Blood on the Sands: A Game of Gladiatorial Combat

[WillieB]

Nitpicking. Shouldn't the Provocator illustration say short greave? He was a scutari after all.

Illustrations are fabulous. Hope they are all - and a few more- in the book.

[Furt]

Nitpicking. Shouldn't the Provocator illustration say short greave? He was a scutari after all.

Illustrations are fabulous. Hope they are all - and a few more- in the book.

That was my original impression of the Provocator too Willie but you will note his "short" scutum. Recently I have spend (too much) time on gladiator research groups who ensure me that the Provocator fought with a single longer greave and a shorter scutum than Murmillo/Secutor. There is evidence around but I can't directly link here. It makes sense too as the Secutor directly evolved from the Murmillo while the Provocator has always been it's own class. It actually helped me differentiate them in BotS finally as Provocators were always a bit of a mystery.

[WillieB]

You're probably right. Nossov also mentions the longer greave and the smaller scutum. Even says that originally the shields were smaller ovals. My bad.

[Muzfish4]

After missing out on MOAB due to a combination of real life dramas and associated foolishness of one sort or another I managed to make time on a weeknight for some quick bouts at the FLGS.

The two very quick games where the egg-head avoided the initial net throw got inside retiarius' guard and landed his gladius in the vitals to end the match in the second turn. There's no coming back from a sword tow to the vitals. 



The third bout was an incredibly hard-fought match. There were three net casts, a dropped sword, desperate shield bashes and scrambling around the arena to recover lost items by both fighters.



The combatants were bleeding profusely at the end, banked parries were long gone and it could have gone either way with the matter being decided on a super successful net cast, trapping the chaser followed up by a trident to the already-injured lead arm. Good fun and constant challenging tactical choices to be made.

The rule tweaks look very good and take what is already a terrific game to the next level.

[WillieB]

Looks fascinating!
Did you make up the stats for the Retiarius yourself?

[Muzfish4]

No, it's all Frank's work.

I'm just doing a little bit of play testing. Was hoping to get another couple of bouts in this week but, again, real life getting in the way of my gaming.

[Derek H]

Played my first two games yesterday and enjoyed them a lot.   Clever mechanisms that seem to work well in giving the flavour of different gladiator types.  Quite the best gladiator rules I've ever played.   

I'm playing again tonight at the wargames club, but the playtest rules don't seem to have enough in them to keep that interest going for long.

It looks to me like it's very much time that you got the rules published, they've been in development a long time. Gladiators are very much a minority interest though (small niche of a small niche)  and I'd suggest it would probably be best to put them out as a pdf, or perhaps as print-on-demand.

[Furt]

After missing out on MOAB due to a combination of real life dramas and associated foolishness of one sort or another I managed to make time on a weeknight for some quick bouts at the FLGS.

It was a real bummer missing meeting up at MOAB - maybe next time. Thanks Muzfish for your continued support.

Played my first two games yesterday and enjoyed them a lot.   Clever mechanisms that seem to work well in giving the flavour of different gladiator types.  Quite the best gladiator rules I've ever played.   

I'm playing again tonight at the wargames club, but the playtest rules don't seem to have enough in them to keep that interest going for long.

It looks to me like it's very much time that you got the rules published, they've been in development a long time. Gladiators are very much a minority interest though (small niche of a small niche)  and I'd suggest it would probably be best to put them out as a pdf, or perhaps as print-on-demand.

Thanks for trying it out Derek - glad you had fun. The quick start is only a taste to let people try out the mechanics and see if they like the concept. I agree that the rules certainly have been kicking around for some time and need to be released. I am surprised by the interest a gladiator game has gained on social media although.