Fantasy

14 April 2016

The Gladiators of Ludus Caeruleus

These are the first gladiators of Lanista Paulus Barbatum (Paul the Bearded) and his Ludus Caeruleus (Blue School) for use with Tomahawk Studios' Jugula.
Antonitus the Thraex (Foundry)
My School is named The Blue, in the style of the Chariot teams in the Hippodrome being named after colours.  It then gave me a colour palette to use to theme by Ludus.  Perhaps they look a bit too much like a sports team, but I am hoping that in the massed fray of a Jugula game it will be easy to pick out my gladiators.
Barbus Magnificus, the Provocatur (Foundry)
Jugula requires a Lanista to field four gladiators in every match, all of a different type and Ludus Caeruleus begins the fighting season with a Retiarius, Thraex, Murillo and Provocator.  Winning gold through matches, a Lanista can expand his Ludus with new fighters and support staff including medicae, trainers and ladies of questionable virtue to keep up the, ahem, morale of his fighters.
Noctis the Murmillo (Foundry)
These figures were kindly gifted to me by Dux to paint for AHPC VI (but it didn't turn out that way...).  I had initially planned to put a bit of blood and gore on the weapons and bases but have decided not to...for the moment.  As our campaign progresses I shall decorate them appropriately for the kills and maimings they inflict. Bwahahaha!
Sicarius the Retiarius (Crusader)
Note that our club rules require that Appeals to the Crowd (for popularity points) must be done out loud and in Latin.  Given that Alan and Slowpainter John implemented this rule, and both have studied Latin extensively,  this would seem to be unfair.  But it does give rise to great mirth and recreation of such scenes as:

21 comments:

  1. Splendid work Paul and I love the idea of them starting the campaign all new and clean and slowly adding dirt and gore - fabulous!

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    1. Thanks Michael. I thought that level of personalisation would make them a bit more special t

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  2. Hi Paul,

    I always rather liked 'Hic Imus, Hic Imus, Hic Imus - Hic Imus, Hic Immuuussss' or more usually 'Her we go, here we go, here we go - here we go, here we goooo' - Forgive the rather crude Latin!

    Lovely looking paint job old chap.

    All the best,

    DC

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  3. How do you find the Juggula rules? I've been on the lookout for a solid gladiator game for my painted up collection.

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    1. I'll do a write up for you Anatoli.
      In general, I really like them and they have many decision points but you are restricted to 4 v 4 matches with no single combats.

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    2. I look forward to your review Paul :-)

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  4. Excellent painted gladiators! Really love the colors!

    Greetings
    Peter

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  5. They look splendid, well done!

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  6. Superb painting. How do you find the juggle rule system?

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    1. Many thanks my friend. I really like them actually. The card mechanic works really well and introduce lots of resource management aspects.

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  7. Now paint that 100 times to make sure you spell it properly. :)

    Very nicely painted Gladiators. top work. cheers

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  8. The blue really makes these guys sizzle, Paul. Good job. I think you made a sound decision to lay off the gore. Now, if you were painting these guys as characters from Spartacus, Blood and Sand, I would say just throw a can of red paint at them and be done. :)

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    1. Thanks Padre - that show is a bit like that isn't it!

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  9. Looking good mate. Very taken with your Blue theme. I've got some of the same Crusader minis and they're wonderful sculpts, full of character.

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    1. Thanks Millsy. It was challenging to end the right spots to paint blur without over doing it.
      Thought I may have been a bit too confined to that colour but in the end I like the overall team effect.

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  10. Great work. A relly nice set of gladiators!

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  11. It's a bit of self publicity but my recent rules "Dicing with Death" allow for combats between any numbers of gladiators. Even 1:1 which many rules struggle on. There is also a system for running a school and for "missio" ending a fight ensuring the survival rate for gladiators is nearer the historic 90%. Self publicity over - give them a look even if it's just to lift ideas.

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