54mm Gladiator Victus Game

 We had a group game of Gladiators of Ancient Rome using the Victus ruleset for our monthly club game.

Each of us paired off to face one another in single Combat on the white sands of the Roman Arena.

We rolled for our place of origin, 2 Carthaginians, a Parthian, and a Celt.  We rolled for our status, all were Servus or slaves. We also rolled for our names, Vibius, Furius, Maximus and Brutus and entered into the world with a 1,000 Denarii debt to clear.

The first match rolled was a Myrmillo vs a Laquearius, all matches are made from a table with the typical historical pairings.

This was a fairly quick bout only going about 5 rounds.  The heavily armored Myrmillo scoffed at the lightly armored adversary and did not give the lasso he wielded it's due respect.  The Laquearius was able to rope his oppenent, drag him the the sand and viciously attack him while trapped resulting in him losing his weapon hand and the match!  Lessons were learned.

The next match saw a Hoplomachus vs a different Myrmillo.  My miniatures are a mix of Irregular Miniatures and Alpha Miniatures, giving a good variety while being historically accurate.  No Hollyweird Mad Max styles made up for fantastic effect.  Just the strict Armaturae that existed in the time.

The slightly lighter Hoplomachus circles the Myrmillo using its reach with the Hasta (Spear) to keep the Myrmillo from getting close.

The ranged attacks and cast spear whittle down the Myrmillo.

And on several occassions the spear has to be recovered after thrown.

The Myrmillo is repeatedly attacked in his unarmored right leg forcing the Myrmillo to use his Scutum (Shield) to cover it in a targeted defense.

Separated from his Hasta again, the Hoplomachus closes ranks and finishes the Myrmillo with a number of very successful attacks with it's Pugio (Dirk) resulting in him gaining combination attacks, crippling the Myrmillo who is granted Missio (Mercy) by the Editor.

The final match was 2 vs 2, a Myrmillo and Laquearius vs a Myrmillo and a Retiarius.

both pairs close quicky while one set drifts to the right allowing the Retiarius to be blocked off from attacking the lightly armored Laquearius.

The Laquearius is able to ensnare the Myrmillo, dragging him to the sand while the other Myrmillo viciously assaults him, deflty wounding his hands and knocking his shield away.

The Myrmillo manages to stand but is assaulted again and is beheaded even with his armored Galatea (Helmet).  He is left in the sands as the Retiarius now fights valiantly alone, hard pressed by his attackers.

Habet Hoc Habet! (He has it! He is down!) The Retiarius manages to wound the attacking Myrmillo but is speared to death by the advancing Laquearius.

We played about 5 games in 4 hours, some go very quickly while others laster up to 12 rounds.  At the end we rolled for the Denarii to pay off debt with the Campaign system and also rolled on the Fortuna table where everything from marriage, unplanned parenting, loan sharking and private matches added to the flavor of the game.

More to come,

Doc