, each side believing in the power of its spiritual leaders as is so often recounted in the historical chronicles.
I find this to be an excellent set of rules with wide application. It is both easily understandable but satisfyingly complex, in the manner of chess. I am excited enough by these rules to be considering re-basing my ancient armies, an event that has only occurred once in fifty years of wargaming (after I had discovered the Tercio rules). The ability to customize units and heroes in a very detailed manner allows the player to model the behavior of their historical (or mythical) units quite precisely.
Very highly Recommended!
Had my first game yesterday (set in Troy) and my observations were very similar to your own - the Mighty Deeds mechanic is very flavourful and a very effective player decision mechanic.
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