The Autumn Games - 2

We started Round 2 of our gladiator campaign with the following scores:

Catherine - 1 Prestige
Me - 4 Prestige
Tertius - 3 Prestige

Catherine had to choose a new medium gladiator, so added the thraex Artemisia to her stable. 

For the second round I was obliged to put up a medium gladiator, which meant that Rufina the thraex would fight again. Tertius had to choose a light gladiator, which saw Apollo enter the arena again. Catherine also had to select a light gladiator, and chose the retiarius Medusa. 

We chose gladiators to face these challengers and ended up with the following pairings (in the order that the fights would take place):

Medusa (Catherine) vs Spiculus (Tertius)
Rufina (Me) vs Teucris (Catherine)
Apollo (Tertius) vs Victor (Me)

Round 1 - Bout 1 - Medusa (Retiarius) vs Spiculus (Dimacherius) 

Deft swordsmanship vs a net and a trident!

It started with high comedy as both gladiators tripped each other up. 

It then became a game of cat and mouse as Medusa evaded the blades, looking to find an opening to use her net.

She didn't get it (Catherine seems to be singularly unlucky when it comes to drawing Glory cards), but she did manage to trip Spiculus again. Medusa closed in for the kill ...

... and Spiculus cut her down from the ground. 

The crowd loved Spiculus's ballsy wining move and, sadly, that 'love' extended to them crying out for Medusa to be dispatched.

So Catherine lost another gladiator. Tertius picked up 2 prestige for the win.

Round 2 - Bout 2 - Rufina (Thraex) vs Teucris (Sagittarius)

If Rufina won this she'd gain a skill. The problem was closing with a gladiator that was constantly running away.

The fight went on for a very long time indeed. Teucris could keep evading but couldn't get an arrow on target when he got the chance to shoot one. 

Eventually Rufina managed to get in enough hits to slow him down, catch him and dispatch him. But the crowd were merciful (or had fallen asleep waiting for the bout to end). 

So I got 2 Prestige for the win and Catherine got 1 Prestige for taking part and surviving. 

Round 2 - Bout 3 - Victor (Crupellarius)  vs Apollo (Velite)

This promised to be an interesting fight. Victor managed to be aggressive and pressed the agile velite closely.

A wild swing almost connected. In game terms I made a big mistake here. The attack was a draw, but I forgot I could have boosted it with a Roar Of The Crowd, which would have won by a margin of 2. Because it was a signature Wild Swing attack it would have then got a +3 and I would have won the fight. I realised too late.

Cost me the game. As Victor advanced for another attack Catherine got all her cards together and an accurate javelin throw took down the armoured behemoth. 

Victor was spared and picked up 1 prestige. Catherine finally won a bout, even if she was actually playing for Tertius, who picked up 2 Prestige for the win.

Apollo and Rufina had now both survived two bouts, so were entitled to a skill. I chose to boost Rufina's speed, and rolled a D6 for Apollo. I determined the relative importance of each characteristic, then assigned 1-3 to the primary one, 4-5 to the secondary and 6 to the least important. Victor rolled a 6, so went for a +1 defence. Still, it means he will get good use from Guard cards now. 

At the end of the second round the standings are as follows:

Catherine - 2 Prestige (Two losses with Missio)

Amazon (Myrmillo) - 1 Bout
Medusa (Retiarius) - 1 Bout
Teucris (Sagittarius) - 1 Bout
Margareites (Secutor) - 1 Bout
Artemisis (Thraex) - 0 Bouts

Me - 7 Prestige (Three wins, one loss with Missio)

Volubilis (Myrmillo) - 1 Bout
Victor (Crupellarius) - 1 Bout
Rufina (Thraex) - 2 Bouts - +1 Speed
Sabrata (Veles) - 0 Bouts

Tertius - 7 Prestige (Three wins and one loss with Missio)

Spiculus (Dimacherius) - 1 Bout
Scylax (Scissor) - 0 Bouts
Danaos (Hoplomachus) - 1 Bout
Apollo (Velite) - 2 Bouts - +1 Defence

Catherine is yet to win a bout, and to make matters worse has had terrible luck with the crowd, losing two gladiators to their lust for blood. In the next round she will need to select a new fourth gladiator, but it can be any weight class. Tertius had a good round and he and I are neck and neck. 

But it's still all to play for in the third round.