Gladiatorial Man-to-Man Combat

These are a modified version of EM4’s rules Ludus Gladiatorius, most notably introducing facing to the simple game system provided therein.

Introduction

At the beginning of the tournament, players have a stable of 10 gladiators, each with its own character card. At the start of a match each player randomly selects 2 gladiator cards from his available cards, one for each of the 2 gladiators he will fight with against his opponent in the arena. The cards show each gladiator’s characteristics, including Life Points, Special Actions, Movement Allowance and brief personal history (refer to separate sample sheet). The object of each match is to have the sole surviving gladiator (or gladiators) in the arena. Each gladiator has its own coloured counter set of 5 counters: 1 blank, the remainder each indicating a Special Action.

The Round of Play

In a round of play each gladiator is allowed to move once and perform actions. At the start of every round both players select a counter from the 5 available for each of their gladiators and place them face down next to their gladiators. Order of play for each gladiator is then determined randomly by drawing a chit, numbered 1 to 4. When the first gladiator has moved and performed its indicated action, play moves onto the second gladiator, and so on.

Basic Actions

The Basic Actions are Move and Combat. The gladiator sheets indicate how many hexes a gladiator can move in a turn (3, slow; 4, medium; and 5, fast). Generally, the faster a gladiator can move the less Life Points (i.e. hits needed to bring the gladiator down) it has; gladiators that can take a lot of damage are invariably slow. Attacks are carried out in a gladiator’s own turn, whereas defence is carried out in an opponent’s gladiator’s turn in reaction to an attack.

Special Actions

Each gladiator has 7 Special Actions available to it, although the number of each type varies from one gladiator to another. Once all 7 Special Actions have been expended in a tournament, that gladiator is limited to Basic Actions. There are 4 types of Special Actions available to each Gladiator:

  • Savage Attack (SA) in addition to normal Combat Dice, the gladiator gets to roll 1 x Boosted Die plus 1 x Mighty Effort Die (refer to separate sample sheet) but cannot defend against any attack made against it in that round, even if that attack is made before the SA is actioned.
  • Feint (F) when making an attack roll, the gladiator may re-roll any shield die-rolls, but only for the initial die-roll.
  • Dodge (D) when making a defence roll, the gladiator may re-roll any sword die-rolls, but only for the initial die-roll.
  • Doughty Defence (DD) in addition to normal Combat Dice, the gladiator gets to roll 1 x Boosted Die plus 1 x Mighty Effort Die (refer to separate sample sheet) but cannot make any attacks in that round. Any successful parries rolled may, however, be used to defend against more than one attack. This is the only way that a gladiator may defend against more than one attack per round.

Move

A gladiator must always be facing a hex-side and may move into any of its 6 adjacent hexes, but must always maintain its initial facing when moving into a new hex; a gladiatormay, however, change its facing by 1 hex free of charge for each hex moved into. Any changes above the 1 free hex change cost 1 Movement Point for each additional hex turned. To turn 180° without moving costs 3 movement points.

A gladiator has a Zone of Control (ZOC) into its front 3 hexes. A gladiator must immediately stop upon entering an enemy gladiator’s ZOC, with no turn being allowed in the final hex thus entered. At the start of its turn, a gladiator may freely leave an enemy ZOC but may not move adjacent to that gladiator again in the same turn; it may, however, move adjacent to another enemy gladiator. A gladiator commencing its turn in an enemy ZOC may, if it chooses to remain in that enemy gladiator’s ZOC, rotate freely and face in any direction. Gladiators may always move freely through the rear 3 hexes of enemy gladiators.

A gladiator can move and then initiate Combat or have Combat and then move; it cannot use part of its move, have Combat and then move again. Prior to making a Move, every gladiator has the option of rolling the Boosted Die and, if scoring a 2 ‘swords’ result, gains 1 Movement Point for that round in addition to the allowance indicated on its character sheet. A gladiator is not obliged to make use of its full Move allowance in a round; it can choose to Move less or not at all.

Combat

A Gladiator can initiate Combat only into its front hex-side or one each side of it. A gladiator is only permitted to make 1 defence roll and 1 attack roll per round, unless a Special Action allows more.

To attack, a gladiator declares an opponent in one of its 3 front hex-sides and reveals its Special Action (if any). The defending gladiator then declares any Special Actions it wishes to use (Special Actions may be instead saved for any subsequent attack anticipated by another gladiator). The attacking player then rolls the number of standard Combat Dice indicated on the gladiator’s character sheet together with any additional dice dictated by the Special Action played (if any) and the facing of the defending gladiator. An attacking gladiator gets 2 additional dice when attacking a gladiator directly into its rear hex, 1 additional die if attacking in the flank (i.e. either of the hexes adjacent to that directly to the rear). The defending gladiator then rolls the number of standard Combat Dice indicated on its character sheet together with any additional dice dictated by the Special Action played, if any. The attacker counts the number of ‘swords’ rolled, while the defender counts the number of ‘shields’ rolled. If the number of ‘shields’ rolled equals or exceeds the number of ‘swords’ rolled, the defending gladiator has successfully parried the attack, otherwise the defending gladiator deducts the number Life Points equivalent to the difference. If the defender rolls more ‘shields’ than ‘swords’ the defending gladiator cannot save the excess to defend against subsequent attacks unless it has played a Doughty Defence (DD) counter as a Special Action.

When a gladiator’s Life Points are reduced to zero the gladiator is deemed to be unconscious. The attacking player then rolls the Emperor’s Die (refer to separate sample sheet). If a ‘thumbs up’ is rolled, the gladiator is spared and lives to fight in a subsequent match, otherwise that gladiator is removed from the tournament.

Secrecy

Special Actions are placed inverted until declared for use. Gladiator record sheets are kept hidden, although if asked by his opponent a player must always declare the number of Life Points remaining.

The Tournament

Once a gladiator has managed to bring down 5 enemy gladiators, it gets to roll one additional standard Combat Die for the remainder of the tournament. In the unlikely event a gladiator brings down 10 or more enemy gladiators, it gets 2 additional standard Combat Dice for the remainder of the tournament. Once a player’s entire stable of gladiators has been eliminated, that player is out of the tournament. Assuming players have played an equal number of matches, the last remaining player is declared the winner of the tournament.