Basing and Playing Areas for Midgard Heroic Battles

Probably the most-asked question: do I need a specific figure base size for Midgard Heroic Battles? The answer is an emphatic no! Round, square, oval, rectangular and individual or multi bases will all work as long as they can be grouped together in a rectangular unit with the same frontage as other units in the same game. The unit can be created by combining existing bases or by mounting the unit on a movement tray/ sabot base. All the examples on this page have been created with laser-cut MDF or 3D printed trays.

Two standard units of 28 mm miniatures on unit bases for Midgard. The frontage of both bases is 12 cm, shown by the Midgard Spear Throw measuring sticks in front. The Celt Warrior unit (left, miniatures from North Star Military Figures) has 8 models on 25 mm round bases and a depth of 6 cm. The Elf Heavy Rider unit (right, miniatures converted from Oathmark and Gripping Beast plastics) has 8 models on 50x25mm pill bases and a depth of 12 cm.

The suggested standard for Midgard with 28mm miniatures is a unit base with a 12cm frontage (base depth does not matter, but we use 6cm for infantry units and between 8-12cm for cavalry and bigger creatures). This 12cm frontage is also used as a Spear Throw, the basic unit of measurement in the game.

Units based on a 12 cm frontage are ideal for a standard club-sized game on a 6 x 4′ (180 x 122 cm) table.

The ‘Against The Frost Giants’ game at Salute 2023 was played on a 6 x 4′ playing area with units with a 12 cm frontage. Background art used by permission of Jon Hodgson Illustration.

Midgard Heroic Battles forces are organised into either Heroes or Units.

Heroes are based individually on any type of base with assorted standard bearers, musicians and hangers-on. Round, oval, square, hexagonal and rectangular bases are all fine – they have no effect on game play.

Some Hero models in 28 mm by Crusader Miniatures, Alternative Armies, Lucid Eye Publications, Gripping Beast and Artizan Designs.

There are five types of unit in the game: Warriors, Skirmishers, Heavy Riders, Light Riders and Monstrosities. The number of miniatures in each unit doesn’t matter as long as you can easily identify what kind it is. Here are a few examples from our 28mm games. Each unit base is 12 cm wide to fit with the suggested standard Spear Throw of 12 cm.

WARRIORS:
Frost Elves (left, based on 25mm round bases, 8 figures to a unit)
Trolls (centre, based on 40mm round bases, 4 figures to a unit)
Picts (right, based on 20 x 20mm square bases, 12 figures to a unit).
Miniatures by Gripping Beast, Lucid Eye, Reaper Bones, Foundry, Old Glory and Games Workshop.

SKIRMISHERS:
Wood Elves (left, based on 25mm round bases, 4 figures to a unit)
Ancient Iberian Slingers (centre, based on 25mm round bases, 4 figures to a unit)
Dwarves (right, based on 25mm round bases, 4 figures to a unit).
Miniatures by Foundry, Crusader Miniatures, Conqueror Models and Games Workshop.
HEAVY RIDERS:
Ancient Iberians (left, based on 25 x 50mm bases, 8 figures to a unit)
Welsh (centre, based on 25 x 50mm bases, 8 figures to a unit)
Elves (right, based on 25 x 50mm bases, 8 figures to a unit)
Miniatures by Gripping Beast, Foundry, Oathmark, Crusader Miniatures and Old Glory
LIGHT RIDERS:
Picts (based on 25 x 50mm bases, 4 figures to a unit)
Miniatures by Gripping Beast and Old Glory.
MONSTROSITIES: any giant creatures or war machines, usually one model per unit. Miniatures by Games Workshop and Reaper Bones.

If playing with larger or smaller miniatures or units, the unit frontage can be increased or reduced to fit your collection. This will also affect the Spear Throw measurement, meaning that you can play on a smaller or larger area as suits your circumstances.

Two units of 15/18 mm Saxons (Forged in Battle Miniatures on the left, Wiglaf Miniatures Saxons on the right). With approximately ten models per unit, the unit base for this smaller scale is 8 cm wide and 4 cm deep, also giving a Spear Throw of 8 cm.
Our 15/18mm Battle of Degsastan game from Salute 2023 is played on a 3 x 4′ (91 x 122 cm) gaming cloth. Background art used by permission of Jon Hodgson Illustration.

10mm and smaller miniatures can also be used – these Elves by playtester James Deering have a unit frontage of just 6 cm, requiring a playing area of around 3 x 2′ (60 x 91 cm).

10mm Elves by Copplestone Castings (painting and photo by James Deering).

If you have a lot of models available and a larger playing area, you can play with bigger units. For the El Cid: Battle of Bairen 1097 game that we put on at The Other Partizan 2021, we used a unit frontage and Spear Throw of 16 cm.

These Moorish cavalry from the El Cid collection (28mm miniatures from Gripping Beast and Perry Miniatures) are in four units, each with six models on a 16 cm unit frontage of 16 cm.
The 16 cm El Cid collection in action on a 12 x 5′ table at The Other Partizan 2021. The playing area is approximately 10 x 5′.

If you want to play REALLY big, you can increase unit size yet further. For our Battle of Degsastan 603 game at Partizan 2022, we were again combining multiple collections and decided to place four standard 12 x 6 cm unit bases together to create a huge unit with around 40 miniatures and a frontage of 24 cm. Needless to say, this size unit needs a large playing area. However, Midgard’s mechanisms should allow you to complete this size of battle in just a few hours.

This Dark Ages Scots-Irish unit (28 mm miniatures by Gripping Beast, Foundry and Black Tree Designs) is created by putting four standard-sized units together, giving a unit frontage and Spear Throw of 24 cm.
The Battle of Degsastan 603, as played with 24 cm frontage units at Partizan 2022 on a 12 x 5′ table.

Anyway, I hope that’s useful. In summary, you can play with whatever you’ve got, as long as the frontages of units are pretty much the same.

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