Blood, Sweat & Cheers Campaign - Part 1

Somehow some test games of 'Blood, Sweat & Cheers' I've been playing have turned into another campaign.

One again I set up three schools, run by the imaginatively names Primus, Secundus and Tertius. I used the rules which you can find HERE and HERE.

I randomised, after a fashion, which gladiators each school got, although each school had to have one light, one medium and one heavy, plus one of any weight.

Primus's ended up with Melanippe (unarmoured dimacherius), Andromache (barbarian), Satornilus (thraex) and Mongo (murmillo).

Secundus's school consisted of Valentinus (retiarius), Crixus (secutor), Margareites (also a secutor) and Telamonius (armoured scissor)

Finally Tertius had Teucris (sagittarius), Xanthus (ran as an unarmoured dimacherius), Artemisia (thraex) and Hero (murmillo).

One again I used the system where each school was restricted in their initial pick of gladiators by the whims of the Editor.

Primus had to choose a heavy gladiator, which meant Mongo, Secundus a medium gladiator, for which he chose Margareites and Tertius had a free choice and went for Xanthus.

The matchups ended up as follows: Mongo faced Artemisia, Xanthus faced Telamonius and Margareites was opposed by Saturnilus.

 

Round 1 - Bout 1 - Mongo (Murmillo) vs Artermisia (Thraex)

As a thraex, Artemisia's strategy was to duck in and out of the fight, wearing down her opponent with a series of small cuts until he was too exhausted to resist the kill.

What actually happened is that Mongo got in a solid hit as she dodged past, seriously wounding her.

Knocked down and injured, she struggled to stand, but Mongo cut her down as she did so.

A quick bout, with a win for Primus and Tertius left having to find another gladiator, as the crowd saw no reason to spare Artermisia. Primus picked up 2 Prestige

Round 1 - Bout 2 - Xanthus (Barbarian) vs Telamonius (Armoured Scissor)

In terms of the mechanics of their special abilities thee gladiators are the same, but one is backed up by speed and the other by armour.

Both gladiators started off strongly, using Glory to try and get the crowd on their side which, naturally, left the crowd entertained but neutral. The fight then flowed from one side of the arena to the other, neither gladiator able to get an advantage over the other.

Eventually Telamonius saw an opening, and charged ...

... only to find that Xanthus was more than prepared - a double Glory attack, plus crowd support and the favour of the goddess Fortuna, saw Telamonius deftly speared and out of the fight. However the crowd spared him. This win awarded 2 Prestige to Tertius, whilst Telamonius's survival saw Secundus get a point of Prestige too..

Round 1 - Bout 3 - Margareites (Secutor) vs Satornilos (Thraex)

I took a lot of pictures of this bout for some reason.

Margareites charged in early, and there was a ferocious exchange of blows that saw neither gladiator injured but both, at some stage, gain the approval of the crowd.

As a secutor, Margareites has mobility traits, and used them to the full, attempting to avoid being slowly slice up by Satornilos.

At one stage Margareites had the upper hand ...

... but was knocked down. Amazingly he survived even this, scrambling around the arena as Satornilos continually failed to get in a telling blow.

Eventually Margareites managed to trip Satornilos, and both gladiators were down. Margareites got to his feet to attempt a finishing blow, but the wily thraex cut one of his legs out from underneath him to claim a well-earned victory. The crowd spared Margareites, who gained 1 Prestige for Secundus, whilst Satornilus picked up 2 prestige for Primus.

So at the end of Round 1, Primus has 4 prestige (two wins), Secundus 2 Prestige (two losses with missio) and Tertius 2 Prestige (one win). Tertius replaced Artermisia with the secutor Priedens.

For the next round the editor let Primus choose a gladiator himself, so he selected Mongo. Secundus was asked for his most experienced gladiator, so Telamonius made another appearence. Conversely Tertius was asked for a novice, so sent Hero into the arena.

The matchups ended up as follows: Mongo vs Xanthis, Telamonius vs Satornilos and Hero vs Margareites. Yes all three lanistas decided to send in experienced gladiators, meaning that any that survived would gain skills at the end of the round.

I ran the bouts in order of the lowest accumulated experience to the highest. This meant that the first bout was between the novice Hero and the loser from the previous round's final bout, Margareites.

Round 2 - Bout 1 - Hero (Murmillo) vs Margareites (Secutor)

Margareies started strongly, driving Hero back across the arena. However Hero got the crowd behind him, and their cheering saw him stave off possible disaster.

Hero rallied, and pushed his opponent back.

But Margareites managed to knock him down. He wasn't able to finish him, though, and Hero got back up. 

However Margaeites was firmly in control of the fight, and quickly finished off his opponent. Margareies' win gained Secundus 2 Prestige, whilst Tertius picked up 1 Prestige because the crowd decided to let Hero live.

Round 2 - Bout 2 - Telamonius (Armoured Scissor) vs Satornilos (Thraex)

Satornilos was looking for a second win here, Telamonius his first.

It started badly for the armoured gladiator. A cautious advance was met with a lightning strike from the thraex, which wounded him.

It didn't get any better. Despite both gladiators being felled - again - Satornilos managed another strike from the ground and defeated Telamonius. The crowd spared Telamonius, who earned 1 Prestige for Secundus, whilst Satornilos picked up 2 prestige for Primus.

Round 2 - Bout 3 - Mongo (Murmillo) vs Xanthus (Barbarian)

Two of the winners from Round 1 now faced off in the headline fight for the Round.

Mongo advanced, whilst Xanthus retreated, looking for the right moment.

And it came quickly. Mongo rushed in for a rash attack, but Xanthus was more than ready for him, and speared the big murmillo, wining the fight with a single thrust.

Again the crowd spared the loser, so Mongo picked up 1 prestige for Primus. Xanthus earned 2 prestige for Tertius.

So each school got one win and one loss with misus, to score 3 Prestige apiece. And with both winners and survivors having fought in two Rounds, several gladiators picked up skills. So at the end of Round 2 the scores and schools are as follows:

Primus - 7 Prestige

Melanippe (Dimacherius) - 0 Bouts
Andromache (Barbarian) - 0 Bouts
Satornilus (Thraex) - 2 Bouts, +1 Speed
Mongo (Murmillo) - 2 Bouts, +1 Armour

Secundus - 4 Prestige

Valentinus (Retiarius) - 0 Bouts
Crixus (Secutor) - 0 Bouts
Margareites (Secutor) - 2 Bouts, +1 Attack
Telamonius (Scissor) - 2 Bouts, +1 Attack

Tertius - 4 Prestige

Xanthus (Barbarian) - 2 Bouts, +1 Speed

Artemisia (Thraex) - 0 Bouts
Teucris (Sagittarius) - 0 Bouts
Hero (Murmillo) - 1 Bout
Priedens (Secutor) - 0 Bouts

So there's everything to play for in the next Round, and some skilled gladiators for the novices to take down for extra Prestige.