I had the opportunity to run a couple of play test games of Blood on the Sands for an old friend, Damian, and his good friend Ed. I met Damian years ago (probably 8-9 years ago) thanks to Blood on the Sands, when he reached out to me asking for a game. Damian and Ed are both Roman reenactors and it was great to be able to pick their brains on a few subjects. Thanks to Damian for being such a gracious host; for the wine, wolf nipple chips and the authentic Roman eating couch!
We had two very different matches. The first between a Thraex and a Murmillo, that saw Damian's Thraex suffer a devastating deep wound to the torso in the first exchange, which his poor gladiator wore for the rest of the match. The Thraex put up a good fight, considering his wound, but failed to land a blow on Ed's giant German Murmillo. The Murmillo hunted him relentlessly and eventually ended the match with a slow kill wound to the Thraex's torso for a second time, but he was spared by the crowd and granted missio.
The second fight was between two Provocators, one large and a Son of Pluto to boot, meaning his blows would hit home much harder and the other was agile making him harder to hit. The arena was scattered with training posts. Damian had a much better run in this combat and the Provocators danced around the obstacles trying to corner each other against them. At one stage Damian caught Ed's gladiator against a pole and delivered many punishing attacks against him, which severely fatigued Ed's gladiator. In the end this is what ended the match as Ed's Provocator could stand no more and had to submit exhausted. The fickle crowd shouted for his blood and he was put to the sword.
A great afternoon gaming with great company to boot.
We had two very different matches. The first between a Thraex and a Murmillo, that saw Damian's Thraex suffer a devastating deep wound to the torso in the first exchange, which his poor gladiator wore for the rest of the match. The Thraex put up a good fight, considering his wound, but failed to land a blow on Ed's giant German Murmillo. The Murmillo hunted him relentlessly and eventually ended the match with a slow kill wound to the Thraex's torso for a second time, but he was spared by the crowd and granted missio.
The second fight was between two Provocators, one large and a Son of Pluto to boot, meaning his blows would hit home much harder and the other was agile making him harder to hit. The arena was scattered with training posts. Damian had a much better run in this combat and the Provocators danced around the obstacles trying to corner each other against them. At one stage Damian caught Ed's gladiator against a pole and delivered many punishing attacks against him, which severely fatigued Ed's gladiator. In the end this is what ended the match as Ed's Provocator could stand no more and had to submit exhausted. The fickle crowd shouted for his blood and he was put to the sword.
A great afternoon gaming with great company to boot.
I am happy to say that play testing is progressing very well and this time around I've actually gotten the rules written comprehensively (in my opinion) and as good as complete. I believe Blood on the Sands has evolved into a game that is easier to learn and much more accessible, while keeping the core of what I wanted the game to be all those years ago.
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| The Thraex and giant German Murmillo face off. |
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| Our gracious host, Damian. |
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| Ed preempting victory. |
Two different matches that. ended with very different outcomes
ReplyDeleteIt must have been very satisfying seeing this porject finally coming to fruition.
As Thraex are my favourite gladiator type, I'm pleased he survived !
It is very rewarding Zabadak. I am feeling very happy with the current state of the rules and thanks to some great play testers (like yourself) we are ironing out any issues hopefully.
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