The Autumn Games - 4

At the start of Round 4 of the games, the Prestige stands as follows:

Catherine - 7 Prestige
Me - 10 Prestige
Tertius - 9 Prestige

As you can see, the scores were getting closer, and with a few skilled gladiators in play there was the possibility of an upset giving the winner 3 Prestige. 

I gave Victor the crupellarius a +1 to his attack since he was now eligible for a skill, but otherwise there were no changes to the rosters. 

The Editor was big on selecting medium gladiators this time around, with all three schools having to submit one. After assigning opponents we got the following matchups:

Andromache (Catherine) vs Scylax (Tertius)
Spiculus (Tertius) vs Volubilis Me)
Rufina (Me) vs Amazon (Catherine)

Round 4 - Bout 1 - Andromache (Barbarian) vs Scylax (Armoured Scissor)

Andromache got off to a great start, pressing Scylax hard, and wounding him.

She managed to knock him down, which is always a bad place to be, especially if you are a slow, heavily armoured gladiator. Scylax took more wounds. 

But Andromache then struggled to finish off the armoured behemoth. And Scylax drew a series of cards with the adrenaline boost on them, moving quickly and attacking in a wound-boosted fury. And defeating Andromache. 

So a lucky win for Scylax picked up 2 Prestige for Tertius. Andromache had the crowd on her side for most of the fight, and they happily spared her, so Catherine picked up 1 Prestige. 

Both gladiators became skilled as a result of this bout. 

Round 4 - Bout 2- Spiculus (Dimacherius) vs Volubilis (Murmillo)

Volubilis was wounded early on, but soon settled into his stride, evading the lethal dimacherus and ducking in to make frequent attacks which were sadly ineffective. 

However I made a silly mistake and moved too close to Spiculus with insufficient defence (I was working of a single Speed card). Spiculus dived in for a boosted attack and Volubilis was defeated. 

Tertius picked up 2 Prestige for the win and Volubilis was spared to pick up 1 Prestige for me. 

Both gladiators had fought their second bout, so are now skilled. 

Round 4 - Bout 3 - Rufina (Thraex) vs Amazon (Murmillo)

This was Catherine's chance to pick up some Prestige - if Amazon could take down the wily Rufina it would be a big boost to her score. 

Rufina went straight into the attack and two wicked slashes later Amazon lay bleeding on the sand, defeated. The fight was quick and brutal, earning Rufina 1 Prestige and leaving the crown wanting more. They got more by having Amazon dispatched. 

So Catherine has now lost three gladiators. Neither Tertius or I have lost any. To replace Amazon she selected the armoured scissor Draco. Tertius had a great round, winning both fights. 

At the end of Round 4 the scores are as follows (with skills added)

Catherine - 8 Prestige (One win, one win against an experienced gladiator, three losses with Missio)

Amazon (Myrmillo) - 2 Bouts
Medusa (Retiarius) - 1 Bout
Teucris (Sagittarius) - 1 Bout
Margareites (Secutor) - 1 Bout
Artemisia (Thraex) - 1 Bout
Andromache (Barbarian) - 2 Bouts - +1 Attack
Draco (Armoured Scissor) - 0 Bouts

Me - 13 Prestige (Five wins, three losses with Missio)

Volubilis (Myrmillo) - 2 Bouts - +1 Defence
Victor (Crupellarius) - 2 Bouts - +1 Attack
Rufina (Thraex) - 4 Bouts - +1 Speed
Sabrata (Veles) - 0 Bouts

Tertius - 13 Prestige (Five wins and three losses with Missio)

Spiculus (Dimacherius) - 2 Bout - +1 Attack
Scylax (Scissor) - 2 Bouts - +1 Defence
Danaos (Hoplomachus) - 1 Bout
Apollo (Velite) - 3 Bouts - +1 Defence

I think it's now basically impossible for Catherine to win; even if she gets two wins by unskilled gladiators against skilled ones that will still only take her to 14 Prestige, and one of either myself or Tertius must pick up a win. And even a 2 Prestige win is enough to take us to 15 Prestige. My goal is obviously to have Rufina fight and, at the very least, survive, as doing so earns her teh wooden sword of freedom and an extra 2 Prestige for me. 

So the next round will be the last one.