08/05/2013 (05/08/2013 for you weird Europeans...)
Played two games of BOTS tonight with a long time buddy of mine. Sadly only my phone was handy for pictures, so I'll try to get a camera on standby tomorrow if we get some games in.
Initially I had tried to play this game with my brother (a non-gamer). He had kinda glazed over and we abandoned it. Reading the rules you get a little lost, and it's a game in which you need to nut up, put some minis on the table and stumble through a game, before you "get it". It's not one which is easy to read and comprehend fully. In the middle of the first game (Caius, Myrmillo v. Biggus Buttus, Thraex) there were many "Oh, okay...I get it now" moments.
Battle is joined.
We were playtesting this for Mr. Furt and have compiled a number of questions/clarifications which will be presented to him upon completion of gaming tomorrow. We ran two games tonight, and the second went 10x smoother, proving that seasoned players will get the hang of it pretty quickly.
First game:
Rolling characters, Biggus Buttus (Thraex from Gallia) rolled Skill 4, Coward, Skilled, and ...something I've forgotten (yep, three 6's on his first trait roll!). Caius, Myrmillo from Aegyptus rolled Skill 4 also, and no traits.
Biggus Buttus took control of the game quite quickly, delivering two massive wounds to the Myrmillo's sword arm, forcing him to drop the sword, and suffer immense bleeding. By the start of turn three, Caius (Myrmillo) was bleeding so profusely from his nearly severed arm that he succumbed to fatigue and surrendered...the crowd mercilessly calling for blood. Biggus Buttus finished him in the proper way.
(we used various tokens we had handy on the Gladiator boards, which I had laminated so we could use markers as well...my buddy is only in town for a short while and I didn't get all of the tokens cut out, so we didn't waste time!)
Second game:We decided to pit the Hoplomachus Secundus Chancus against Biggus Buttus (now Fame 1 from having won a fight). While there aren't proper rules for the Hoplomachus in the playtest rules, we had the armatura and scratched together some simple adjustments from the retiarius' trident (become the Hoplomachus spear) etc.
Secundus Chancus rolled Skill 4 also, and Unlucky. This fight was far more interesting, with the Hoplomachus having quite an advantage with his spear over the Thraex. He threw the spear once, missing Biggus Buttus, as blows were traded (each suffering numerous wounds, little bleeding). Secundus suffered a bloody forehead, and Biggus Buttus was bleeding from numerous slashes to his arms and legs. At the end of turn two, Secundus managed to run around and pick up his spear (while suffering an outcry of anger from the crowds). He spun on heel and hurled the speed, striking Buttus in the chest.
^Blood token marks the landing location of the spear should Secundus miss...
Buttus suffered...the spear landing straight in the middle of his chest, somehow missing his vital organs.
^Four damage dice...four wounds!
My Hoplomachus fared much better than the Myrmillo
In a frantic scramble in close combat both gladiators traded blows (each a scant cut away from being crippled or bleeding out...) and Biggus Buttus succumbed to his wounds. Due to her performance (5+ crowd favor) he was allowed to leave the arena with his life. This game was more interesting/exciting than the first, and flowed much better because we were become more acquainted with the rules.
It's quite good, the game. I think with some official or unofficial modifications to allow more than one player it could be quite the insane/frantic multiplayer game as well. Overall very fun, and I think we'll try to get in another couple games tomorrow. Still have a secutor and retiarius I've had to keep at opposite ends of the painting table to minimize the curses and gnashing of teeth.
Good stuff!
22 July 2013, 08:56:40 AM
