Yoki Erdtman
Sweden
Södertälje
Handsome devil huh?
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In testing how the various historical gladiator types would fare against each other in this fun gladiatorial combat miniatures game, we had a best-of-three match between the Thraces of one ludus vs the Murmillones of another.
Match 1:
Two rookie gladiators stared at each other from across the sun beaten, blood-spoiled sand. The Thracian was first through the gates, and saw his hulking brute of an opponent enter through a gate on the opposite side of the arena. Murmillones are known for their strength, and his opponent today was not a disappointment to his kind. The Thracian realized that he would have to use his agility and quick reactions to stand a chance of beating his opponent.
The Thracian had Agility 4, Strength 2, and Status 1, while the Murmillo had Agility 2, Strength 4, Status 1. The lanista (trainer/manager) controlling the Murmillo could not figure out how to best use his Strength to his advantage and was suckered into using his agility in trying to outmaneuver his much quicker and more nimble opponent. This lead to a convincing victory for the Thracian, who beat the Murmillo into unconsciousness when he collapsed at -1AG.
When your Agility goes into the negative, you have to save vs collapsing, by rolling 1d6 > the Agility integer. The Murmillo's lanista rolled a 1 on the very first save and saw his Murmillo laps into unconsciousness early in the fight. He rolled for missio (reprieve), but the crowd was brutal to such a weakling and demanded his life.
The Thracian didn't enjoy using his gladius to slit the throat of his prostrate opponent just to please the roaring masses, but he knew this was his destiny: to kill or be killed.
The lanista who had lost the first match went back to his ludus (gladiatorial school) to find another Murmillo to challenge the upstart Thracian from his rival ludus. This time he would impress on the gladiator the importance of using his scutum (large shield) to his best advantage, to counter the quickness of the Thracian.
The lanista swore that he would have revenge against the loss of his valuable property. He had spent a lot of hard earned cash on purchasing, training, and feeding that good-for-nothing slave who died in his first outing.
Match 2:
The Murmillo was nervous. This was his first time in the arena with a real blade in his hand, and cheering crowds in the stands, and across from him was the Thracian who had killed his friend.
What was it his lanista had told him? He was to remember to use his scutum, both offensively in bashing his opponent, and defensively to block. He was not about to go down without a fight, that was for certain.
The new Murmillo had the same stats as the first (AG2/ST4). The strategy of using his bonuses from his scutum paid off big-time. Every time the Thracian was about to get a strike in, the Murmillo bashed him out of the way, and forced the Thracian to fight to get back inside the Murmillo's zone of control.
In Familia Gladiatoria, each gladiator has a Zone of Control, which is the hexes in his front arc, normally just the adjacent hexes for short weapons like the gladius. You can never enter an opponent's ZoC without having successfully won a Move test vs the opponent's action.
The Murmillo was proud. He kept alternately defending against the Thracian's thrusts, alternately bashing him out of range with the scutum. He suckered the Thracian into expecting the same pattern of moves every time he attacked, and then the Murmillo changed from bashing to slashing and started cutting the Thracian to shreds.
The Thracian got so beat up that he was forced into requesting missio from the crowd, which they granted, but only due to his past performance, because today he was definitely outclassed.
When both your Agility and Strength are reduced to 0 or less, you automatically request missio, which is what happened to the Thracian.
Match 3:
The lanista of the Murmillo was gleefully happy, but it nagged him that the crowd had granted the Thracian missio. He requested a rematch, which was promptly granted at the next festival. This time he was sure the Murmillo would finish his opponent.
The rematch was a classic battle. Both lanistae had learned from the previous matches, and drilled into their respective gladiators how to counter the effectiveness of their opponent.
The Murmillo was confident, and early on got a positional advantage by placing his rear to a column on the arena floor. This made it next to impossible for the Thracian to outmaneuver him. Sure the Thracian kept trying to feint him, to get him to open up his defenses, but the Murmillo didn't succumb to the Thracian's tricks. He knew that his shield bashes would cancel out any weak feints.
The Thracian, who was already a survivor of two matches came into this last match with AG4, ST3 and Status 2. His opponent the Murmillo had only AG2, ST4, and Status 2. 1pt difference in stats really makes a difference in this game.
Unfortunately, the Murmillo was suckered into the same trap he had laid for his opponent the last time. The Murmillo expected the Thracian to repeat the same pattern of moves, but was nicked in the chest. The Murmillo tried to slash back, but the Thracian's follow up thrust was quicker, the Murmillo felt the gladius pierce his throat, just below his galea (helmet), the last thing he felt was his own warm blood gushing out over his chest, then everything went black.
This was awesome! Our first head hit and it was a beauty. The galea of the murmillo meant that the Thracian's lanista had to beat the armor rating of 4, and he did. Normally each hit results in the defender losing 1pt of either AG or ST, but a head hit results in a loss of 1pt of each stat, and forcing the defender to save vs falling and dying. The Murmillo passed the save vs falling, but died on his feet!
Fantastic, what a glorious session!
This game is sure to come out again.
Great session, tons of fun!
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David Kitcat
United Kingdom
Malvern
Worcestershire
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Nice session report Yoki, showing an appreciation of how the game works & a nice quote from Erasmus. Not quite the same era as the Gladiators but the Murmillones would have appreciated his views.
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Yoki Erdtman
Sweden
Södertälje
Handsome devil huh?
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Thanks David, have you also played the game?
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David Kitcat
United Kingdom
Malvern
Worcestershire
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Yoki, no I haven't. It was your title that caught my eye. I nearly picked up the Ludus Gladiatoris set a couple of years ago at a show but instead decided to buy the Battleground Orcs & Goblins - a game we do have in common.
I probably wouldn't play the game unless I did get some gladiator miniatures at some time in the future (too many games & not enough time). Your report certainly does suggest that there are interesting depths to an otherwise simple set of rules.
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Posted Mon Jun 22, 2009 7:30 pm
