Gladiators A-Go-Go

Well these fine fellows have been an eternity in the mind and the making but finally they may feel the sun on their face, the sand beneath their feet and the roar of the crowds in their ears. These are my Gladiators but likely not Gladiators as you have known them.

All but one of these figures are from the West Wind 28mm range and I chose them purely for their dynamic poses. As to specific types of Gladiator each casting may represent I suspect required some conjecture. It certainly did for me.

In fact, whilst my fellow historical enthusiasts and purists might have cause to choke on their wolf-nipple-chips (they're lovely) Gladiatorial distinctions actually have no bearing on my game. Allow me to explain.

My game will use the old Avalon Hill 'Gladiator' board games rules which only specify one truly historical type - the Retarius. 

All other Gladiators in their rules are simply divided into Light, Medium and Heavy. So, broadly speaking, that's all I need worry about.

At the start of each game (unless you are playing through a campaign) players roll for their armour ratings across their body parts within the limitations of each class - Light through Heavy.

Actually, I couldn't hope to accurately represent every variation this produces so my figures need only represent the general idea of each class.

BUT ... I'm not a complete Philistine; thanks to my trusty Gladiatorial almanac, Gladiator - Rome's Bloody Spectacle by Konstantin Nossov (2009 translation and re-print). This fabulous hardback is beautifully illustrated by Vladamir Golubev and is an absolute gem. It was this reference to this comprehensive study that I was best able to approximate my gladiator figures to an historical type.

Apart from a Caesarian Roman unarmoured legionary (from Wargames Foundry) who I gave a buckler to and carved off his scabbard (they didn't use them) I elected not to trick-up any of the models and painted them as-is. So, for example, my Myrmillos do not have crests or plumage ... such is life.

The hexagonal bases were just what I needed and fit perfectly with my hexagonal base arena - I can't recall now if that was planned or good fortune.

I textured the bases before undercoating and painting. I colour coded the front facing - which is vital for the game.

I mixed up the races for this mob, making sure there were some swarthy North Africans and some Negro champions alongside the more typical Mediterranean and European types. This made a really nice and refreshing change to represent an ethnically diverse set. The reality check of course it how sad and widespread slavery was at the time.

 

My arena surface is an extended array of hexagonal paper mounted on framed ply-board. The original board game provided a much smaller and similarly featureless, hexagonal  surface and the game is based on a theoretically endless arena. If a melee drifts towards any given edge, all figures are re-positioned toward the centre of the board by an equivalent number of hexes whilst maintaining their orientation.

I bought myself some sturdy 120 gsm  coloured paper from Quill and printed my own hex paper. Each hex side is 20mm which was comfortably larger than I needed to fit in my hex bases. PVA glued and generously lacquered twice over finished the base.

The moveable back-drop arena curve was made years ago and featured on this blog. I have a ind to do others but for the time being this is what I have.

I've really happy with the brass work on the minis. I base coated in brown, heavily dry brushed in brass (Vallejo), washed it in an orange brown, pin washed in a darker brown around details and in creases and then highlighted in a gold dry brush.

So I can now finally play a game with Roman gladiators. It's unlikely I will paint any more.