How to Play Champions of Midgard: Valhalla

Objective of the Game

In Champions of Midgard: Valhalla, players are Viking leaders striving for glory. The expansion introduces the concept of fallen warriors entering the halls of Valhalla, where they fight alongside Odin and feast with Freyja. Players earn Sacrifice tokens when their warriors die, which can be used to gain powerful Valkyrie Blessings and recruit stronger warriors like Berserkers and Shieldwarriors. By defeating epic monsters in the afterlife and utilizing these blessings, players discover new ways to gain glory in Midgard. The ultimate goal is to accumulate the most glory, as nothing is more glorious to a fallen Viking warrior than entering Valhalla.

Preparation (Setup)

The setup for Champions of Midgard: Valhalla requires additional steps beyond the base game. Follow the normal setup instructions for Champions of Midgard precisely, unless noted otherwise. If playing with both the Dark Mountains and Valhalla expansions, follow both sets of setup instructions in their entirety, combining steps that involve mixing expansion components with base game components to save time.

1. Before playing for the first time, shuffle the new Destiny cards, Rune cards, and Market Stall tile in with those from the base game.
2. Place the Berserker dice and Shieldwarrior dice beside the board near the other Viking Warrior dice.
3. Place the Sacrifice tokens beside the board near the other tokens.
4. Place the Valhalla Board next to the main game board.
5. Shuffle the Valkyrie Blessing cards and place the deck face-down on the indicated space. Then, add 1 card face-up to each of the 4 empty spaces.
6. Shuffle the Epic Monster Cards and reveal 2 of them (3 in a 4-5 player game), placing them on the indicated spaces on the Valhalla board. Return the unused cards to the box.
7. Give each player the Leader Ability board that corresponds to their chosen leader, to be placed beneath their Leader board, and a Burial Ground tile to be placed beside it.
8. Finally, give each player 1 Leader die in addition to their normal starting resources.

Components marked with a specific icon must be removed if playing without the Champions of Midgard: Dark Mountains expansion.

Fluxo do Jogo

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção.

Ações e Como Jogar

New Icons & Rules

• The icon means "a warrior die of your choice." This includes the new Shieldwarrior and Berserker dice. The icons and mean the same thing and should be read interchangeably.
• The icon indicates you may take a resource of your choice (food, wood, or gold). The number in the center shows how many resources you are entitled to. You may take any combination of the same or different resources.
• Results on dice rolled in combat are always optional. You may choose to ignore a shield result and take a loss, even if it would negate damage.

Leader Abilities & Leader Dice

Every Viking Leader now has a secondary ability activated by strong leadership in battle. New Leader Ability tiles, placed beneath your Leader board, show this ability and have a space for your Leader die. When you roll your Leader die in combat, immediately activate the ability on your Leader Ability board. Like other dice, your leader can be defeated in combat, but Leader dice are wounded, not killed. Wounded Leader dice are returned to the supply until healed (e.g., via Instant Valkyrie Blessings). A player may never possess more than 1 Leader die.

Sacrifice Tokens

Sacrifice tokens represent warriors who have died and now inhabit Valhalla. These tokens correspond to each type of Viking Warrior die. Whenever you return one or more of your Viking Warrior dice to the supply (due to combat defeat, unfed on a journey, lost to an event, etc.), take the corresponding Sacrifice token and store it on your Burial Grounds tile. Leader dice do not have Sacrifice tokens as leaders are wounded, not killed. Sacrifice tokens are not gained when you attempt to collect more dice than you can hold, as those dice are not yet yours.

After resolving any combat location, you may spend any number of your collected Sacrifice tokens to activate effects on the Valhalla Board, purchase Valkyrie Blessing cards, and/or defeat Epic Monsters. You can use tokens just collected or saved from previous rounds. If multiple players are at a single combat location, they purchase cards in the order they placed workers. The symbol means "a Sacrifice token of your choice."

Whenever you spend Sacrifice tokens, you may use these effects 1 or more times:

• Spend any 2 Sacrifice tokens and gain 1 Glory.
• Spend any 3 Sacrifice tokens and claim a Viking Warrior die of your choice from the supply (this does not include your Leader die).

Valkyrie Blessings

Valkyrie Blessings are how the Valkyries favor Viking Leaders. There are two types:

• Instant Valkyrie Blessings: These provide Resources, Glory, or Viking Warrior dice, and importantly, heal your wounded Viking Leader. When purchasing an Instant Valkyrie Card, immediately claim a Viking Leader die from the supply and place it in your play area (if you don't already have one). No player may have more than 1 Viking Leader die. These blessings take effect immediately and are then placed face-down in your player area. Examples include:
  • Freyja’s Blessing: Retrieve your Leader die, gain a favor or discard a blame.
  • Valhallan Berserkers: Retrieve your Leader die, collect indicated Berserker dice.
  • Valhallan Shieldwarriors: Retrieve your Leader die, collect indicated Shieldwarrior dice.
  • Fortune of the Gods: Retrieve your Leader die, gain 3 resources of your choice.
  • Odin’s Feast: Retrieve your Leader die, gain 3 food.
  • Valhallan Fighting Band: Retrieve your Leader die, collect indicated Shieldwarrior dice and Berserker dice.
  • Divine Glory: Retrieve your Leader die, gain indicated Favor token(s).
• Permanent Valkyrie Blessings: These give an instant Glory reward and an ability that persists for the remainder of the game. When purchased, gain Glory equal to the current round number immediately, then place the card face up in your play area. Examples include:
  • Enemyslayer Shields: Gain Glory immediately. From now on, 1 shield result blocks all damage for a single round of combat (when fighting an enemy of the indicated type). You may choose to lose dice up to the enemy’s attack value if preferred.
  • Enemy Amulets: Gain Glory immediately. From now on, gain 1 Resource of your choice whenever you defeat an enemy of the indicated type.
  • Loki’s Compass: Gain Glory immediately. From now on, after encountering a Journey card, you may take 1 Blame from the supply to ignore the negative effect.
  • Bow of the Hunter: Gain Glory immediately. From now on, you always receive 1 resource of your choice when at least 1 die hunts.

Cards of the same name may have different costs and effects. Pay attention to card details. Remove cards showing the Dark Mountains icon if not using that expansion.

Berserker & Shieldwarrior Dice

• Berserker dice: These are powerful Viking Warrior dice with only 1 blank side and 3 double hits. However, due to their reckless nature, when wounds are assigned in combat, Berserker dice must be sacrificed first.
• Shieldwarrior dice: These are powerful Viking Warrior dice with 3 sides that block and hit simultaneously, providing protection.

Epic Monsters

Epic Monsters are powerful creatures that provide immediate Glory upon defeat and often significant end-game scoring potential. You may purchase multiple Epic Monsters at the same time. Cards are refreshed after all purchases are completed, unless noted otherwise. Examples include:

• Fenrir: Score 8 Glory immediately. At game-end, score 4 Glory for each Troll you have killed.
• Jormungandr: Score 9 Glory immediately. At game-end, score 4 Glory for each Monster you have killed.
• Geirrod: Score 10 Glory immediately. At game-end, score 3 Glory for each Bergrisar you have killed.
• Pesta: Score 10 Glory immediately. At game-end, score 1 Glory for each Blame token in play (possessed by every player).
• Ymir: Score 12 Glory immediately. At game-end, each blue enemy you have defeated counts twice for sets.
• Fylgja: Score 9 Glory immediately. At game-end, each of your Destiny cards scores twice.
• Nidhoggr: Score 12 Glory immediately. At game-end, each yellow enemy you have defeated counts twice for sets.
• Haugbui: Score 7 Glory immediately. At game-end, score 3 Glory for each Draugr you have killed.
• Surtr: Score 12 Glory immediately. At game-end, each red enemy you have defeated counts twice for sets.

There is a finite number of Epic Monsters, so not every player may be able to defeat one.

Leader Powers

Each leader has unique powers that can be activated:

• Asmundr’s Battle Prayer: Gain a Favor token.
• Dagrun’s Prophetic Vision: Take a Sage’s Hut action. Choose and look at a Journey Card (Land or Sea) then take another Destiny card (draw two and choose one to keep).
• Gylfir’s Supply Lines: Claim any 1 reward currently shown on the merchant ship card.
• Hemming’s Rune Carver: Activate the effect of 1 of the runes face-up in the supply or gain 1 wood from the supply.
• Jorunn’s Tell the Tale: Gain 1 Glory for each Viking Warrior die lost in this round of combat. If no losses, gain a Favor token (cannot choose if dice were lost).
• Ragnhild’s Field Training: Exchange any other Viking Warrior die in this combat with another die from the supply, immediately roll and execute the new die's result. You do not receive a Sacrifice token for the die returned to the supply. Cannot exchange your Leader die.
• Svanhildr’s Legendary Leadership: Choose the result of a Swordsman die in this battle and set it to a result of your choice. No effect if no Swordsman dice.
• Thyra’s Chooser of the Slain: Gain any 1 Sacrifice token from the supply, in addition to tokens collected from losing dice in this combat.
• Ullr’s Berserker Cry: Add 1 Berserker die from the supply to this combat and roll it immediately.

Fim de Jogo e Pontuação

Consulte o manual para detalhes sobre esta seção.

Dicas para Vencer

• Strategic Sacrifice Token Use: Don't just spend Sacrifice tokens immediately. Consider saving them to defeat powerful Epic Monsters later in the game, as these often provide significant instant Glory and end-game bonuses.
• Heal Your Leader: Prioritize purchasing Instant Valkyrie Blessings if your Leader die is wounded. Healing your leader allows you to reactivate their powerful abilities in combat, which can be crucial for gaining an advantage.
• Leverage Leader Abilities: Understand and strategically use your chosen leader's unique abilities. For example, Thyra can exchange 2 Sacrifice tokens for a die of her choice, making her more efficient at recruiting new warriors, while Hemming can transmute resources, offering flexibility.