Ludi Apollinares of 194 B.C.

[Marcus Silvius Pastor]

A scribae of Marcus Silvius Pastor, by the name of Linus, places a wager on Chariot 13.

[Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo Hispanicus]

Corbulo strolled up to the betting table carrying a bucket full of brains and skull fragments that once belonged to Ventriloqus. He placed his wager on 18 and then made his way toward his personal physician to see if his gladiator's head can be reassembled.

[Gaius Cassius Vecellinus]

A member of G.C.V.' staff discreetly placed the bet on number 1.

[Ass. Admin B]

The chariots were off! 20 of them pushed together in a small space led to a chaotic but thoroughly enjoyable chariot race. As it proceeded, more and more chariots were outright destroyed, leaving the amount of chariots crossing the finish line at a paltry 5. The winner, chariot number 1, only barely scratched past chariot number 3, but a win is a win.

20.000 Denarii to Gaius Cassius Vecellinus.

NEXT:

The Gladiator Mock Battle in which the large amount of anonymous untrained gladiators offered by the patricians of Rome duke it out in honor of a Roman triumph from the past. It will be bloody, it will be deadly, it will be entertaining.

[Ass. Admin B]

OOC:
I am going to use this gladitorial mock battle as a test case for the new battle rules. Of course, full rules will be posted once they are finalized, but you should be able to pick up the finer details from how the test battle is written. In the future I won't be fully displaying the dice rolls and instead giving you a narrative version of how the rolls worked out, but for this test battle, to get feedback, I will be showing the rolls.


The crowd was well prepared for the last event of the Ludi Apollinares, a battle between large groups of gladiators that was supposed to mirror one from ancient past. For this battle, the theme was the Battle of Bovainum, where the Romans soundly defeated the Samnites. Each side was made up of the en masse anonymous gladiators who had been carted in for the games by various patricians, and they were all equipped to look like their predecessors on the battlefield.

On the Samnite side, representing two Samnite legions, were 30 gladiators clad in the warrior attire of the Samnites. Clad in kardiophylax and equipped with heavy spears and javelins, they looked to have come straight from the distant past of the Roman Republic. Facing them, 30 gladiators represented two Roman legions and a Socii legion, clad in the older gear of the hoplite-like Roman formations of yore.

--
The roll details.

Spoiler!

Phase 0 - The Ambush Phase.

A roll of 13 denotes that one side is ambushed. In this case, the Romans are ambushed by the cowardly Samnites. Therefore they have a reduced level of effectiveness of 50%.

Phase 1 - The Skirmish Phase.

Roman rolls:

In this phase, Socii are worth x2, meaning that they provide 2d100. New Roman legions are worth .5, and as such provide 1D50 each, totaling a dice roll of 2D100, 2D50. Together they roll 215. This must be reduced in half because of Phase 0. Totaling 107.

Samnite roll:

In this phase, tribals (as we are classifying the Samnites as) provide 3x. So the two samnite legions provide 4d100. They roll 189.

As the samnite roll is 25% higher than the Roman roll, it is considered that they are the clear winners in the Skirmish phase, adding 15% to rolls for the Samnites in the next phase.

Phase 2 - The Battle Phase.

In this phase, Socii are worth .5, and therefore give 1d50. The Roman Legions are worth 1, giving 2d100. They collectively roll 190. Reduced with 50% , giving a roll of 95.

In thise phase the Samnite tribals are worth 1. So they are given 2d100. They roll 160. 15% is added due to their clear victory in the Skirmish phase. This totals 184.

Phase 3 - The Withdrawal Phase.

The Roman-Socii legion has lost. It must now withdraw from the field of battle. A d20 is rolled to check for a critical failure to withdraw. They roll a 14. 19-20 is considered a critical failure. The Roman/Socii army passes the critical failure check.

Now we must find out what sort of casualties the Roman army suffers withdrawing. Depending on the percentage amount of difference between the battle phase roles, we can decide on an outcome. as 95 is 51% of 184, the casualties are quite large, and the ruleset calls for "complete destruction". The Roman Samnite army is wiped out.

Contrary to history, in this version of events the gladiators representing the Samnites manage to defeat the gladiators representing the Romans. The crowd was mildly displeased at this, but was happy with the blood sports nonetheless. The gladiators representing Rome quickly collapsed and as such were brutally slaughtered, killing all 30. The crowd, pried with cheap wine and good food, cheered nonetheless as the Samnite-like gladiators were led out as victors.

Thus came the Ludi Apollinares of 194 B.C. to a close.


OOC: If you have feedback to the new battle rules, or to the ludi, make sure to contact me or chuck on discord. Thank you.