Blood on the Sands **NEW** Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears...

[Furt]

The game played very well and the improvements made in this draft pretty much nail it. The game is there and all the various tweaks and improvements work very nicely together.

Firstly thanks again Muzfish for going to the effort of detailing your report and findings here - I really appreciate it mate.
I am very happy to hear that all the tweaks to the rules meet your approval and other playtesters thankfully agree with you.
Love your eclectic collection of tokens!

So others know, I chose to release a v1.2 update to the most dedicated playtesters, to quickly judge a major rules change regarding Defence dice and their use.
I will have a v1.3 ready soon that will include these updates.

My observations:
•   The option to spend a laurel die to improve an attack after the roll is excellent. Really makes those dice valuable and with the +2 to damage mentioned above for disparities of 3 or more it makes these decisions very interesting. (Can a fervour token be used in the same manner?)

Yes it can. A fervour token in all respects is a Laurel Dice.

•   An A4 sheet combining the Tessera Gladiatoria and ‘normal’ playsheet might be useful – especially if the class trait is printed in the Tessera Gladiatoria. It may give a bit more room to store the tokens as well.

The idea is that the gladiator playsheet is laminated and written on with a whiteboard marker and is used for any gladiator of that class, while the Tessera Gladiatoria sheet is unique to a given gladiator, being written on with pencil and stored between matches. Physically combining them into one sheet, although possibly convenient, makes writing on them with different mediums difficult. 

•   Current rules-as-written allow a +1 to be added to an attack for every attack die spent – is this ‘normal’ attack only or can a ‘special’ attack die also be used this way?

No, only "normal attack" dice (a 4), may be added as +1 to an attack.

•   We understood that an item could only be used for its parry bonus once per attack. That is, if I had a scutum and two defence dice I would use one for the +3 parry and the other for the +1 general defence – is this right?

Yes you are exactly right. You either gain your parry bonus or not by spending a Defence dice/Parry token. Additional Defence dice/Parry tokens add the general +1.

•   We weren’t sure about the number of starting parry tokens – did I miss where they are on the class descriptions?

Yes a total oversight by me in a rush to explain the tweaks. Starting Parry tokens = total Parry Bonus. So, for example, a secutor starts with 3 parry tokens while a hoplomachus starts with 2 parry tokens. This will become clearer (and will be actually explained) in the next version.

•   As the game is nearly done, it might be beneficial to include some extended play examples in and appendix to assist new players.

Yes definitely. Was waiting as you say until the rules are mostly tied down.

•   This might be me, but the ‘once a game’ abilities such as Son of nemesis tend to be forgotten in the excitement. Would they perhaps be a useful token for a player to have on their sheet so as not to forget them and remove the token when used?

I'm trying to keep tokens to a minimum, but that is not a bad suggestion at all considering they are single use.

Next step will be to try to run a short campaign and see how we go from there.

That would be great Muzfish, the campaign elements of the game have not been playtested enough, along with running gladiators of different tier levels against each other.

[craigjonwoodfield]

I'll just pitch in briefly to support Muzfish's excellent summary. We had a quite exciting game and the revised rules work well.

The only return fire from me is on the use of special attack dice to boost attack rolls (or do anything else really). As it stands, the recent changes mean that dice are rarely redundant - except for 5s. With special attacks now limited to one per turn, rolling a handful of 5s is pretty much your worst outcome. I would argue it doesn't scan that well either - rolling a bunch of 1s indicates the gladiator is poised to maneuver, a bunch of 2's going on the defensive, a bunch of 3s he/she is resting, 4's ready to attack, 6's anything is possible but 5's - bad luck son, you get one special attack and the rest are wasted. Even using 5's to only boost special attacks would be worth considering.

My 5 denarii.

[Furt]

Thanks for the reply craigjonwoodfield - appreciated.

Regarding the one Special Attack, the rule is actually: A gladiator may perform any given SPECIAL ATTACK! only once per turn.

So you can perform as many Special Attacks as you have dice for, you just can't perform the same Special Attack in a turn. Maybe the rule isn't clear enough?

[craigjonwoodfield]

Ack, we got that wrong. I blame Muzfish. But I actually didn't mind only being able to make 1 special attack per turn. Makes it kind of, you know, special.

[Muzfish4]

Ack, we got that wrong. I blame Muzfish.

Yeah, that was me. I read it as meaning that a gladiator can only perform one special attack per turn. Still played pretty well forcing the player to decide to what attack they were going to commit. It did indeed make the single attack quite special.

Whichever way it ends up going - you're on a definite winner here. I think we're very close to a finalised set.

[Furt]

All good gents - I'm surprised play testers have got the majority of the rules right anyway!

[Furt]

I have just released Blood on the Sands v1.3. Play testers should have been contacted by now.

[Eithriall]

Oooouuaaahhh !!! It's been a long time since I came back here, but after seeing the Facebook videos by chance, I'm glad to know that BotS is not dead !!!
So I'm back...
 

[Furt]

Oooouuaaahhh !!! It's been a long time since I came back here, but after seeing the Facebook videos by chance, I'm glad to know that BotS is not dead !!!
So I'm back...
 

It sure has been a long time Franck! BotS has crawled out from beneath Charun's hammer.

[Muzfish4]

The playtesting is going well and, as I say above, the one-on-one aspect of the game feels like it is very close to being done so when we gave it another run we decided to give the campaign format a try for the first time. However, with work, kids’ sports and life in general I am only writing about it now. Still, better late than never, though

Munus I

First things first. We went through the full campaign set up in the rules (version 1.2 at that stage) and set up our respective munii. I ran the stable of Dubius Status (thanks, Asterix the Legionary) while my opponent was Manifarius. We chose our first couple of matches in the one year campaign filled out the Libellus Munerarius sheet and were away. Looks like the ad initio editor is big on blood and snake eyes had no mercy for the fighters. Hard way to start a campaign, but there we are.

That done, the crowd cheered in the first event of the season as the compositio trooped onto the sand. The Ludus of Manifarius presented the rookie Retiarius, Felix. The lucky one faced off against Flaccus the Secutor. The match started with a bit of an opening attack, measured in pace and ineffective in outcome from Flaccus. Felix, for his part lived up to his name with a net cast as his opening gambit. Unlike other experiences where this has been lucky to be considered a nuisance, this cast netted the chaser but good, causing him for temporarily forfeit three dice.  From there he never came back being unable to roll laurels for toffee and was skewered in the tines of Felix’s trident.


Above: A very successful net cast

Moments after the crumpled and lifeless form of Flaccus was dragged from the arena out rocked the Thracian, Audax, from the stable of Dubius Status - he was adored the crowed loved him.  A decidedly less warm welcome greeted Dynamicus the Murmillo. Audax used his attacks well and seemed to have a five on-hand every turn to put in the Thracian hook around. Even with my traditional lousy rolling, having three dice (and choosing the best two) was a huge edge. Win to the Thracian and a one-way trip on Charon’s barge for the less than dynamic Dynamicus.


Above: One for Dubius' crew

So, round one was over and the two champions were on five fame each which bumped them up a tier giving all sorts of abilities. As they were tied in fame there was no clear champion but by reaching this level they certainly had a number of edges in any future bouts. Interesting.

Munus II

Next round on the circuit saw the new editor eschew the sine missone – much to the relief of both stable masters as it costs a good few coin to train up a tiro and losing them on their first outing does not represent what later generations would describe as a good return on investment. Editor Secundus is very much into a vanilla sort of bout with nothing special for the crowd to consider, just mano-a-mano until they have jolly well had enough.

Dubius Status elected to field Audax the Thracian again and instead of a big shield man it was another of his matched opponents – a Hoplomachus, Socrates hailing from who knew where.  Audax used his edges to play to the crowd, build up his parries and generally give it a red hot go. All this showmanship did not end up doing him much good as he caught a spear through the chest which really slowed him down and then another to the rear arm. The +2  with the parmula as opposed to the +3 parry with the scutum really made a difference as the blows landed and our tier one Thracian went from hero to zero pretty quickly.  The crowd saw through him for the show pony he was and, with an appeal roll of three, didn’t waste too much time on calling forth Hermes pyschpompus. Match to the wise one.


Above: The skewering of Audax

Last match of the day saw Felix front up again facing a new Secutor, a German Prisoner of recent campaigns across the Rhine called, with the typical sensitivity the Romans showed the their captives, Vercingetorix. Again Felix cast early but this time it wasn’t as effective as it could have been, but still cost the big German a die or two. By way of contrast, Felix was untouched, easily batting away shield bashes, aimed attacks and bog standard stabs with his trident. The +1 initiative bonus from tier disparity made a difference as he could dictate the tempo of the match and force the chaser to burn a lot of dice to attack just to avoid the disfavour token. Not too far into the match a critical hit with all the gubbins collected Vercingetorix in the chest and boxcars pushed the damage up to 14 so the Teuton was dead before he hit the ground.


Above: Felix gets a victory and the key to his freedom

Felix didn’t advance another tier but did, with some outrageous rolling find himself in possession of a rudis and no longer obliged to risk it all for what is a very fickle crowd. Manifarius made him a big offer to come back as a rudiarius but you couldn’t see the ex-netman for dust as he went off to forge a new life away from the sand and blood of the arena. Still, that’s 10 points banked for Manifarius which is huge in the context of the campaign.

So, there we go. Four games played to completion and the campaign half done in around two and a half hours. Manifarius certainly has the running so far, but we’re only halfway there and Dubius Status could still surprise.

[Muzfish4]

More to come on this, but to break things up, here's a video Furt might enjoy with more modern(ish) gladiators:

[Muzfish4]

Righto, back to it.

Our next match was a week later and played under version 1.3. We decided to give a few other classes a run and fielded a Provocator each to see how the armoured dudes did against each other.

Munus III

To start with the editor, who likes a laugh, had his spare Anubi statues trotted out and placed around the arena. After all, what’s the point in a posting to Egypt if you don’t bring something fancy back to show the folks at home?


Above: The crowd come out for this one - handy to keep the edges of an increasingly batter playsheet grounded

This Provocator vs Provoctor bout was decided, largely, by dice. Dubius’ boy, Myron, got the yips at the start and was an action die down for the entire bout as he didn’t manage to roll a laurel from his pool of five (then four) dice for the entire eight turns of the match. He also rarely rolled above six for either attack or defence. By contrast, Remus did not suffer from misfortune – though he certainly dished a fair bit of it out.  Despite only taking one wound to the lead arm (one more than his opponent, Remus) the ineptitude of Myron was the one constant in an ever-changing universe and when he was about to drop with exhaustion (he wasn’t much good at rolling 3s when it mattered either) he raised his finger and the crowd seemed to decide the cruellest thing they could do would be to let him live. One fame to Dubius and the fightback was on. Not really, Remus picked up more points but as he didn’t get much of a chance to shine against such a gumby didn’t get to tier one.


Above: Blood is drawn but really, it's amatter of time for before pseudo-Crupellarius goes down

Last match of the day was heavy against light as Manifarius broke from type and fielded a Murmillo. Coming in the opposite corner was a Hoplomachus whose ferocity went unnoticed but did have a fair bit of depth in defence. The bout started with Ignoramus defying the wit who gave him his arena name by making his attacks and zipping away forcing Juba, the hard man out of Utica, to burn die after die just chasing him and accrue half a dozen disfavour tokens at one stage as he just couldn’t reach his opponent to attack.  So far so good, the Hoplomachus inflicted a few hits here and there and kept his fatigue under control while pushing the cardio training of Juba finally over the line to exhaustion. The end looked nigh as Juba fumbled and saw his sweat-slicked sword fly out of his hand to land behind him. The crowd didn’t see Ignoramus’ grin behind his helmet but knew the end was nigh.


Above: the key moment where Juba's gladius goes flying

They were bang right but not in the way anyone expected. Juba had the initiative and being without a sword used his shield; the shield barge worked and a couple of consecutive ones saw the Hoplomachus flat out on the floor of the arena as he has a shocker on the trip hazard table. Juba, following the Way of the Scutum to its logical conclusion then rolled out a powerful shield strike smashing off the downed fighter’s visor for a deep head wound.   Being prone also meant Ignoramus forfeited his action dice and didn’t have the chance to get up (or do anything) in his turn. Next turn’s initiative was vital and we both roll a three. Should go to Ignoramus but there is a -1 as the penalty for being prone. Juba, by contrast has just the right set of dice to step back, grab his gladius (which he does with no dramas, step up and land a mighty blow, again to the head and the crania trauma is too much for the spearman who last thoughts have him wonder which god he offended.


Above: A defeat against the run of play, but a defeat nonetheless

At that stage we called it as Manifarius was 21-1 ahead in the campaign and Dubius Status was not even a mathematical possibility for a victory.


Above: The final Libellus Munerarius - forgive the scribble but you get the idea

Observations on the campaign

•   Played well. The setup is pretty quick once you get the hang of it.
•   There may be scope for fighter background to have a minor effect on campaign outcomes. Maybe ex equestrians could generate more fame if they win?
•   Ending about with disfavour tokens doesn’t affect a fighter’s accrued fame – could there be a -1 fame for having any disfavour tokens at the conclusion of a bout?
•   We weren’t sure, but though that if a fighter is killed their fame also disappears – is this right?
•   Gladiator classes with only one type of opponent can seem a bit ‘samey’ – it would be good to allow out of class fights – perhaps once a fighter reaches tier one and a curious public want to see what he can do?

Observations on the combats

•   As I say, they are about right and the constant management of the dice pool really does have a player constantly involved in not just their own fighter’s actions, but also trying to anticipate what one’s opponent will do.
•   Parries work well and really ad to the way the game plays with no added complexity.
Fights are bloody and not too many gladiators seem to survive. Is the death-ratio perhaps a little high?
•   The +2 to damage for disparities of 3 or more really matter and still get players thinking about spending defence dice even when their opponent rolls so well a hit is highly likely.
•   This is the first time I have seen a (hyper) successful shield barge. It can really ruin your day if things go wrong for you.
•   We did have some discussion around whether the hook around (combined with the dominant trait) makes the Thracian too dangerous, but on reflection I am of the view that this is what makes the class appealing – that threat of at least one potentially really effective attack a turn gives their bigger, better shielded foes pause.
•   In most cases a bit of bad luck won’t ruin a game for you. In the last match my Hoplomachus did pretty much everything right until the worst of rolls on my part met the best of rolls from my opponent and it all went to custard very quickly.

Observations on the classes

Having played a few games now, here are my general thoughts and observations on the six classes of gladiator.
Thracian – My favourite class. I enjoy their offensive edges and it is a challenge getting the most bang for one’s buck while still warding off attacks. The +2 bonus with the parmula and smaller parry token pool make this guy always a chance for action.

Murmillo – Another class I really like. Spends a lot of time defending, and has the profile to do so, but when he does get in there the Brute class characteristic makes it potentially very unpleasant for the opponent.  A good one for newer players as is it perhaps the most forgiving of the classes.

Hoplomachus – Fun, fun, fun. These guys are a hoot and their mobility, tied with interesting special attacks and the ability to strike at a distance make them fun to play. By contrast they have to burn a lot of dice on the defence. I suspect these guys are the trickiest to win with.

Retiarius – A good net cast will win you the match, or at least it should, a miss however, won’t really hurt too much. The +2 attack and +2 defence with the trident are pretty powerful. The lack of armour makes every successful hit a rollercoaster of hope and desperation.

Secutor – A good paring for the netman and this is reflected in the rules. Having only to one class of opponent makes them a bit one-dimensional.

Provocator – By a fair way, I find this class the least interesting. Maybe the amount of armour makes it feel like bouts are going to be drawn out and relay more on fatigues than hits. Then again, perhaps I need to give it another try though without any sort of ‘gimmick’ attack he’s more like a Murmillo who gets tuckered out easily.

[craigjonwoodfield]

Great commentary by Muzfish as usual, I've got nothing to add except the thrill of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in that last match was pretty intense, matched only by Muzfish's frustration at doing everything right and having the match in the bag to only get upended by a few extraordinary rolls.

cheers

CW

[Furt]

Again thanks for the detailed report Muzfish and for putting it up here.

As a kid I was an avid Parra supporter and even remember that ad. This was the heyday of the Eels and the likes of Grothe, Price and Kenny were certainly modern day gladiators.

Observations on the campaign

•   Played well. The setup is pretty quick once you get the hang of it.
•   There may be scope for fighter background to have a minor effect on campaign outcomes. Maybe ex equestrians could generate more fame if they win?
•   Ending about with disfavour tokens doesn’t affect a fighter’s accrued fame – could there be a -1 fame for having any disfavour tokens at the conclusion of a bout?
•   We weren’t sure, but though that if a fighter is killed their fame also disappears – is this right?
•   Gladiator classes with only one type of opponent can seem a bit ‘samey’ – it would be good to allow out of class fights – perhaps once a fighter reaches tier one and a curious public want to see what he can do?

• In my experiences the rolling up of the six gladiators is very easy - the hardest thing is inventing names for them all. I hope to include a quick name generator for that.
• The original game had any auctoratus gaining a fame bonus.
• I am trying to avoid removing fame from a gladiator or running the risk of a gladiator receiving 0 fame. I have something in the works for earning disfavour in excess of the two allowed.
• Yes, so as it stands if you lose your gladiator (through death or the rudis) you lose that fame. So basically only the six gladiators currently representing your ludus contribute to to "winning game" fame. I think this may encourage players to not always field their most powerful gladiators in an attempt to preserve them. Not sure if this a good or bad thing yet. I'd love your feedback on this.
• Yes I am feeling the matched pair restrictions are a little confining as well but I am trying to remain as historical as I can. I think a munus event that allows players to ignore these restrictions could help this more.

Observations on the combats

•   As I say, they are about right and the constant management of the dice pool really does have a player constantly involved in not just their own fighter’s actions, but also trying to anticipate what one’s opponent will do.
•   Parries work well and really ad to the way the game plays with no added complexity.
Fights are bloody and not too many gladiators seem to survive. Is the death-ratio perhaps a little high?
•   The +2 to damage for disparities of 3 or more really matter and still get players thinking about spending defence dice even when their opponent rolls so well a hit is highly likely.
•   This is the first time I have seen a (hyper) successful shield barge. It can really ruin your day if things go wrong for you.
•   We did have some discussion around whether the hook around (combined with the dominant trait) makes the Thracian too dangerous, but on reflection I am of the view that this is what makes the class appealing – that threat of at least one potentially really effective attack a turn gives their bigger, better shielded foes pause.
•   In most cases a bit of bad luck won’t ruin a game for you. In the last match my Hoplomachus did pretty much everything right until the worst of rolls on my part met the best of rolls from my opponent and it all went to custard very quickly.

Great observations that really make this old lanista smile - great to hear. 

Observations on the classes

Having played a few games now, here are my general thoughts and observations on the six classes of gladiator.
Thracian – My favourite class. I enjoy their offensive edges and it is a challenge getting the most bang for one’s buck while still warding off attacks. The +2 bonus with the parmula and smaller parry token pool make this guy always a chance for action.

Murmillo – Another class I really like. Spends a lot of time defending, and has the profile to do so, but when he does get in there the Brute class characteristic makes it potentially very unpleasant for the opponent.  A good one for newer players as is it perhaps the most forgiving of the classes.

Hoplomachus – Fun, fun, fun. These guys are a hoot and their mobility, tied with interesting special attacks and the ability to strike at a distance make them fun to play. By contrast they have to burn a lot of dice on the defence. I suspect these guys are the trickiest to win with.

Retiarius – A good net cast will win you the match, or at least it should, a miss however, won’t really hurt too much. The +2 attack and +2 defence with the trident are pretty powerful. The lack of armour makes every successful hit a rollercoaster of hope and desperation.

Secutor – A good paring for the netman and this is reflected in the rules. Having only to one class of opponent makes them a bit one-dimensional.

Provocator – By a fair way, I find this class the least interesting. Maybe the amount of armour makes it feel like bouts are going to be drawn out and relay more on fatigues than hits. Then again, perhaps I need to give it another try though without any sort of ‘gimmick’ attack he’s more like a Murmillo who gets tuckered out easily.

Pretty spot on here too. My hope has always been that the classes feel and play different from each other - a monumental task.

Provocators do tend to produce drawn out combats of fatigue, what with their torso protection and all, but I do like that this is the case. The new Provoke ability could see them using a different tactic to win.

The retiarius has lost his +2 to attack (reduced to +1) in the latest version because it was just too good. They retain their +2 to defence.

Again thank you Muzfish and criagjonwoodfield for your continued support. It is greatly appreciated.

[Muzfish4]

Hi Frank, no worries at all. I think it's safe to say we're both enjoying the playtesting.

Thinking abut the campaign structure, perhaps doubling the points awarded (and points needed to advance a tier) might allow for minor deductions like some minor negative for finishing the game with disfavour tokens?

Having only the 'in play' six count towards a ludus' fame does make the management of gladiators tricky - hence the requirement of the Champion to fight at the Saturnalia so no hiding the frontrunner.

I like the idea of a 'no class restrictions' ludus event - to the point that perhaps class restrictions are banned. Should add a bit of spice. Another option might be for Tier one gladiators fight other tier one gladiators (at the discretion of the fielding lanista) as the crowd want to see the big names fight - maybe attach a fame bonus as well to incentivise give the people what they want?

The game with the Hoplomachus showed the strengths of the system in that it really wasn't a case of going through the motions for a foregone conclusion and Craigus'  ability to conjure a surprise win from his reduced dice pool with judicious management and a bit of luck was really what the game is all about.

Finally, glad you liked the Tooheys ad. My favorite of the series was the Mike Whitney cricket one but this was a classic. As a kid I backed the chooks with local legends like Artie Beetson, Kevin Hastings and Russell Fairfax. Good times.