Sunday, July 31, 2011

Gladiators Week Seven


I’ve been working on some new walls for an arena. They’re not finished yet, but you might spot them in the bacground of a few shots here… Hopefully I’ll be able to populate them with some Roman Civilian spectators (and slave girls!) at some point (hopefully before the campaign fizzles…).

There were a few new characters this week after last week’s bloodbath. Afterwards I pointed out that if any of them ever wanted to level-up – let alone make it to seasoned – they’d have to stop making bloodthirsty-mean-ugly characters and maybe start looking at Hard to Kill, Quick Healer and charisma boosting edges….

Because Arrogant wasn’t really all that bad for a major hindrance I’ve decided that Arrogant characters will not take a dive. Also I’m now allowing Loyal – which is similar – Loyal characters cannot take a dive while other teammates are still fighting.


Of course, before the battles, we checked to see if any of the injured recovered.

Publius Gnaeus Mediocritus has some sort of lingering infection and STILL showed no signs of further recovery. Hipp O’Potomus remained seriously injured while Monotonous looked a little less like he was about to die (recovering one wound – two remain). Sabrina remained pretty seriously injured, but Sura finally made a full recovery and returned to action this week.


Game One

Bloodsport – bloodthirsty versus bloothirsty

Gladiators:

Sonja versus Orangeus Saladus.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)


The gladiators enter the new arena…


No smack talk – they just charge in and get to business


Pretty quick Sonja had Orangeous reeling from a telling blow.


Once off balance it didn’t take long until he was one the ground… One more bloodthirsty character bites the dust.


Game Two

Ludus Daveous vs Ludus Patrician

Gladiators:

Darkus Daius
Siberius

Versus

Noobus
Trius Aurelius


Siberius tried to give his blind teammate some directions but Darkus was having a hard time hearing due to the roar of the crowd…


He did, however, hear Noobus approaching – hard not to when approaching at a run – and was able to defend himself for a turn or two.


Siberius, incensed by Noobus’ insensitivity (beating on a blind man and all) ran over and laid the smack down – attacking with two hand weapons - his fighting (to hit) rolls were both 18(!?) – both raises. He scored a total of SEVEN wounds between the two, but Noobus somehow managed to soak six of them (beginner’s luck?)

Trius joined the fight and Darkus was left to attempt to fight the bewildered Noobus.


Trius kept nipping in and out of combat…


Noobus seriously wounded Darkus, who took a dive. A Crowd favourite, they took pity on him and he was spared.


Siberius was left to battle the two from Ludus Daveous.


They took turns charging in and taking cracks at him


Eventually they brought him down and he did not survive the day….


Game Three

Ludus Amandus vs Ludus Rickus

Gladiators:

Sura
Sarona

Versus

Aximae
Vorro


There was a great deal of smack talk to start this one… everyone approaching very slowly…


Very, VERY slowly all attempting to taunt or intimidate everyone from the opposintg ludus.


Someone said something nasty that made Aximae cry for a couple turns while Saron and Sura ganged up on Vorro.


Eventually Aximae pulled himself together and joined in the battle.


A mighty blow from his great axe seriously injured Sura who took a dive and called it a day. Being the most beautiful Gladiator around she was spared.


Aximae was then able to turn his attention to Sarona.

Sarona found herself then fighting both of Ludus Rickous’ brutes.

I seemed to have stopped taking photos at this point… Sarona really held her own – she beat down Aximae (incapacitating him) and fought off Vorro for some time, eventually she was seriously wounded and took a dive (figuring it’d be better to take a thumb roll at -2 than a bleed out roll at -4….) alas she was not favoured buy the crowd and was finished off by Vorro!

With everyone not making bloodthirsty characters this week the death rate dropped a little… though there were some serious injuries…

Is anyone actually reading this....? Bonus benny or a free wound recovery for one character of everyone that comments (well... that's playing in the campaign... anyone else that comments... um... will get to read future game reports...?)

Darkus Daius


painted by Patrick

Darkus Daius - Wildcard Gladiator - Patrick
Ag d4, Sm d4, Sp d8, St d6, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 6 (7), Charisma +2, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting dX, Notice dX, Stealth dX, Intimidate dX, Throwing dX, Taunt dX, Repair dX
Edges: Fast Healer, Hard To Kill, Attractive
Hindrances: Blind … yeah…. Really…
Gear: Superior Light Armour, Trident (Str+d8, +1 Parry, Reach1),

Siberius


Painted by Patrick

Siberius – Wildcard Gladiator - Patrick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 8, Toughness 6 (9), Charisma -2, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Notice d6,
Edges: Brawny, Ambidextrous
Hindrances: Arrogant, Outsider, Gloater
Gear: Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), hand Axe (Damage: Str+d6), Superior Heavy Armour,

Noobus


Painted by Patrick

Noobus - Wildcard Gladiator - Dave
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d4, St d10, Vg d4,
Pace 8 (+d10 run), Parry 10, Toughness 8 (10), Charisma 0, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Stealth d8,
Edges: Fleet-footed
Hindrances: None
Gear: Superior Light Armour, Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Inferior Large Shield

Trius Aurelius


Painted by Patrick

Trius Aurelius - Wildcard Gladiator - Dave
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d10, St d4, Vg d4,
Pace 5, Parry 8, Toughness 5 (7), Charisma 0, Encumbrance -2!!
Skills: Fighting d8, Stealth d4, Intimidate d12,
Edges: Hard to Kill, Charismatic
Hindrances: Obese, Loyal
Gear: Average Medium Armour, Spear (Damage: Str+d4, Reach 1), Average Small Shield

Aximae


Painted by Jackson

Aximae – Wild Card Gladiator - Rick
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 5(7), Charisma -1, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d8,
Edges: Trademark Weapon, quick
Hindrances: Vow (minor) must pray to deity at the beginning of each match (starts “shaken”), one eye,
Gear: Medium Superior Armour, Great Axe (Str+d10, AP 1, Parry -1, 2 hands

Vorro

look familiar...?


painted by Jackson

Vorro – Wild Card Gladiator - Rick
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 8 (10), Toughness 6 (9), Charisma -1, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d6
Edges: Brawny, Strong-Willed
Hindrances: Vow (must pray to gods at beginning of each match – starts “shaken”), One-eye
Gear: Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Average Heavy Armour, Average Large Shield

Sarona

Serina's sister, apparently. Amanda had such fun with the net and trident last week she decided to resurect this figure right away!


Serona – Wildcard Gladiator - Amanda
Ag d4, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d8,
Pace 4 (run d4), Parry 8 (9), Toughness 6 (7), Charisma 0, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d6
Edges: Ambidextrous, Fast healer
Hindrances: Lame
Gear: Trident (Str+d6/8* one hand = d6, two hand = d8, +1 Parry, Reach1), Net (+2 to grapple/ entangle an opponent (so, if offhand, net 0) once grappled with net may make fighting attacks at +2. May also be used for “Florentine” in place of a dagger), Superior Light Armour

I realized afterwards Amanda was cheating a bit here.... she dropped the agility on this one, but didn't take into account it would cost more to get fighting to d12... cheater-cheater-pumpkin-eater! Another incarnation of this figure will probably show up next week...

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Gladiators Week Six


A whole raft of new gladiators entering the arena this week… had a few (real time) weeks off so Patrick and Jackson got a few more figures painted – and as the games have been bloody almost everyone (except Amanda) was fielding at least one new gladiator this week.

Maybe I should have given them some criminals to execute… ah well..

Of course, before the battles, we checked to see if any of the injured recovered.

Publius Gnaeus Mediocritus has some sort of lingering infection and STILL showed no signs of further recovery. Sabrina remained pretty seriously injured, but Sura mad a pretty dramatic recovery (only one wound – of three – remaining) and Sonja fully recovered from her last weeks injury.

Game One

Three on Three

Gladiators:

Serina
Lucius
Aximus

Versus

Orangeus Saladus
Gluteus Maximus
Monotonous.


(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

This match was fast a furious!


There was a bit of smack-talk as the gladiators approached – but as soon as they met it got very bloody very fast – like in the first turn


BAM! Aximus is wounded


BAM! Lucious is wounded


BAM! Monotonus is wounded


BAM! Down goes Aximus

Monotonus was then severely wounded by Serena and chose to take a dive – he was spared by the crowd. Lucious, not so lucky…


AS the survivors of the initial match-ups circled there was a bit more smack-talk (taunting and intimidating – including Gluteous Maximus mooning Serena – who was so horrified she was briefly shaken by the incident…) Things went badly very fast for Serena – being double teamed and fighting against a bloodthirsty foe…



Game Two

Three on Three

Gladiators:
Sonja
Minimus Caesar
Hipp O’Potomus

Versus

Brutus
Diesalotus
Caxus




Once again the match opened with some jockeying for position and smack-talk. Some how it ended up with two two-on-one match ups…


Diesalotus fought against Sonja and Hipp O’Potamus



Minimus Caesar took on Brutus and Craxus


It took a fair bit of hammering on Diesalotus to get him down – being a bloodthirsty, mean, ugly brute, he was not spared by the crowd…


Minimus Caesar single-handedly took down Brutus and Craxus – also not loved by the crowd, they were shown no mercy…

And that wraps up another bloody week of Gladiatorial savagery…

Minimus Caesar


painted by Jackson (who says he's going to repaint it...)

Minimus Caesar - Wild Card Gladiator - Jackson
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6,
Pace 4, Parry 8, Toughness 6(9), Charisma +4, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Taunt d6, Repair dX
Edges: Brawny, Attractive, Noble
Hindrances: Lame, Minor Phobia (nets), Quirk (plays the crowd – starts “shaken”)
Gear: Superior Heavy Armour, Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), 600 denari

Craxus


painted by Jackson

Craxus – Wild Card Gladiator - Rick
Ag d8, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d6, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 8, Toughness 6 (8), Charisma -8, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d8,
Edges: Brawny, Ambidextrous
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Outsider (Gaul), Mean
Gear: 2x Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Superior Medium Armour

Aximus


painted by Jackson

Aximus - Wild Card Gladiator - Rick
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 7, Toughness 5(7), Charisma X, Encumbrance X
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d8,
Edges: Trademark Weapon,
Hindrances: Vow (minor) must pray to deity at the beginning of each match (starts “shaken”)
Gear: Medium Superior Armour, Great Axe (Str+d10, AP 1, Parry -1, 2 hands, min Str

Orangeus Saladus


painted by Patrick

Orangeus Saladus - Wild Card Gladiator - Patrick
Ag d4, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d8,
Pace 8, Parry 10, Toughness 7 (9), Charisma -6, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Repair d4, Intimidate d4,
Edges: Brawny, Fleet Footed
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Mean
Gear: Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Superior Medium Armour, Superior Large Shield

Diesalotus


painted by Patrick

Diesalotus - Wild Card Gladiator - Patrick
Ag d4, Sm d4, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d8,
Pace 6, Parry 9, Toughness 10, Charisma -8, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Intimidate d6,
Edges: Brawny, Trademark Weapon
Hindrances: Bloodthirsty, Mean, Ugly
Gear: Superior Heavy Armour, Trident (Str+d8, +1 Parry, Reach1),

Brutus


Brutus - Wild Card Gladiator - Curtis
Ag d6, Sm d4, Sp d4, St d6, Vg d10,
Pace 6, Parry 10, Toughness 7 (9), Charisma 0, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Notice d4,
Edges: Brawny
Gear: Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Average Large Shield, Average Light Armour

Gluteus Maximus



Gluteus Maximus - Wild Cart Gladiator - Curtis
Ag d4, Sm d6, Sp d6, St d8, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 8, Toughness 5 (7), Charisma 0, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d8, Notice d4, Taunt d8
Edges: Brawny
Gear: Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Average Large Shield, Average Light Armour,

Hipp O'Potomus


painted by Patrick

Hipp O'Potomus - Wild Card Gladiator - Dave
Ag d6, Sm d6, Sp d4, St d8, Vg d6,
Pace 6, Parry 8, Toughness 6 (9), Charisma -2, Encumbrance 0
Skills: Fighting d12, Taunt d6,
Edges: Brawny, Ambidextrous
Hindrances: Bad Luck, Outsider
Gear: Average Heavy Armour, Gladius (Damage: Str+d6), Crescent Blade (Damage: Str+d6)

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Gladiators - Week Five


I just finished reading volumes 1-4 for The Walking Dead and was tempted to run a zombie game this week – but just didn’t end up having time to organize it (and clean more of the table off…). I also saw the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger and was tempted to bust out the East Front Campaign… (again… lack of time to prepare…). Sometime this summer we will see some zombies and nazi/commie supersoldiers battling it out… perhaps in the same game!!

Anyway… On with the gladiatorial battles!

Week Five

Actually, before the battles we checked to see if any of the injured recovered.

Publius Gnaeus Mediocritus did not recover any further, nor did Sura, or Sabrina. Gorgeus Maximus, succumbing to his wounds, went to join his brother Beauteus Maximus in the underworld …


Executing Condemned Criminals

Gladiators:
Spearus Nochuckos, Sonja, Monotonous, and Serina

To take a break from the bloodshed (of CHARACTERS) like last week _ decided to throw the players a “gimme” – executing condemned criminals… of course the last time I did that it was so fast and one-sided I decided to make these criminals a bit more determined not to die – they were wildcards with three wounds, wild die, but only one benny (their luck had, more or less, run out) they were d6s across the board and only two had swords (the other two had improvised weapons…


(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

There was a fair bit of smack talk from the gladiators as they approached… a few were intimidated, one (the fellow on his knees) was shaken… TWICE!


The Condemned rushed to one side to try and gang up on a gladiator and succeeded in swarming Spearus, and wounding him. Monotonous rushed to his aid and relieve some of the pressure.


They’d picked the side opposite the gimped girl gladiator who would be three whole turns away from being able to aid her teammates.


A second round of wild attacks from the criminals and Spearus was down… (a total of SEVEN wounds between the two blows... we didn't even bother rolling on the bleed out table...).


Monotonous, who’d wounded the man he’d been battleing deftly extricated himself from that melee and regrouped with the remaining member of his team.


Bit of a stand off – with shouts of intimidation flying about…


The condemned regrouped as well and pulling high cards all went on hold to await the gladiators’ onslaught.


Sonja, being a tad impulsive, rushed the group – they all successfully interrupted and faliled wildly at her – but she hid behind her shield and struck back when she saw openings.


The condemned got a second round of batterings in before Serina and Monotonous were able to get in and help out and Sonja took one wound.


Monotonous took down the Condemned Man he’d originally battled with and Serina repeatedly ensnared another in her net – giving him jabs with her trident. Sonja hid behind her shield trying to recover while two criminals battered away at her.


Eventually Sonja recovered and dealt with some nasty blows to the Condemned Men and Monotonous and Serina mopped up a bit..

A bit more exciting that the utter slaughter of Condemend Men last time… even lost a gladiator in the match.

Patrick just not having luck with his Gladiators… I’m waiting for “Diesalotus” to show up in Ludus Patrician.