Pallidus' arena Debut

After another couple of weeks away, some Lanisti convened for more Blood on the Sands arena action. I hosted two matched pairs plus author Frank encouraging us from the Editor's box, which made for a fun night with a few amphorae of wine.

In the match next to us, Gav's Thraex rapidly dispatched John's Murmillo having almost severed his arm in an opening rush (John rolled double 1s for his defence and it was all rapidly downhill from there...). 

In the meantime my new Retiarius Pallidus had his debut match against Marty's Secutor. Pushing forward early, Pallidus used extended lunges to exhaust the Secutor's defences, before entangling him, pushing up against the arena wall and disarming him. 

Many trident strikes landed, unable to penetrate the heavy armour of the Secutor. Through clever fatigue and dice management he got hismelf out of the net and retrieved his sword. Ultimately, the two gladiators ended up in their original positions and a stans missus was declared with each sporting 3 honourable wounds. Most entertained!

So two VERY different bouts - John entertained himself by recreating his Gladiator's demise with the artefacts available around my loungeroom...

"They dont like it up 'em Mr Mainwaring"

And I was excited to have this arrive too :-)

And some exciting news for future gladiator purchases!

Pallidus joins the Familia Gladiatoria!

Lots of work travel this month (3 countries and 2 stints at sea) so not much hobby done. But I did complete Pallidus (the Pale One) the Retiarius, a Gaulish prisoner of war, who is now ready for action in the arena!

That fair skin is going to suffer in the Mediterranean sun!

28mm Crusader figure kindly donated to me by Alan, to help flesh out my second Ludus - thanks mate :-)

Ludi Incipiant - Let the Games Begin!

"Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant!"

This week I invited a select group of Lanisti to my Province to celebrate the Maius (May) Spring Festivus. OK its autumn here in the antipodes but we needed an excuse to roll dice and hurl insults in appalling Latin is a good one! 

And so the matchups began - my Murmillo faced John's more nimble Thraex, who was all over me from the start. I took a couple of light wounds and was getting fatigued so tried some different tactics to turn the tide.  I managed to disarm John, but he dashed in, retrieved his blade and wounded me again. As things were looking bleak for me, I was lucky to land a disabling head wound and the crowd were appropriately merciful.

Next to us, Alan's Thraex fared badly against Marty's Murmillo who was bludgeoning him to a pulp. That is, until 2 quick strikes incapacitated Marty's heavier fighter.

The final match saw Alan's Secutor face off against veteran Lanista Frank himself and his Retiarius. The fisherman danced around at range, and even managed to ensnare Alan, but he managed to escape and disable the trident wielder, to the crowd's delight.

Alan clearly had just suffered some kind of wound when this pic was taken!

So 3 bouts and 3 Victories by Missio. Once again, we were most entertained!

Rendezvous in the Western Approaches

"Little Creatures" - the must stop brewery in Fremantle

This week Comrade James and I were independently on the West coast of Australia for our respective employers, far flung from our usual haunts.  What was to be be done? Pizza, Beers, Hobby shopping and games of course!

A pilgrimage to the famous Hobby Shop "Tactics" in Perth - a great selection of goodness. Hobby dollars were spent without remorse, including some great pickups for our growing Aeronautica Imperialis collection.

After a pizza and a few pints, it was down to buisness, starting with an old favourite game of ours: Flying Circus. This a WW1 version of GMT's Down in Flames series which we have played to death over the decades, and it never fails to entertain (especially with Spotify playing WW1 trench songs in the background)

And then it was time for something completely different: Steam Torpedo which despite its confusing rules explanations, turned into quite an absorbing game of sub v sub combat in a Dieselpunk theme (with Hunt for Red Octiber themes in the background of course)

Overall, a fab way to spend a day far from home with a mate you've been gaming with for 30 years!