For this week's submission I present a selection of Roman Gladiators from Crusader Miniatures that I plan to use with Wiley Games 'Arena of Blood' rules. In the past I have played gladiatorial combat with a variety of rules, some which were very complex regarding planning your attack or defence, while other required special dice to play, or a hex grid area. 'Arena of Blood' is a fast game that requires no measurement, and still provides a wide scope for both tactics and strategy. DaveV and I have taken the game to two games conventions so far, and the people who join in the game found it easy to learn, and fun to play.
After some initial play testing with other members of the Fawcett Avenue Conscripts, we found that we didn't have figures for all the different types of gladiators available in the rules. A quick order to Crusader Miniatures filled the gaps for most of the types we were missing.
The figures were cleaned up of any mould lines, etc. and glued to some hexagonal bases that I picked up at Historicon. The two mounted gladiators and one of the velites all required a small javelin that I made to a length of florist wire. I added a layer of fine sand with PVA glue, and then primed them with Vallejo Desert Tan using an airbrush. I mounted the shields onto some popsicle sticks using some blue tack to hold them while priming, and painted the back side. The gladiators were painted using a variety of Vallejo and Army Painter acrylics. I made a point of varying the skin tone on the figures to present the different ethnic groups that became part of the Roman Empire using Flat Flesh, Cork Brown, and Chocolate Brown. Once the main figures were completed, I mounted the shields and then painted them. When everything was done, I finished off with a wash of Army Painter Soft Tone. Here is the final result.
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| "Ave Imperator! Morituri te salutant." | |
Murmillones & Crupellarius - A Murmillo was a heavily armoured gladiator wearing a fish crest on his helmet. Murmillones were typically paired with a Thraex opponent, but occasionally with the similar hoplomachus. A Crupellarius was the most heavily armed gladiator, whose armor consisted of a lorica segmentata, manica
on both arms, and high segmented greaves up to the thighs. The helmet
was typical for ancient Roman gladiators, completely covering the head
and face with only small openings for the eyes and mouth.
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| Murmillones (1,3,& 4) and Crupellarius (2) |
Secutores & Scissor - The Secutor ("Pursuer") developed to fight the retiarius. The helmet of the secutor covered the entire face with the exception of two small eye-holes in order to protect his face from the thin prongs of the trident of his opponent. The Scissor fought using a weapon consisting of a hardened steel tube that encased the gladiator's entire forearm, with the end capped off and a wicked semicircular blade attached to it.
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| Scissor (1) and Secutores (2 - 4) |
Thraeces & Hoplomachi - The Thraex's weapon was the Thracian curved sword. They were introduced as replacements for the Gaulish gladiator type after Gaul made peace with Rome. They commonly fought murmillones or hoplomachi. The Hoplomachus was Romanised Greek for "armed fighter". He was equipped with a gladius and a very small, round shield. He also carried a spear, which he would have to cast at his opponent before closing to hand-to-hand combat.
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| Hoplomachi (1 & 2) and Thraeces (3 & 4) |
Eques - Early forms of the eques gladiator were lightly armed, with sword or spear. They had scale armour; a medium-sized round cavalry shield (parma equestris); and a brimmed helmet with two decorative feathers and no crest. Later forms also had greaves to protect their legs, a manica on their right arm and sleeveless, belted tunics. Generally, they fought only other equites.
Provocatores & Dimachaeri - Provocatores were the only gladiators protected by a breastplate (cardiophylax) which was usually rectangular, later often cresent-shaped. They fought with a tall rectangular shield and the gladius. They were paired only against other provocatores. The Dimachaerus (Greek διμάχαιρος, "bearing two knives") was a type of gladiator that fought with two swords. They were referred to as fighting against a hoplomachus class gladiator.
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| Dimachaeri (1 & 2) and Provocatores (3 & 4) |
Velites & Sagittarius - The Veles (pl. velites - "skirmishers") is presumed to have fought on foot, armed with a spear, sword and small round shield (parma); this also assumes that the type was named for the early and lightly armed Republican army units of the same name. The Sagittarius was an archer whose main weapon was the bow.
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| Velites (1 - 3) and Sagittarius (4) |
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| "The Wood of Self-murderers - Violence" by William Blake |
The points being claimed are as follows:
22 x 28mm foot figure @ 5 points = 110 points
2 x 28mm mounted figure @ 10 points = 20 points
1 x Circle of Hell - Violence = 20 points
Thanks for stopping by.
Sylvain: I always look forward to your posts because I know I will learn some new and interesting historical facts. With your description, my imagination brought me into the coliseum and I could almost hear the crowd and see thumbs pointed up (or down). What a marvelous collection of gladiators all painted to a superior standard. I hope next time I go to a convention that I will have a chance to try your game. Great job!
