Side-note :: Gladiator Battles

OVERVIEW

Clarification; I've recently been dreaming about building out some new terrain.

One of my wandering thoughts deals with building a 25 to 28mm scale Roman Arena for gladiatorial battles. At present, I have my 1:18 Schleich figures for the MEST Fantasy Gladiator build out, but these require about a 6 x 6 foot area to play properly ... maybe more if I were to truly challenge the Centaur and the various cats (all sprinters).

Anyhow, I've got some inspiration from watching these gladiator combat schools (German and Italian) where re-enactors employ their training. There's some really cool action clips.

Here's a bunch together:

ANALYSIS

What I find interesting is the use of the net and trident by the setarii. The nets are thrown for distracting the opponents (usually a secutor) and the tridents are used in attempts to pull the legs from under the secutorii. This is quite different than how I imagined them being used; to disarm the opponent and to stab them.

I also noticed; the use of spears is amazing. It gives a greater reach (as in MEST "Reach" trait), but also it can bypass defenses. The single-hand use is very common for that. So; two hands for stabbing, but one hand for reaching over shields.

Lastly, tall gladiators have a fairly visible advantage. Their longer reach mimics the spear in some cases; allowing them to bypass shields.

SUMMARY

I'll eventually build my arena, and then I'll get some figures to match. I'm thinking of building out a ludus campaign for managing gladiatorial battles and it may become another genre + setting within MEST. However, this will probably be months if not years from now given my current pace. =)