Gladiator Combat. Best rules for young players?

[Irishrover13]

Hi all,

I have started a games club at the school I teach at and I have been asked by some of the boys (they know I am a miniatures gamer), if I have ever played any gladiator games. I have eyeballed a few and bought like red sand, blue sky and victus by Iron Ivan (spelling) but I have never had time to play. But I heard there are other games like SONG OF SHADOWS AND DUST and a few others who's names escape me at the moment. I have Gladiator mini's in 15mm and gamers from age 9 - 14 who want to use them but I need a set of rules work for beginners but will still keep them entertained in a few weeks when they have them figured out. Any suggestions out there? They also need child friendly illustrations.

Cheers,

Irish  

[Mad Doc Morris]

Already checked our gladiator thread? There's a collection of topics dealing with rule sets.
For newcomers I'd recommend Ludus Gladiatorius by em4miniatures (LINK) – basic rules and all you need to start in one single boxed set.

[Mister Rab]

I have an as-new set of Ludus Gladiatorius (been out of the box twice) if you're interested. Drop me a PM if you are.

[Elbows]

My first thought was that EM4 set as well...havent' played it, but pre-painted with fancy dice = simple most of the time.

If you're a Math or Stats teacher, then RS:BS would work... (my least favourite system I've seen...horrible)

[Sir Barnaby Hammond-Rye]

The one by Arena games plays well. At the US conventions the players are often kids.

[Elbows]

Yeah, Arena games can be played very simply as well (with a lot of players) and it has a very minor amount of strategy which might go well with students.