[Commercial] BSC, Ganesha's new card driven gladiator game

[Irregular Wars Nic]

I've just posted two example turns of Blood, Sweat and Cheers – Ganesha's new card driven gladiator game up on the blog. Do please drop by to have a look.

http://irregularwars.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/blood-sweat-and-cheers-two-example-turns.html

"… The crowd were roaring now – cheering Lycus on to continue his attack, driving him, compelling him to stay on the offensive. How long would he be able to keep it up though? How long before Satyrus would find his own rhythm and land his own first blow?"

[fred]

Sounds interesting- a quick play gladiator game would be good.

And as irregular wars is very popular with our group, hopefully this will he too. Any details on its release date / price?

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Hi Fred, thanks for the positive feedback about Irregular Wars! 

Blood, Sweat and Cheers should be out before Christmas - failing that it will be January. Everything is complete, it is just a matter of Ganesha Games sorting out the card printing side of things. Regarding a price point - probably somewhere in the region of US$14? That seems to be the regular price for hard copy games from Ganesha.

[rumacara]

Anctious for this.
As Fred says a quick play gladiator game is more than welcome.

Is this game a gladiator versus gladiator or we can put for example noxi versus gladiator or gladiator versus animals?

[Irregular Wars Nic]

There are ten gladiator profile cards in the pack. Pairings are not restricted, so you can play a murmillo against a sagittarius if you want to. If the game proves popular, we can bring out more profiles in a booster pack.

At present there are unique profiles for:

• murmillo
• secutor
• retiarius
• thraex
• hoplomachus
• dimachaerus
• crupellarius
• cestus
• veles
• sagittarius

[fred]

That's certainly a good price!

Is the game board 3x2 or 3x4 squares? While I can see the usefulness of the cards making the arena, it would be a nice little modelling project to make a mini arena.

[Irregular Wars Nic]

The cards are there to make an easy arena if wanted. No problem at all making a 3D one - I have done so myself.

There should be 12 zones, arranged 3x4.

[Polkovnik]

Does the relative position of the figures have any impact in the game ? Is there scope for outmanoeuvring your opponent ?

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Within the zones, no, the relative position is unimportant. As long as two gladiators are within the same zone, they are considered to be on hand-to-hand combat.

Early versions of the rules had movements in base widths with rules for forcing gladiators back into walls etc but it created too much granularity AND opened the door to gamie players to start disputes. Some people get very invested in their little champions. 

By using the zones there is still the possibility of maneuvering your foe into a corner, but it is more abstractly done. The shooting ranges for some of the gladiator types also leads to some fun maneuvering.

[Polkovnik]

Within the zones, no, the relative position is unimportant. As long as two gladiators are within the same zone, they are considered to be on hand-to-hand combat.

So facing isn't a factor then ? No getting behind your opponent and stabbing him in the back ?

By using the zones there is still the possibility of maneuvering your foe into a corner, but it is more abstractly done.

Is there any advantage to doing this ? Could you trap him in a corner so he can't get away ? If the position within the zone doesn't matter, surely either one is free to just move away, and the fact that it is a corner of the grid would be irrelevant. 

What I'm really getting at here is how much do the figures matter ? Could it just be played as a card game without any physical representation of the combatants ?

[Irregular Wars Nic]

No, the facing of a model is not an impacting factor. Even when movement was in BWs facing was not considered an important factor in a fluid duel.

If the outcome of an attack is a 'pushed back' result, the winner chooses the direction that the loser is pushed. In bouts between two gladiators who have no distance attack, the direction has little real impact. If however, your foe is one of the three gladiator types included who have a longer range to their attack, there is an advantage to pushing them into a corner as it gives them less options to evade you and attack you from afar.

The game would work perfectly fine with counters rather than miniatures - but in my opinion miniatures look nicer. It is conceivable that miniatures and the arena could be dispensed with all together in extreme circumstances if someone felt strongly about it, but there would still need to be some form of 2D representation to show if gladiators were adjacent or separated... Obviously that is not the intention of the rules, but it could be made possible.
 

[Bloodaxe]

At Drive Thru Cards :

http://www.drivethrucards.com/product/208658/Blood-Sweat-and-Cheers

I ordered it. Once i play a few games, I'll let you know what i think.

[LeadAsbestos]

I've got it! Pretty fun, and a fine excuse to get some gladiators on the table. I'll be bold and say it is the most fun you'll have playing any commercially available gladiator game...

[Bloodaxe]

I've got it! Pretty fun, and a fine excuse to get some gladiators on the table. I'll be bold and say it is the most fun you'll have playing any commercially available gladiator game...

Awesome to hear.  I have a bunch of Gladiators waiting to go.  Im hoping there is a future expansion with animals or something.  I was looking to buy an arena/ colosseum- but no luck. Id thought there would be something out there.....I dont want to build my own.  I have enough trouble finding time to paint minis and play games.   I just ordered a hotz mat til i find something.

http://www.hotzmats.com/glad_lg_x2_photos.html

http://www.hotzmats.com/glad_sm_x2_photos.html

[Irregular Wars Nic]

Awesome to hear.  I have a bunch of Gladiators waiting to go.  Im hoping there is a future expansion with animals or something.  I was looking to buy an arena/ colosseum- but no luck. Id thought there would be something out there.....I dont want to build my own.  I have enough trouble finding time to paint minis and play games.   I just ordered a hotz mat til i find something.

http://www.hotzmats.com/glad_lg_x2_photos.html

http://www.hotzmats.com/glad_sm_x2_photos.html

Cheers Bloodaxe. Let us know how you find the mats.

What additional fighting styles and/or animals would you like to see? Not promising anything, but always interested in feedback.