Having been alerted to a new version of Red Sand Blue Sky by
Two Hour Wargames over at
Hetairoi Wargames, I thought it was about time to pick up this gladiator ruleset. I had always wanted to try the original Red Sand Blue Sky, but had never gotten around to buying it, so I finally took the plunge. To ease back into gaming, Dave and myself gave it a bash last Sunday after printing out the PDF and some character sheets.
The cover looks really good with a simple spin on the Pollice Verso painting, but it was nice to see some effort here - simple but effective. The layout of the rules were a little hard to follow in places, especially since the meat and potatoes of the combat lies in a half dozen or so tables at the end of the book, which had me flicking furiously between the front and the back. As well, I think the character sheets could be vastly improved and be used as more of a tool to play the game. One thing I really liked though was the combat examples provided and available on the site, which helped a lot.
I found the movement rules to be a nice change from the norm, being a little more abstract rather than exact measuring or hex use. They put you in a roundabout area of the arena, like in the center or up against the walls.
There was a decent selection of gladiator types, but apart from the Retiarius they really felt too similar. We also found that their was very little separating our gladiators stat wise, but in the rules defense we were playing fighters of exactly the same skill.
Unfortunately, concerning combat, RSBS seemed to fall into the same trap that many gladiator games do, where the game degenerates into a dicing rolling fest between two static miniatures. So much hinges on your bonus dice and choosing when to use them is a big part of the game, but there was nothing stopping me from using all my bonus dice in the very first exchange (nothing except the fact that if I didn't beat my opponent in that single attack, he was sure to win). Using all your bonus dice leaves you spent , basically out of the match. I think the combat came across as a little lackluster and didn't force me to make any tactical decisions or even basic choices.
In saying that, I think RSBS could excel as a solo game and also has some promising campaign rules. Unfortunately it is not exciting or competitive enough for me as a multiplayer game. I expect tension and excitement in a game of gladiatorial combat and I certainly didn't feel it here.
We did have a lot of fun though rolling up our gladiators. All Dave's hopes hinged on the murmillo, "Spandex of Gaul", but he was no match for my thraex, "Titius the Jew".
Alas my quest for the perfect set of gladiatorial combat rules continues.
