Hammer of the Gods: Midgard Heroic Battles at Salute 2023

With the rainbow bridge terrain piece complete, on April 22 it was time for the big one: Salute 50!  The UK’s biggest miniature wargames show takes place every year at ExCel in Docklands, London; I hadn’t been since 2015 so was very excited about a return to the fiftieth edition of Salute.

Salute is absolutely huge and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the space, though this year we had tagged along with the Two Fat Lardies on the edge of the Lard Zone – a collection of TFL/ Reisswitz Press participation games.

That said, due to the size of the venue they were still a full spear throw from our table, but we were graced with visits from many of the Lardistas, including Sidney Roundwood himself! (All joking aside, Sid is a terrific chap who influenced me in my Verdun project several years ago and has always been supportive and creative in equal measure).

I was accompanied by two stalwart souls – Pete J and Andy Mac – long term gaming companions who have been separately involved in the Midgard Heroic Battles play testing process.  This was fortunate, as I’d had the bright idea of running not just one but two games of Midgard at the show!  

Midgard is a highly versatile game, switching easily between figure sizes and different settings. To showcase this, we were running a 28mm Norse myth battle next to a 15mm Dark Ages one. 

The 28mm game was the chance for the rainbow bridge to get into action: equipped with lights, snow and a Led Zep soundtrack. this scenario saw Loki leading an army of frost giants in an attack on Bifrost, the rainbow bridge of Norse mythology (and Marvel) fame.

Opposing him were, of course, Heimdall, Freya and Thor with a diverse bunch of Asgardian defenders, including Norsemen, shield maidens, dwarfs and alfar.  If you’re interested in the figures and terrain, there is a full blog article here with details of what’s what.

I was blown away by the popularity of the games – we spent a very fulfilling day chatting and fielding enquiries about the rules virtually non-stop. Gaming-wise, we settled for running sections of the Norse myth game for passing players to introduce the basic mechanics of the rules.

Heimdall fought a gripping single combat against Bergelmir the Frost Giant, with both wounding each other but surviving; unfortunately for Heimdall, he had used up all his Mighty Deeds and lost his final Stamina point after being crushed as his Dwarf unit was pushed back by the trolls. Ouch!

The Frost Giants crushed all before them and, despite Freya taking down Bergelmir, she found herself on the losing end of a melee before being sent packing to Valhalla. 

The 15mm Battle of Degsastan game proved unexpectedly popular with both Pete and Andy doing sterling work running games for interested players during the day.  We were graced with a visit from Dan Mersey who was pleased to see his 18mm Wiglaf Miniatures in action and to hear Immigrant Song blasting from the rainbow bridge! 

Overall, a fulfilling if exhausting day out, and such a pleasure to meet so many folk excited for the release of the rules. Editing, artwork, photography and ruler/ token design are all underway, but there is no release date yet. Keep following us on social media and we’ll let you know as soon as there is news!

Massive thanks to Pete J and Andy Mac for their companionship and assistance.