Welcome to my blog, the story of my continuing journey into the World of Zombie Wargames.

Monday 11 April 2022

Gladiators

So this week saw me play a game with two real people, the first time in well over a year !
To be completely honest, I didn't get to play, but I wrote notes and took photographs and helped the two players understand the game mechanics, when to throw dice etc.
The photograph on the right shows my set-up for Gladiator games, a hex marked arena. I had three matched pairs of gladiators, to fit all six types of gladiator type in the game. The photogrsaph also shows the  three pairings, a dozen dice to be used by the participants, my box of dice, counters etc. (marked by the left red arrow and the two clip board that will hold the players' character sheets *red arrow on the right).
I've had a great interest in gladiatorial combat for over forty years and haven't found a set of rules that I've liked, until now.
I have been following the blog "Adventures in Lead" and have been asked to playtest his reincarnation of his rules, that have been years in the making.
 Our first game was a disaster, I forgot or misinterpreted many of the rules (I was the only one that was meant to know the rules). However after a quick break we resumed with us all having a better idea of what we were doing.
The pair we used were a Murmillo and a Thraex, both medium types of gladiators.
They started in the centre  of the arena, but several turns later...
... both gladiators were tiring, trying to finish off the other in style.
Close up of Stupendus in the forground and Gluttenus
In the final stage the Murmillo Gluttenus manouevred Stupendus up against the arena wall and battered him with some good dice rolling. Stpendous dropped to the floor, badly wounded in the chest and exhausted. Stupendus had to appeal to the crowd...
 
Unable to fend off the Murmillo Gluttenus any longer, Stupendus falls

Haivng put up a good fight,  Stupendus appealed to the crowd and was granted a missus - he would live to fight another day !
There is a bit of paper work in the game, but far, far less than I was used to, using the old Avalin Hill game rules. The dice decided what you could do each turn, but Gladiator traits allowed for greater variations.
Gladiator record sheet and game sheet.

The author, Frank Sultana has about twenty playtesters and as seen on the LAF board, they're all seem to be actively testing. The thread on LAF started in 2013 with the first incarnation of these rules, but the last few pages deal with this second version.

The game played a bit like "What a Tanker" I guess, but has a very good 'close combat' feel.
Turn initiative is diced for every turn, players using an IGOUGO, system,  the player with initiative expending his dice then the othe rplayer does the same. There is still interaction between players as they use defence dice and other dice in the other player's turn too. 
I had a good time and the players both said they'd like to have another go, so that's as good a sign as one gets for a game. - I can't wait. 

In other news:
I'm intending to package up everyone's requests this weekend coming and  get the postage costs sorted sometime next week, so all those involved please be patient, I haven't sent a parcel in a veyr long time (I honestly can't remember ever sending a parcel).

That's it for another week, thanks for taking the time to visit and hopefully finding something of interest.
As always your comments are welcomed and truly appreciated.

22 comments:

  1. Fantastic looking game set up Joe, and nice you've actually been able to have a game with other people, must have felt good.

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    1. Thanks Dave, the last time I played a table-top game was March 2020, so I was a littl more than a little pleased to have played !

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  2. Nice arena, Joe! I've always fancied doing gladiator games.

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    1. I've been playing gladiator games since the 1980 and have been constantly looking for a decent set of rules, these rules come pretty close to wht I've been looking for.

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  3. Looks good Joe! I know we have had some fun Gladatorial battles with the boardgame Spartacus.

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    1. Thanks Terry, I nearly bought 'Spartacus' a while back (and may still do so), but it wasn't what I was looking for at the time.
      It does look like a fun game.

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  4. Wooooow! What a great arena and Gladiators! Looking fantastic sir!

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    1. Thanks Michal, the arena is just a converted toy, but does the job imho.

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  5. Great looking gladiator game,the arena really makes it!
    Best Iain

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    1. Thanks Iain, I must admit that gladiator games without some sort of fight 'scenery' is not quite as impressive.

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  6. I’ve had a vague idea to do a self contained gladiator game in a quality street tin for some time now, and seeing your set up I’m tempted to move that up the project queue…

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    1. Thanks Myincubus, the only thing I found difficult about quality street tins is their depth, reaching in to get 28mm figures would be a bit of a faff imo.A hexed area with a roman building background I'd find far more usable - some even use 'half an arena, which is fairly historical as they originally used theatres iirc.
      My arean also doubles as a good for dice rolling!

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  7. That's a great looking arena, Joe.

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    1. Thanks ray, it's not too bad for a kid's toy, but even so it took a lot of work to getting it looking 'uniform'. Sadly 28mm figureswould look lost in it..

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  8. Excellent looking arena, Joe, and I'm happy for you that you finally got to play a game!

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    1. Thanks Matt, the game has really re-awakened my enthusiasm, especially as I'm playtesting something I really enjy too.
      I may even start painting a few more figures too !

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    2. Fantastic, I look forward to seeing them!

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    3. Thanks Matt, but don't hold your breath and bear in mind that I'm not such a good painter!

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    4. Glad to see you are doing the most important things, rolling dice and having fun, hope to see more of the same.
      Can be a long search to find a set of mechanisms that reflect what you feel captures the essence of the game.

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    5. Thanks Douglas, I really needed to get a game in, to get me out of the lethargy of not doing anything hobby related. These rules provided a good game. entertaining and fun and I doubt they're going to join the other dozen sets of rules I've discarded along the way.

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  9. Great seeing this report here Joe along with your wonderful setup. I am so happy you are enjoying the rules but even more thrilled you seem genuinely happy to be gaming again. Your insight has been invaluable mate - again thanks.

    Frank

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    1. Thanks Frank/Furt, it was a struggle (literally), getting the arena out ofits storage area and then finding the lift-off pillars! I have been rejuvenated getting into some (playable) games with my gladiators, something that I've wanted to do for a long time. Any help I've been is a bonus as you're working towards a game I'mbeginning to like more and more as I see it develop.
      I must thank you for the oppotunity to be a part of the whole process.

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