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Friday, 10 September 2021

Gladiators in the Colosseum

Some 28mm gladiator figures in the Colosseum. I couldn't immediately find the original 1/72 Atlantic plastics, but I think the 28mm - although oversized - could do visually for a game.

The Colosseum needs a proper paintjob though. I got it as a present around 198/1981, and tried to paint it then when I was 14, but it was never quite finished.






7 comments:

  1. Nice!

    Now I'm wondering... is the space big enough to have an interesting game fight (ie where there is some tactical movement, not simply pairing gladiators & statically rolling dice until one drops dead)

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    1. Most gladiator rules I've seen use a gridded playing field, so a smaller physical space is less of an issue as long as it's obvious where the figures are located.

      But in essence you're right. There's always a certain 'rock-paper-scissors' aspect to 1-1 fights such as gladiators, medieval tournaments, etc. I think it's more interesting to have a sort of meta-game, with players being the owner of a bunch of gladiators, and having bets on having them fight each other.

      An interesting medieval tournament melee game I once read had 10 or so fighters, and players drew a secret card who their winner should be. But when taking turns, any player could control any fighter. That gives a different dynamic to such games.

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  2. Very effective light and shadows through the doorways!

    A building back from the dead after decades of dusty silence.

    Interesting article in National Geographic magazine this month on Gladiators.

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  3. I have some of the Atlantic Gladiators. They are a big disappointment. Which is quite sad as the Colosseum model is spectacular. Back in the day I could have bought this model, but spent my money on the Atlantic Roman Army instead. Big mistake!

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    1. I still have them somewhere ... when I first started playing fantasy games, the Atantic Roman army served as my orcs :-)

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  4. You said that you should do something with these and you did. Marvellous!
    It will be quite a task to paint it.
    Regards, James

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