Blood, Sweat & Cheers

Last week I downloaded the print-and-play version of Ganesha Games' 'Blood, Sweat & Cheers', which is a card-based gladiator game. On Saturday I got a chance to cut out the cards and put them into holders, so that evening Catherine and I gave the game a go.

It's a pretty straightforward game for two gladiators fighting on a 3 x 4 grid. The game includes six cards allowing you to lay out the grid yourself, but I didn't find that mine sat together that neatly so I threw together a grid on a pieces of spare felt using 50mm squares.

Aside from the six arena cards, the game consists of two pages of rules, two quick-reference cards, stat cards for ten different gladiator types, a two-card track for Crowd Favour, and forty action cards, which are the core of the game.

We set up our first fight - a murmillo vs a secutor.

Each gladiator type has three stats: Speed, Attack and Defence. The total value of these stats always equals 9. In addition they have two special abilities, the use of which is triggered by playing Glory cards. The combination of stats and special abilities makes the tactics of each gladiator different. For example our gladiators had equal defence, but the secutor had a greater speed and the murmillo a higher attack value, The secutor's special abilities revolve around evasion and hit and run, whilst the murmillo's revolve around blocking hits and brute-force.

Each player is dealt five cards. These are a mix of Step (allowing movement), Strike (allowing attacks) and Guard (allowing defence), plus Glory cards to trigger special abilities and crowd-favour, and a few special event cards. A turn consists of two phases, with gladiators acting based on their speed. In each phase a gladiator plays one or two of their cards, and this will translate to moves, attacks and defence. Playing Step means you defend using Speed whilst playing a Guard means you defend using your Defence value. A Strike uses the attack value. Rolls are opposed - a D6 plus the attribute plus any other relevant factors. If an attack wins, the the margin of victory determines the wounds or other effects of the attack. Anopponents wounds can be used against them to reduce their die rolls, whilst having the favour of the crowd can be used to boost your own rolls, assuming the have a suitable card with which to exploit it.

Crowd favour is a scale such that only one gladiator has it, but with the marker sliding back and forth. Favour can be gained by playing Glory cards or for wounding an opponent, and is lost if a gladiator does certain moves. Favour veers to wards neutral on any phase in which neitehr gladiator initiates an attack.

In our first game the murmillo and secutor pushed each other around the arena for a while, both able to attack but both equally well equiped with Guard cards allowing them to use their Defence value against attacks. Step cards allow use of  Speed as a defence, so are more useful for lighter gladiators. 

Eventually, though, my murmillo got in a telling blow and struck the secutor down, although he was spared by the crowd.

Our second game saw a thraex against a lightly armoured veles. Both gladiators were lighter than in the previous game, so using movement as a defence was a more viable tactic. Catherine's veles tried to keep his distance, waiting for the cards that would allow him to throw a javelin, but I pressed him hard and used my sica to inflict a serious of small woulds on my opponent.

A win for the thraex. Catherine had a terrible run of cards in this game, preventing her from using her useful ranged attack ability.

Finally I used a secutor against a dimachaerus. The dimachaerus is lightly armoured but has a powerful attack and some interesting parry and strike abilities.

But I got the crowd on my side and exploited them to get me a third win.

I really enjoyed this game. The card-play is interesting, and can be very frustrating is you don't get the right ones to exploit your gladiator's strength. The mechanisms seem to allow lighter gladiators to hold their own, whilst even the most heavily armoured gladiator is vulnerable if forced to defend on the move. The rules are mostly clear; I had a couple of points cleared up by the author before we played.

I thoroughly recommend this game.