How to Win Champions of Midgard — the dice math
Champions of Midgard is a dice-combat game, and the dice are exactly solvable. Each Viking die's six faces are known, so the damage you'll deal — and the odds of killing a monster of a given Defense — are precise numbers. Headline: Axemen deal about 67% more damage than Swordsmen, but give up the shield. Here's the full math.
The three Viking dice, compared
Every die has six faces. Weapon faces deal damage; the shield face blocks one loss that round. Here's each die's makeup, its average damage, and its average shields per roll:
| Die | Faces (of 6) | Avg damage | Avg shields |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swordsman (white) | 3 blank · 1 single (1) · 1 double (2) · 1 shield | 0.50 | 0.17 |
| Spearman (red) | 2 blank · 2 single (1) · 1 double (2) · 1 shield | 0.67 | 0.17 |
| Axeman (black) | 3 blank · 1 single (1) · 2 double (2) · no shield | 0.83 | 0.00 |
Axemen kill, swordsmen survive. Black Axeman dice average 0.83 damage (no shield); white Swordsmen average 0.50 but block ~0.17 loss per die. Load up on axemen against soft, high-reward monsters; keep swordsmen/spearmen for long fights where surviving rounds matters.
How many dice to kill a monster (Swordsman dice)
Probability of dealing at least V damage in a single roll of N Swordsman dice — i.e. killing a Defense-V monster outright that round. Darker = more likely:
| Dice ＼ Defense | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 dice | 33 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 dice | 56 | 33 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 dice | 70 | 48 | 20 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 dice | 80 | 60 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 dice | 87 | 70 | 46 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 dice | 91 | 78 | 57 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 dice | 94 | 84 | 66 | 47 | 29 | 16 | 8 | 3 |
| 8 dice | 96 | 88 | 74 | 57 | 38 | 24 | 13 | 6 |
Single-roll odds. Damage accumulates across rounds, so over a full fight your kill chance is higher than one roll — but each round you risk losing dice to the monster's Attack. Axeman dice shift these numbers up (more damage); swordsmen/spearmen shift survival up (shields).
What 4 Swordsman dice actually roll
The exact damage distribution for a typical 4-die attack — most rolls land in the 1–3 damage range, with blanks common:
Expect blanks. Two-thirds of Swordsman faces deal no damage, so plan for variance — commit enough dice that an average roll still clears the monster, or hold Favor tokens to reroll.
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How we got these numbers
Exact probability, not a simulation. Each die's six faces are known (Swordsman: 3 blank, 1 single, 1 double, 1 shield; Spearman swaps a blank for a single; Axeman swaps the shield for a double), so the damage from N dice is the exact convolution of the single-die distribution, and P(deal >= V) is its upper tail. Faces are taken from the official rulebook appendix mechanics and cross-checked against detailed reviews; shields and blanks count as 0 damage. Monster Defense is treated as an input (1-8) rather than a hardcoded card table.
To defeat a monster you must deal total damage >= its Defense value. Each round you also lose Viking dice equal to the monster's Attack value, reduced by 1 per Shield you rolled that round. Damage accumulates across rounds, so over a full fight your kill chance is higher than a single roll — but every round you risk losing dice, so the single-round table shows the firepower you want to bring. Validation: average damage is 0.50 (Swordsman),
0.67 (Spearman) and 0.83 (Axeman); one Swordsman die deals ≥1
damage 33.3% (2 of 6 faces) and ≥2 damage
16.7% (1 of 6). Source code lives in our sims/ folder
(champions_sim.py). See also the full Champions of Midgard entry.
Common questions
How does combat work in Champions of Midgard?
You commit Viking Warrior dice to a monster and roll. Weapon faces deal damage (a single = 1, a double = 2); you defeat the monster when your total damage reaches its Defense value. Each round you also lose dice equal to the monster's Attack value, reduced by 1 for every shield you rolled. Damage carries over between rounds, so a fight is a race between your accumulating damage and your shrinking pool of dice.
Are axemen better than swordsmen in Champions of Midgard?
Axemen (black dice) deal more damage — 0.83 per die on average versus 0.50 for a Swordsman, about 67% more — because they trade the shield face for an extra double-hit. But they have no shield, so they don't reduce your losses. Spearmen (red) sit in between: 0.67 damage and they keep a shield. Bring axemen to kill fast and swordsmen/spearmen to survive long fights.
How many dice do I need to kill a monster in Champions of Midgard?
It depends on the monster's Defense. With Swordsman dice, dealing at least 4 damage in a single roll takes about 4 dice (17% with 4) — but because damage accumulates across rounds, you can kill tougher monsters with fewer dice if you can survive the extra rounds. The matrix on this page gives the exact single-roll odds for every dice count against every Defense value.