The Autumn Games - 5

Round 5 would be the last round of the campaign. The prestige stood as follows:

Catherine - 8 Prestige
Me - 13 Prestige
Tertius - 13 Prestige

Either I or Tertius must win at least one bout in the round (since we have to fight each other) and that win would give one of us teh 2 prestige needed to get to 15. So even if all of our other bouts ended in defeat with no missio (for 0 Prestige) there had to be a winner. Conversely Catherine couldn't win at all; even if she won two bouts defeating a skilled gladiator with an unskilled one (3 Prestige) she'd still only finish with 14 Prestige.

But on with the draw. The Editor made his selection - most experienced gladiator in Tertius's case and light gladiator for me and heavy gladiator for Catherine - and we ended up with the following matchups, in the order that they would take place:

Sabrata (Me) vs Danaos (Tertius)
Draco (Catherine) vs Rufina (Me)
Apollo (Tertius) vs Andromache (Catherine)

So Draco could cause an upset by defeating Rufina. If Rufina survived her fight then she would have survived five and would be able to retire, earning me an additional 2 Prestige. 

Round 5 - Bout 1 - Sabrata (Veles) vs Dnaos (Hoplomachus)

Danaos had fought once before and Sabrata was a novice. So the crowd didn't expect much from this one. 

Sabrata was wounded early on, and then wounded again. He staggered around the arena, but Danaos seemed unable to finish him off. 

Then Danaos was knocked down. Sabrata tried to close for teh kill, but Danaos managed to throw his spear and hold off the lighter gladiator. To the delight of teh crowd he managed to recover his spear (house rule) and throw it again, but Sabrata survived that throw as well. Sabrata had had enough. Fuelled by adrenaline he rushed in and finished the prone Danaos.

The crowd were very much on the side of the hoplomachus, and spared him. But I got 2 Prestige for Sabrata's win, whilst Tertius got 1 Prestige for the missio. 

Round 5 - Bout 2 - Draco (Armoured Scissor) vs Rufina (Thraex)

Rufina had to die for me not to win the campaign. If she survived, even a loss would give me 3 Prestige - one for taking par and two for her being awarded the rudis. Draco was a total novice and woul give Catherine 3 Prestige if he won. So there was a lot to play for here. 

Draco started strongly and knocked Rufina to the sand.

But she rallied and returned the favour. 

Both gladiators got to their feet, but by now the crowd knew what was coming. A few skilful swift strikes of her blade saw Rufina pick up another quick win. 

Draco was spared, whilst I got 4 Prestige. 

Round 5 - Bout 3 - Andromache (Barbarian) vs Apollo (Veles)

Whilst Rufina's fight was the important one, this one got top billing because the combined bouts of the participants was higher. Both gladiators were skilled, so things were going to be brutal. 

Apollo had problems at first as Andromache had both a strong attack and defence and he struggled to counter them. 

But he got the advantage, knocked her down and finished her off with a beautifully times throw to the delight of the crowd. 

The crowd were merciful though; this was the last fight after all. Catherine picked up one more Prestige, whilst Tertius got 2

Here's the star of the campaign though - Rufina. One of my 'unlucky' figures, she fought in all five rounds, and won all five of her bouts. She earned her retirement. 

The final positions:

Catherine - 10 Prestige (One win, one win against an experienced gladiator, five 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) - 3 Bouts - +1 Attack
Draco (Armoured Scissor) - 1 Bout

Me - 19 Prestige (Seven wins, three losses with Missio, One Rudis)

Volubilis (Myrmillo) - 2 Bouts - +1 Defence
Victor (Crupellarius) - 2 Bouts - +1 Attack
Rufina (Thraex) - 5 Bouts - +1 Speed
Sabrata (Veles) - 1 Bout

Tertius - 16 Prestige (Six wins and four losses with Missio)

Spiculus (Dimacherius) - 2 Bout - +1 Attack
Scylax (Scissor) - 2 Bouts - +1 Defence
Danaos (Hoplomachus) - 2 Bout4
Apollo (Velite) - 4 Bouts - +1 Defence

For all her bad luck Catherine actually enjoyed this campaign. She only won two bouts with her own school, but did help Tertius to a couple of wins over me as well.  She was very unlucky with missio rolls, and that cost her Prestige in the early stages.