Game Objective

Welcome, brave Viking Leaders! The King of Trondheim lies dead, and chaos spreads across Midgard. Terrible creatures, from Trolls to Monsters, threaten our lands. But where there is danger, there is also Glory! In Champions of Midgard, your objective is simple, yet challenging: prove yourself worthy of being the new King, becoming a true Champion of Midgard!

How? By accumulating the most Glory at the end of 8 rounds. Glory is primarily earned by defeating epic enemies and defending the city. But beware, failure to protect our people can cost you your reputation and, of course, your Glory!

Preparation (Setup)

Prepare your axes and shields, for the journey begins with setting up the table! Follow these steps to arrange everything:

1. Place the Game Board in the center of the table.
2. Position the Round Marker on the Round 1 space.
3. Shuffle the Market Stall Tiles and add them to the empty spaces on the board, according to the number of players:
   • 2 players: 1 Military and 1 Economic.
   • 3 players: 1 Military and 2 Economic.
   • 4 players: 2 Military and 2 Economic.
   Return the remaining tiles to the box.
4. Place the Small and Large Public Longships in their designated spaces on the board. The Private Longships are placed next to the board, near the Shipwright's Hut (return those marked with 3+ and 4+ if the number of players is less than indicated).
5. Shuffle the Rune Cards, Destiny Cards, Merchant Ship Cards, Troll Cards, Draugr Cards, Journey Cards, and Monster Cards, and place them in their respective spaces on the board.
6. Organize the resources: Food, Wood, Viking Warriors (Swordsman Dice, Spearman Dice, and Axeman Dice), Coins, Favor Tokens, and Blame Tokens in an easily accessible location for everyone.
7. The player who most recently achieved Glory in battle (or the most experienced board game player, if you prefer a house rule) receives the First Player Marker.
8. Starting with the player to the right of the first player and proceeding counter-clockwise, each player chooses their Viking Leader Board. Each has a unique ability and indicates the maximum capacity of Viking Warriors.
9. Each player takes the Worker Meeples of their preferred color and the starting resources: 1 Food, 1 Wood, 1 Coin, 1 Favor Token, and 1 Swordsman Die.
10. Players must place 1 Worker Meeple in the general supply (it needs to be earned) and keep 3 in their personal supply (4 for 2-player games). Additional meeples return to the box.
11. Finally, each player receives 1 random Destiny Card. Keep it secret!

Ready! Midgard awaits its champions!

The Game Turn

A round in Champions of Midgard is a cycle of preparation, action, and combat, where your Workers and Viking Warriors are the key to victory. The game lasts 8 rounds, and each follows the steps below:

1. Round Setup

Time to set the stage for the challenges to come:

• Reveal 1 Troll Card in the Troll space on the board.
• Reveal 2 Draugr Cards in the Draugr spaces on the board.
• Place 1 Journey Card face down in each available journey space.
• Place 1 Monster Card face up in each monster space. (The leftmost spaces for journey and monster are only used with 4 players).
• Reveal the top Merchant Ship Card from the deck, placing it above the already revealed cards.
• Add 1 Viking Warrior (of the appropriate color) to the Swordsmith, Hafter, and Blacksmith locations, and 1 Food cube to the Smokehouse location. (Locations that receive items each turn are identified in blue).

2. Worker Placement

Starting with the player with the First Player Marker and proceeding clockwise, players take turns placing 1 Worker in an available space on the board to perform the associated action. This process repeats until all players have placed all their Workers.

Possible Actions (Worker Placement Locations):

• Blacksmith: Collect 1 Axeman Viking Die.
• Draugr Spaces 1 and 2: Prepare to send Viking Warriors to fight the Draugr.
• Hafter: Collect 1 Spearman Viking Die.
• Hunting Grounds: Send Viking Warriors to hunt for food. This is one of the few locations that can accommodate multiple workers!
• Large Public Longship: Pay 1 Coin, position the ship in the harbor, and prepare to load up to 10 Viking Warriors and Food for a distant journey.
• Longhouse: Collect 1 Swordsman Viking Die and take the First Player Marker. If you already have it, pass it to the player to your left.
• Market: Trade Food, Wood, and/or Coins at a 1:1 ratio.
• Merchant Ship: Pay 1 Coin and collect the resources (Food, Wood, or Viking Warriors) indicated on the current merchant ship card.
• Runesmith: Pay 1 Wood and receive a Rune Card (choose an open one or take a random one). Flip the card to activate its one-time use ability.
• Sage’s Hut: Look at the bottom face of a Journey Card and take a Destiny Card (keep it secret!).
• Shipwright: Choose a Private Longship, pay its cost, and place it next to your Leader board. You can use it immediately to place Workers. Each player can only have one private longship.
• Small Public Longship: Position the ship in the harbor and prepare to load up to 5 Viking Warriors and Food for a journey.
• Smokehouse: Collect the Food cubes present at the location.
• Stave Church: Pay Coins to receive Favor Tokens (1 coin = 1 favor, 3 coins = 2 favors, 6 coins = 3 favors, 10 coins = 4 favors).
• Swordsmith: Collect 1 Swordsman Viking Die.
• Troll Card Space: Prepare to send Viking Warriors to fight the Troll.
• Worker Huts: Pay 5/4/3/2 Coins to collect an additional Worker that can be used in future rounds. The cost decreases each time the space is used.

Don't want to or can't activate a location? You can ask the villagers for help! Place your Worker on your Leader Board and collect 1 Food and 1 Blame Token.

3. Assigning Viking Warriors

After placing all Workers, it's time to send your Viking Warriors to battle!

• Trolls: Place the Viking Warriors on the Troll Card.
• Draugr: Place the Viking Warriors on the corresponding Draugr Card.
• Distant Monsters (Longships): Place the Viking Warriors on the longships, along with the Food cubes to feed them during the journey. Remember the longship's maximum capacity!
• Hunting: Any Viking Warriors not assigned to other locations are considered hunters if you placed a Worker in the Hunting Grounds.

Attention: If an enemy prohibits a specific type of Viking Warrior (symbol "swords, spear, or axe forbidden"), those warriors are destroyed even before combat and do not participate in the fight!

4. Combat Resolution

The most exciting phase! Combat is resolved in the following order:

1. Hunting Grounds: Players who placed workers in the hunting grounds roll their dice and collect Food equal to the number of successes (max. 6).
2. Trolls: Players who sent Viking Warriors to fight the Troll resolve combat.
   • If the Troll is not defeated, each player takes 1 Blame Token in the cleanup phase.
   • If the Troll is defeated, the player who killed it can discard 1 Blame Token and force an opponent to take 1 Blame Token.
3. Draugr: Starting with the leftmost Draugr, players who sent Viking Warriors resolve combat.
4. Journeys and Distant Monsters: Starting with the leftmost coastal location, players resolve their journeys and combat the monsters.
   1. Reveal the Journey Card: Resolve its effect (e.g., Kraken - resolve combat against the Kraken; Lost - lose 2 items; No Wind - lose 1 food; Storm - lose 1 food or 1 warrior; Whirlpool - lose 1 warrior; All Quiet - no effect).
   2. Feed your Viking Warriors: You need enough Food on the longship. Locations closer to the harbor (right) need less food (1 food feeds 2 warriors); more distant locations (left) need more (1 food feeds 1 warrior). If there isn't enough food, unfed warriors return to the general supply. All food from the journey is returned to the supply.
   3. Destroy the Monsters!

Combat Details:

Trolls, Draugr, Krakens, and Monsters are fought in the same way. Each enemy has a Damage Value and a Defense Value. To defeat it, you must deal damage equal to or greater than its defense value (lethal damage).

Combat occurs in rounds, simultaneously dealing and receiving damage. Combat ends when the enemy takes lethal damage or all your Viking Warriors are defeated.

1. Attack: Roll the dice of all your assigned Viking Warriors.
2. Reroll (Optional): Discard 1 Favor Token to reroll any number of dice. Repeat if desired and you have more favors.
3. Deal Damage: For each weapon result, place 1 Damage Token on the enemy card (some faces count as 2 damage!).
4. Take Damage: Discard 1 Viking Warrior for each damage the enemy deals. You can negate the loss of 1 warrior for each shield face rolled.
5. Check for Lethal Damage:
   1. If the enemy has taken lethal damage: Collect the indicated reward (Glory, Coins, etc.). Your surviving Viking Warriors return to your personal area.
   2. If the enemy has not taken lethal damage and you still have Viking Warriors: Start a new round of combat.
   3. If the enemy has not taken lethal damage and you no longer have Viking Warriors: Your army has been defeated, you receive no rewards. Remove all Damage Tokens from the monster.

5. Cleanup

After the dust settles, it's time to tidy up for the next round:

• Take back your Workers from all locations.
• Return rented longships to their spaces on the board and private ones to your play area.
• If the Troll was not defeated, discard the Troll Card and give each player 1 Blame Token.
• Discard any undefeated Draugr Cards.
• Discard any revealed Journey Cards.
• Add 1 Coin for each undefeated Monster Card (additional reward for whoever defeats it!).
• If this was Round 8, proceed to final scoring. Otherwise, advance the Round Marker and prepare for the next round!

End of Game and Scoring

The eighth round has ended, and it's time to see who is the true Champion of Midgard! Final scoring is calculated as follows (we recommend one player calculates at a time, starting with the one furthest behind on the Glory track):

1. Destiny Cards: If you met the condition of your Destiny Card, you gain a larger Glory bonus. Otherwise, a smaller bonus for a partially completed objective.
2. Enemy Sets (1 of each color): Gain 5 Glory points for each complete set of different colored enemies you defeated. (Trolls have no color and do not count for this).
3. Runes (used or new): Each Rune Card provides a varied amount of Glory, indicated on the card.
4. Private Longships: Your longships are symbols of status! They provide Glory based on their type, as indicated on the card.
5. Favor of the Gods: For each unused Favor Token, receive 2 Glory points.
6. Coins: Receive 1 Glory point for every 3 remaining Coins.
7. Blame: Lose Glory based on your reputation with the villagers. The loss is represented by a chart.

The player with the highest Glory score is declared the Champion of Midgard and the new King! In case of a tie, the player who defeated the highest total number of enemies (including Trolls) wins. If the tie persists, players share the victory.

Tips for Winning

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