Have you ever wanted to seek glory and hear the cry's of the crowd upon the sands in Rome. Have you ever wanted to create your own ludus, pitting your band of gladiators against others to gain coin and prestige..
Well Sons Of Mars by Joe Veltre of Acceptable Casualties have you covered.
Joe was kind enough to send me a PDF copy of the book to review so lets dive in.
Sons of Mars is a skirmish game of gladiator combat set in the arenas and fighting pits of Rome and allows you to create your own character right up to running your own Ludus.
This rules starts out by introducing you to the game and the D10 mechanics it uses along with how to get started creating matches between gladiators.
You are recommended to uses a 20x20 inch playing area with around 15 D10 as well as some tokens to keep track of wounds etc as well as a tape measure and some terrain and a pen/paper to track your fighters condition.
This book is set out as a blank canvas in a way so you can be as detailed as you like from length campaign to just running it as a beer an pretzels game.
There are no official miniatures for the game so this allows you to just use what you have or use other companies miniature lines to build a thematic group of gladiators.
Its details how to start a game by someone being appointed the Editor and setting up the gladiatorial events.
This book is not set in one time period of Roman history so it covers all gladiators that ever graced the sands of Rome and you can pit them against each other.
Each player has a list of 17 different gladiators classes some suited to certain types of match ups with over 40 different weapon options.
To start a game each player rolls a dice. The person with the highest roll gets to place their gladiators in a match they see fit then the next player places there gladiator. This goes back and forth until all games are filled.
To start the game you roll for initiative on a D10 and add the agility of the gladiator. The highest scores wins and takes the first tern.
The game is split in to 8 turns which is equal to one round. Each gladiator has the ability to have two actions and once these are finished for each gladiator the turn is over.
The actions that can be taken are move, run (which requires a 6+ roll) or attack.
You can also uses action to pick up weapons, stand up, disengage, intimidate an opponent, play to the crowd, rest or make a ranged attack, push an opponent, take a defensive stance or walk/charge into a combat.
To move into combat this must be done in a straight line at the shortest distance possible. If a player is pushed the will take an agility test to see if they remain standing or fall over.
If knocked down or prone as its called they lose a fatigue point and are down to one defence dice and need to use an action to stand up.
Combat can be deadly and a gladiator can fall in the arena by losing all of their vitality or receiving a death blow.
Combat works by rolling an amount of dice that is made up from your sustained attack dice pool which can include dice from weapons your gladiator has. Its then a case of rolling an opposing number of dice with the highest achieving a success.
Combats don't have to be just one on one there could be group attacks or using primary and secondary weapons. There are also attacks by gladiators on horse back.
The more you fight the more fatigue a gladiator will suffer which will effect the combat results but you can get bonus dice called favour dice for performing actions which can aid a fighter.
Favour dice can be won by successfully playing to the crowd and intimidating your opponent as well as scoring a wound on an opponent or defeating them and by dealing a death blow.
If your are surrounded and kill one of your opponents you get 2 flavour dice due to the great odds against you.
This makes a pool of flavour dice which allows you to use them to re roll any dice you want in the game.
Arenas
The rules allow you to use standard arenas to custom arenas filled full of obstacles and death traps.
These arenas can be filled with chained beasts, pillars, spiked walls bridges and platforms or you can set a blaze to part of the arena for added danger.
Another type of arena is the death pits which are small underground fighting pits where if your running a ludus you can send your fighters to get some coin back from your investment.
The Campaign
The Campaign system is very detailed and again flexible for the players. The idea is that each player has their own ludus and spends coin to recruit your own set of gladiators to fight in the areas and festivals in Rome.
The flexibility of the rules allow you to use the gladiator types and stats that are printed in the book as a template or completely create your own. There are also rules for you to be able to use beasts and for non player character's which can help during a campaign if you need to fill slots in a card.
The campaign system allows you to set up a month by month schedule which can include special festivals that you as a ludus owner have to buy into and place your gladiators in.
Your chosen gladiator can only be put into one match a month be it fighting in a death pit, local or regional event or festival.
You ludus starts small but as your gladiators build victories they will not only gain coin but also gain experience points which can be spent on skills.
There are also some festivals and events that your gladiator has to have so many victories to enter as well as enough coin of course.
The book introduces types of matches such as a gauntlet match, one vs two, one on one or man vs beast for example.
Injuries will accrue in the area which will mean a roll on the injury table which can effect a fighters abilities from then on. If you feel the gladiator is too injured you can sell him off to the salt mines.
If your gladiator dies all his equipment is lost and no coin is given as compensation in the arena.
One of the interesting things you can do as a ludus owner is to be able to bet on an opponents fights results.
Ludus management
While participating in a campaign running your own ludus will be as important as fighting in the arena.
You first start out with a basic ludus which allows you to house up to 4 gladiators and buy 2 beasts 1 specialist and have one ludus upgrade.
The ludus upgrade can consist of training grounds, a clinic, an armoury, a slave block which can consist of unwanted fighters you can sell as well as a viewing platform not only to look over your fighters but to invite powerful allies to watch specially arrange fights on the off weeks of the campaign months.
If the worse would happen where you have no gladiators or have no coin to buy new recruits then your ludus must close.
The last part of the book details how you calculate victory and defeat as well as an injury table and how to randomly arm a gladiator or non playable character.
There is also a reference sheet and a scenario to get you started with a step by step guide of the rules.
So my thoughts..
This is a well written and well thought out rule book that allows maximum flexibility for quick games as well as longer campaigns.
The rules are easy to follow and there is enough depth for creating characters or if you want a quick an easy route just use the characters that are pre set in the book.
The book is a little text heavy and I would have liked to see some more pictures of some sample arenas and death pits but overall the designed is easy to read in the PDF version I have read the old parchment effect adds to the flavour.
The campaign system is well structured and a great foundation to create your own campaign and scenarios.
The focus of managing your own ludus and looking after your investment of gladiators is a fantastic idea to really pull you into the campaign system.
Managing your ludus correctly and matching up fights with your gladiators is very important and tactical as the right match will help with your gladiators experience and allows your to be able to enter in to bigger events gaining more coin.
I like the idea that not only do you have normal arenas available but be able to make custom made arenas as well as death pits which allows you to scale your game up or down in arena size.
You also have the option just to sell unwanted gladiators to the salt mine as slaves to make space in your ludus or just to some money back from a injured fighter. This element adds to the ruthless nature of this time period.
I also like the inclusion of beasts in the game. Beast running around an arena sounds fun and who could not have a sense of glee when theres a Rhino on the table top..
The inclusion of the calendar system which introduces different events over different months allows you to dive into that time period and have a structured campaign.
Having a betting systems is another interesting inclusion being able to to bet on a friends/foes games is a nice idea as this gets a player who may have had a game invested in an outcome of a match and win coin of course.
There is a solo play option with some of the non-playable characters which is a good way to try to get familiar with the rules and help to be able to run demos for your gaming group.
This is a really interesting and flexible rule set with all the flavour of brutal combat in the arenas of Rome.
If your looking for a gladiator style game that not only works for a quick game but can be expand into a full campaign system then Sons of Mars should be on your list.
Visit The Acceptable Casualties for more information.
Sons of Mars is a skirmish game of gladiator combat set in the arenas and fighting pits of Rome and allows you to create your own character right up to running your own Ludus.
This rules starts out by introducing you to the game and the D10 mechanics it uses along with how to get started creating matches between gladiators.
You are recommended to uses a 20x20 inch playing area with around 15 D10 as well as some tokens to keep track of wounds etc as well as a tape measure and some terrain and a pen/paper to track your fighters condition.
This book is set out as a blank canvas in a way so you can be as detailed as you like from length campaign to just running it as a beer an pretzels game.
There are no official miniatures for the game so this allows you to just use what you have or use other companies miniature lines to build a thematic group of gladiators.
Its details how to start a game by someone being appointed the Editor and setting up the gladiatorial events.
This book is not set in one time period of Roman history so it covers all gladiators that ever graced the sands of Rome and you can pit them against each other.
Each player has a list of 17 different gladiators classes some suited to certain types of match ups with over 40 different weapon options.
To start a game each player rolls a dice. The person with the highest roll gets to place their gladiators in a match they see fit then the next player places there gladiator. This goes back and forth until all games are filled.
To start the game you roll for initiative on a D10 and add the agility of the gladiator. The highest scores wins and takes the first tern.
The game is split in to 8 turns which is equal to one round. Each gladiator has the ability to have two actions and once these are finished for each gladiator the turn is over.
The actions that can be taken are move, run (which requires a 6+ roll) or attack.
You can also uses action to pick up weapons, stand up, disengage, intimidate an opponent, play to the crowd, rest or make a ranged attack, push an opponent, take a defensive stance or walk/charge into a combat.
To move into combat this must be done in a straight line at the shortest distance possible. If a player is pushed the will take an agility test to see if they remain standing or fall over.
If knocked down or prone as its called they lose a fatigue point and are down to one defence dice and need to use an action to stand up.
Combat can be deadly and a gladiator can fall in the arena by losing all of their vitality or receiving a death blow.
Combat works by rolling an amount of dice that is made up from your sustained attack dice pool which can include dice from weapons your gladiator has. Its then a case of rolling an opposing number of dice with the highest achieving a success.
Combats don't have to be just one on one there could be group attacks or using primary and secondary weapons. There are also attacks by gladiators on horse back.
The more you fight the more fatigue a gladiator will suffer which will effect the combat results but you can get bonus dice called favour dice for performing actions which can aid a fighter.
Favour dice can be won by successfully playing to the crowd and intimidating your opponent as well as scoring a wound on an opponent or defeating them and by dealing a death blow.
If your are surrounded and kill one of your opponents you get 2 flavour dice due to the great odds against you.
This makes a pool of flavour dice which allows you to use them to re roll any dice you want in the game.
Arenas
The rules allow you to use standard arenas to custom arenas filled full of obstacles and death traps.
These arenas can be filled with chained beasts, pillars, spiked walls bridges and platforms or you can set a blaze to part of the arena for added danger.
Another type of arena is the death pits which are small underground fighting pits where if your running a ludus you can send your fighters to get some coin back from your investment.
The Campaign
The Campaign system is very detailed and again flexible for the players. The idea is that each player has their own ludus and spends coin to recruit your own set of gladiators to fight in the areas and festivals in Rome.
The flexibility of the rules allow you to use the gladiator types and stats that are printed in the book as a template or completely create your own. There are also rules for you to be able to use beasts and for non player character's which can help during a campaign if you need to fill slots in a card.
The campaign system allows you to set up a month by month schedule which can include special festivals that you as a ludus owner have to buy into and place your gladiators in.
Your chosen gladiator can only be put into one match a month be it fighting in a death pit, local or regional event or festival.
You ludus starts small but as your gladiators build victories they will not only gain coin but also gain experience points which can be spent on skills.
There are also some festivals and events that your gladiator has to have so many victories to enter as well as enough coin of course.
The book introduces types of matches such as a gauntlet match, one vs two, one on one or man vs beast for example.
Injuries will accrue in the area which will mean a roll on the injury table which can effect a fighters abilities from then on. If you feel the gladiator is too injured you can sell him off to the salt mines.
If your gladiator dies all his equipment is lost and no coin is given as compensation in the arena.
One of the interesting things you can do as a ludus owner is to be able to bet on an opponents fights results.
Ludus management
While participating in a campaign running your own ludus will be as important as fighting in the arena.
You first start out with a basic ludus which allows you to house up to 4 gladiators and buy 2 beasts 1 specialist and have one ludus upgrade.
The ludus upgrade can consist of training grounds, a clinic, an armoury, a slave block which can consist of unwanted fighters you can sell as well as a viewing platform not only to look over your fighters but to invite powerful allies to watch specially arrange fights on the off weeks of the campaign months.
If the worse would happen where you have no gladiators or have no coin to buy new recruits then your ludus must close.
The last part of the book details how you calculate victory and defeat as well as an injury table and how to randomly arm a gladiator or non playable character.
There is also a reference sheet and a scenario to get you started with a step by step guide of the rules.
So my thoughts..
This is a well written and well thought out rule book that allows maximum flexibility for quick games as well as longer campaigns.
The rules are easy to follow and there is enough depth for creating characters or if you want a quick an easy route just use the characters that are pre set in the book.
The book is a little text heavy and I would have liked to see some more pictures of some sample arenas and death pits but overall the designed is easy to read in the PDF version I have read the old parchment effect adds to the flavour.
The campaign system is well structured and a great foundation to create your own campaign and scenarios.
The focus of managing your own ludus and looking after your investment of gladiators is a fantastic idea to really pull you into the campaign system.
Managing your ludus correctly and matching up fights with your gladiators is very important and tactical as the right match will help with your gladiators experience and allows your to be able to enter in to bigger events gaining more coin.
I like the idea that not only do you have normal arenas available but be able to make custom made arenas as well as death pits which allows you to scale your game up or down in arena size.
You also have the option just to sell unwanted gladiators to the salt mine as slaves to make space in your ludus or just to some money back from a injured fighter. This element adds to the ruthless nature of this time period.
I also like the inclusion of beasts in the game. Beast running around an arena sounds fun and who could not have a sense of glee when theres a Rhino on the table top..
The inclusion of the calendar system which introduces different events over different months allows you to dive into that time period and have a structured campaign.
Having a betting systems is another interesting inclusion being able to to bet on a friends/foes games is a nice idea as this gets a player who may have had a game invested in an outcome of a match and win coin of course.
There is a solo play option with some of the non-playable characters which is a good way to try to get familiar with the rules and help to be able to run demos for your gaming group.
This is a really interesting and flexible rule set with all the flavour of brutal combat in the arenas of Rome.
If your looking for a gladiator style game that not only works for a quick game but can be expand into a full campaign system then Sons of Mars should be on your list.
Visit The Acceptable Casualties for more information.
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