Mythic Battles: Ragnarok Discussion

It was announced that the next Mythic Battles will be set in Norse mythology.  There's TONS of material to base the game off of.

But I have some questions:

• What will be the goal of the game?  Will Omphalos (the remains of dead gods) still be the target, or something else?  Freja's apples maybe?
  
• What Norse heroes are there?
  
• Would you like to see the Greek gods battle with the Norse gods in an MBP/MBR crossover?
  
• What's on your wish list for this game?

Hi Hellikin,

my first thought, Huginn & Muninn as troops for Odin

Had to look that up, heh. But yes, much in the same way that Artemis has her hounds as troops, Huginn and Muninn would be great.

I also think some sort of Viking troops make a lot of sense. Maybe in a sea expansion (much like the Poseidon expansion)?

For heroes, I can only think of possibly Siegfried, Siegmund, Brunhilda, and possibly Beowulf. There must be others though.

Hi Hellikin,

It's a bit early to answer questions about the next evolution of Mythic Battles!

We want to focus on finishing and delivering Pantheon.

However, let me tell you a little bit...

- The goal might be different, to adapt to the Norse theme. However, the game will be completely compatible with Pantheon.
- Just like with Pantheon, the most famous heroes will be there (Beowulf, Siegfried, ...). There are significantly less famous Norse heroes than Greek heroes, and a little less monsters too. But there are many gods, and many exciting new troops. All in all, it will be a very exciting game, with a totally different feel and look.
- We absolutely would like to see the Greek gods battle with the Norse gods.
- On my wish list, there is: Thor, Loki, Fenrir, and Siegfried as characters. I'd like the game to be even more beautiful than Pantheon. And the minis to be more spectacular than ever.

I know it's very early but map compatibility for larger game would be cool.

By map compatibility, i mean the art on each side of 2 board could align.
It was too late for MBP but, if took early into account on the next one, maybe you could do it. (if you think it's relevant of course )

Bertrand F wrote:

I know it's very early but map compatibility for larger game would be cool.

By map compatibility, i mean the art on each side of 2 board could align.
It was too late for MBP but, if took early into account on the next one, maybe you could do it. (if you think it's relevant of course )

+1 to this!

Also, allowing for bigger games by design, more than just with the maps, would be fantastic. It's not uncommon for me to have 6 player games with my gaming group.

Hellikin wrote:

Also, allowing for bigger games by design, more than just with the maps, would be fantastic.  It's not uncommon for me to have 6 player games with my gaming group.

+1 to both ideas. My gaming group is 6 as well.

Bertrand F, Hellikin : We definitely should consider doing this with Ragnarok.

Maybe as we have a leonidas heroes in the pantheon game you can use historic characters as heroes like eric the red or ragnar lothbrok. The viking have a lot of famous historic conqueror who would do great in MB.

I completely agree with all of these ideas! Also, the Vikings constantly pillaging may open the door for some interesting KS exclusives or add-ons! Celtic, Finnish, or others as representing the pillaged regions - perhaps they hold a grudge?

Lopyod, I completely agree. Eric the Red, Ragnar Lothbrok and other famous historical scandinavian characters should be in the game.

Kalack99: I also think that some people hold a grudge against the Vikings...  

PS : Lopyod, I love your avatar!!

Agreed

The Franco-Belgian comic "Thorgal" could be useful for inspiration. Some Norse mythological creatures appears (giants, elves, gods) in his adventures.
Grzegorz Rosinski as guest would be awesome !

Leonidas wrote:

The goal might be different, to adapt to the Norse theme. However, the game will be completely compatible with Pantheon.

What kind of compatible, though? Changing the goal already makes a big difference. Since we'll be able to use units from both games together, I assume (and hope) mechanics will not change?

Orword: mechanics won't change. You might see some new victory conditions, game modes... and a different style and feeling overall. But it will be compatible.

I'd like to see the Varangian Guard as elite troops

And maybe some Fianna if there are some people holding grudges.

The Varangian Guard will be there!

Leonidas wrote:

The Varangian Guard will be there!

Awesome!

But who would win? The Varangian Guard or the Spartans? I guess we'll have to wait and find out.

Leonidas wrote:

Orword: mechanics won't change. You might see some new victory conditions, game modes... and a different style and feeling overall. But it will be compatible.

And could we play those new victory conditions, game modes and other thing (from MB:R) with our MB:P ??
Game modes... you think about "tower defense" mode, "king of the hill" mode ?

If there will be a new kickstarter for the Nordic Pantheon, here some suggestions for strech goals:
- Some social stretch goals (twitter, facebook and/or youtube subscribers) with non miniatures KSE like goodies: the dice bag, a couple of postal cards...
- More non miniature stretch goals:
-- a set of painting guide videos professionnaly recorded (Sorastro youtube channel come naturally in mind, but you could make some with Mohand or Martin Grandbarbe)
-- a professionnaly recorded gameplay video (QW: did I ever talk to you about La Guerre au garage? )
-- a stop-motion video (don't know if it will fit the MB gameplay, but there's some on the X-wing game that are quite fun to watch)
-- short behind the scene videos: preparing the kickstarter, living the kickstarter (recordings of the team reading some heated discussions, pushing the f***cking red button and waiting for the community response to certain updates) and after the kickstarter campaign preparing the release (production, conventions...
- Game modes and/or scenarios
- a comic book / novel / short stories anthology (could be as and add-on but unlocked by a stretch goal)

The MBP campaign was so much fun, I guess I want the next one to over-the-top it

Thanks Pseudo - and yes, you did mention La Guerre...

Another stretch goal, the development of a simple web app, where people could add their battle results so that we could make lots of non sensical statistics (Which God/Monster/Hero/Troops/map are played the most, which opposing God is drafted the most, which victory condition is the most common...). Nice useless datamining to do!!!! \o/

It could be "based on"/"an extension of" the app currently developped by our beloved meanwhale

That's cool to hear about the Varangian Guard being in MB:R.  To be honest, I had never heard of them before, so I learned something new!

But if you figure the mythological cycle for the Ancient Greeks was set around 500 B.C., and the Varangian Guard was around 1000 A.D., that's a pretty big time gap.  If the Norse gods (and their Varangian Guards) from this time are able to fight the Ancient Greek gods, did Hera wait 1,500 years to release the Titans?

That opens some options for heroes etc.  Beowulf (plus Grendel, and Grendel's Mother) were 200-300 years before the Varangian Guard.  Ragnar Lodbrok would have been about 100 years after Beowulf, but about 200 years before the Varangian Guard.

It's hard to pin down the timeline I guess - doing so would limit what is available.  This spread of about 500 years could possibly include the Völsung saga (with Siegfried, Sigmund, Brunhilda, etc), which is loosely connected to Beowulf. But I believe the Völsung saga is intended to be more around the time of the Ancient Greeks.

Alas, it's a board game.  It will be fun having this all on the table, regardless of the chronology.  

One of the big ones - literally - I'd love to see in MB: Ragnarok would be Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent. Had an interesting idea for him as well. Jormungand could be a modular miniature. You get a head section, tail section and three different body sections, all of which interlock to create the monster. In game terms, the way it works is every time Jormungand loses life he looses a body section. He can't be destroyed until all sections have been removed, the tail and head being the last to go. Where it gets complicated is that he can grow a new section (or perhaps a die roll worth of sections) as one of his powers. Also, for an extra recruitment cost, extra body sections can be added to Jormungand at the start of the game.

Where it could really be fun is during the KS campaign, where Jormungand and a set number of body sections is an early unlock and then more and more body sections follow on at set intervals (for instance, at double each level that unlocked the last one, so if the first was at 100k, the second would be at 200k and the third at 400k)... making the Midgard Serpent become increasingly fearsome as the campaign goes along. Perhaps even causing the KS version of Jormungand to be bigger than his retail version later on.

Fenrir being my favorite mythological being in any mythos, i do hope will be the most imposing figure in the game. A gnarly wolf draped in chains that is bigger than Typhon and maybe has the bones of Baldr's missing hand stuck between his back teeth!