Sunday, 13 February 2022

Blood, Sweat & Cheers Campaign - Part 2

Round 3 of the campaign saw Primus start with 7 Prestige, and the other two ludi on 4 Prestige each.

Primus was asked to field his most experienced gladiator, and chose the thraex Satornilos. Secundua had to provide a light gladiator, and selected Vaentinus. Finally Tertius had to put forward a heavy gladiator, and chose Hero.

This gave the following matchups, in the order they would appear in the arena: Valentinus vs Andromache, Hero vs Crixus and Satornilos vs Xanthus.


 Round 3 - Bout 1 - Valentinus (Retiarius) vs Andromache (Barbarian)

After a few turns where the gladiators eyed each other up, Valentinus charged into the attack, but quickly retreated to ready his net.

Andromache followed up.

And Valentinus netted her!

But when he closed for the kill, she kicked out, wounding him and knocking him down. Before he could recover she sliced her way free, rushed him and defeated him.

The crowd were not merciful, so Secundus would now be looking for another light gladiator. Andromache earned 2 Prestige for Primus.

Round 3 - Bout 2 - Hero (Murmillo) vs Crixus (Secutor)

Both gladiators has similar defences, but the murmillo has more of a brute-force approach than the more mobile secutor.

Crixus rushed straight in with a bold attack and hero avoided injury only by kicking sand at him, much to the crowd's annoyance. Even him knocking down the secutor didn't gain him the crowd's approval/

The two gladiators then settled into a long fight, with both struggling to find their way past their opponent's defences.

The fight moved from one side of the arena to the other, and was soon heading for a draw. However Hero had drawn blood by this stage.

And that was enough. Hero saw an opportunity, rushed Crixus and seriously wounded him. Before he could recover, hero administered the winning blow.

The fickle crowd were very much behind Hero now, and had no mercy for Crixus. Secundus has lost another gladiator, whilst Hero earned 2 prestige for Tertius.


Round 3 - Bout 3 - Satornilos (Thraex) vs Xanthus (Barbarian)

This was the top-billed bout of the day, with two crowd favourites battling it out. Both gladiators had chosen to add one to their Speed attribute, so this promised to be a fast-moving fight.

Xanthus started with an aggressive charge, and drove Satornilos back. But Satornilos retaliated and wounded the barbarian.

A skilful fight ensued, with Satornilos's clever attacks being met by Xanthus's equally clever defensive moves. The crowd loved it.

But Satornilos over-stretched himself, and Xanthus tripped  him to pick up a win. Deprived of their entertainment the crowd were unmerciful to the fallen thraex. Xanthus picked up 2 Prestige.

Round 3 was a bloody round, with all three defeated gladiators being dispatched, including one skilled one. At the end of the round Primus had 8 Prestige, Secundus had 4 Prestige and Tertius 8 Prestige.

Secundus recruited a new retiarius, Kalendio and a veles, Baccibus. Primus added the crupellarius Syphax to his school. Hero acquired +1 Attack

In Round 4 Primus was asked to provide his most experienced gladiator, which meant Mongo was back out again. Secundus was asked for a heavy, so fielded Telamonius. And Tertius had to provide a light, so the crowd got to see Xanthuis once more.

The matchups, in billing order,were as follows: Telamonius vs Teucris, Mongo vs Kalendio and Xanthus vs Andromache.

Round 4 - Bout 1 - Telamonius (Scissor) vs Teucris (Sagittarius)

The crowd were looking forward to this fight, which promised to be a battle of opposites; the lethal, well-armoured scissor against the agile long-ranged archer. 

Teucris dodged Telamonius's initial attacks, and kept his distance, waiting for a good shot.

Telamonius slowly plodded after the archer, careful not to move too rashly and leave himself open to a shot. Teucris shot a few arrows, but Telamonius parried them or simply felt them bounce off his armour.

Telamonius got lucky and inflicted a flesh wound on Teucris as he dodged away. But he wasn't able to follow it up. Eventually it became obvious that without a great deal of luck, neither gladiator would be able to harm the other, and the referee called the bout a draw.

(I decided that if I got through to the end of the fourth deck, then at that point and at the end of every subsequent deck I would check the crowd favour. If it wasn't +2 or +3, then the referee would call a draw. This was the case at the end of the fourth deck. Both gladiators counted as being in a fight for experience purposes, but neither ludus earned any prestige.)

Needless to say, the crowd were very disappointed.

Round 4 - Bout 2 - Mongo (Murmillo) vs Kalendio (Retiarius)

The crowd hoped to be more entertained by this fight, a classic matchup. Could the novice Kalendio beat the experienced Mongo?

Kalendio started strongly, charging with his trident and quickly forcing Mongo onto the defensive. Mongo fought back, and Kalendio retreated to catch his breath and prepare.

And prepare he did. As Mongo advanced he was lassoed ...

.. then felled. Kalendio rushed in with his trident and Mongo submitted.

The crowd spared Mongo despite the short fight, so he earned 1 prestige for Primus. Secundus picked up a whopping 3 prestige, as the crowd went wild over Kalendio, the victorious novice.

Round 4 - Bout 3 - Xanthus (Barbarian) vs Andromache (Barbarian)

With a disappointing draw in the first bout and a quick finish to the second, the crowd were hoping for something more from the two barbarians in the final bout.

They didn't get it. Andromache charged Xanthus, and was immediately wounded.

Before she could recover, he defeated her. The bout was over in seconds.


The crowd spared Andromache, who gained 1 Primus, and +1 Defence. Tertius gained 2 more Prestige

So at the end of the Round the schools stood as follows:

Primus - 11 Prestige

Melanippe (Dimacherius) - 0 Bouts
Andromache (Barbarian) - 2 Bouts, +1 Defence
Satornilos (Thraex) - 2 Bouts, +1 Speed
Mongo (Murmillo) - 3 Bouts, +1 Defence
Syphax (Crupellarius) - 0 Bouts

Secundus - 7 Prestige

Valentinus (Retiarius) - 0 Bouts
Crixus (Secutor) - 0 Bouts
Margareites (Secutor) - 2 Bouts, +1 Attack
Telamonius (Scissor) - 3 Bouts, +1 Attack
Kalendio (Retiarius) - 1 Bout
Baccibus (Veles) - 0 Bouts

Tertius - 10 Prestige

Xanthus (Barbarian) - 4 Bouts, +1 Speed
Teucris (Sagittarius) - 1 Bout
Artemisia (Thraex) - 0 Bouts
Hero (Murmillo) - 2 Bouts, +1 Attack
Priedens (Secutor) - 0 Bouts

So Primus could win in the next round simply by winning his two bouts, whilst Tertius can win if Xanthus fights in one of his two bouts and wins, since he will be granted a rudis for an additional 2 Prestige over and above that for the win.And there's still time for Secundus to stage a recovery as well.

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