A while ago I acquired a couple of packs of Pegasus 54mm plastic gladiators. They seemed quite cheap (compared to the metal ones that can be bought), have some good action poses, and cover all the standard gladiator types. I thought they might be good for use in conventions, as they are a lot easier to see from a distance. The Pegasus gladiators are a bit shorter than the metal ones (scale creep in 54mm...!), and not as detailed, but I have them anyway so thought I'd paint them up for use with one-on-one gladiator games using either Munera Sine Missione or Arena Games.Arena Games (AG) are a simple seem more geared towards convention gaming, where you rush in and roll dice. They are far more basic than Munera Sine Missione (MSM), particularly with weaponry and shields which AG treats mostly the same. However, AG has a nice system for handling armour (distinguishing between metal and leather/padded) and damage in different body areas, which is good for 54mm, and are easy to use.
This is the first time I have tried painting 54mm. I painted them the same way I've painted 28mm figures, but realised out later on that doesn't really work. The parts I'd normally pay less attention to actually have the detail to put that little bit more effort into. I ended up going back and blacklining them (fine tipped black pigment pens worked well for this) to make the paint pop a bit more, and painted in extra details like eyes and bootlaces.
I thought I'd use the convention of assigning permanent names to each figure. I am going to restrict myself to only using names that are in the book/game Gladiator: The Game of Deadly Arena Combat in Ancient Rome. This book has wonderful background information, though the rules seem better suited to large skirmishes rather than one-on-one fights.
I'll work out stats for both MSM and AG, as an interesting exercise in how different rules interpret the same set of data....
Flamma. MSM: sword, light armour, helmet, large shield. AG: Initiative=6, Armour=6, swordProculus. MSM:sica, light armour, helmet. small shield. AG: Initiative=6, Armour=6, sword.
A Myrmillo and Thracian. In AG, both gladiators have identical stats. Swords and sica's are treated the same, and there is no difference between small and large shields. Both have metal armour in the same locations. In MSM, there is a difference between sword and sica, and the small and large shields.
Ferox. MSM: sword, cone, heavy armour, helmet. AG: Initiative=5, Armour=5, two swords
A Diamacheri and Contra-Retiarius. In AG, there is no rule for the cone or arbelas, so I'm treating it as a sword with metal armour. Apart from heavier armour on Felix, both are the same. In MSM, there is a difference in weaponry as there are rules for the arbelas, otherwise, Ferox is treated as heavier and less agile as well.
Memnon. MSM: sword, light armour, helmet, small shield. AG: Initiative=6, Armour=6, sword
A Hoplomachus and a myrmillo with a small shield. I like the Clitus figure it looks like a proper hoplomachus - though I re-speared it with a wire 10cm long spear. The Memnon figure in AG is the same as a Thracian or Myrmillo (such a Flamma or Proculus above), though in MSM it seems a hybrid between both - having the straight sword of the myrmillo, but the small shield of a Thracian.
Piscator. MSM: Trident, net, light armour. AG: Initiative=9, Armour=9, trident, net
The two light gladiators in the group, Brennus is a sort of velite, whereas piscator is a retiarius.
Despite the padded arm armour on Brennus, there didn't seem to be enough justification to rate the armour above "no armour" in MSM. I had to scratch build the net for Pisactor, but I think I made it too big.
Acquilina. MSM: sica, light armour, small shield. AG: Initiative = 6, Amour=6, sword
These are the two gladiatrixes in the set. Interestingly, under AG, there is a reasonable difference in armour, Brunhilda has 2 pieces of metal armour (the chainmail and the shield), while Acquilina has 4 (the arm guard, greave, helmet and shield). In MSM, the armour works out the same, where both are counted as as light armour. Technically, Acquilinas helmet is not enclosed (no thick metal & face protecting grille), so is treated as part of the light armour instead. Overall, they are both light gladiators in MSM, but in AG, Aquilina is heavy (equivalent of a Thracian).
Felix: MSM: sica, light armour, small shield. AG: Base Initiative=6, Armour=6, sword
Felix looks like a Thracian, and Hilarus has a secutor helmet but with a small shield.
Stats wise, both gladiators are identical in AG, but in MSM the sica and the sword are treated differently. One really odd feature with these figures is that their padded arm armour is on their shielded arm rather than their weapons arm - not sure why they are modelled this way.
Lucius. MSM: sword, light armour, helmet, large shield. AG: Initiative=7, Armour=7, sword
Another Myrmillo. in MSM, this figure is identical the Flamma stats wise. In AG, it differs from the Flamma figure in that Lucius is slightly lighter with armour (having 1 less metal greave), as AG has more granularity in its treatment with armour.
Overall, there is a wide variety of figures in the pegasus set - there were others, such as a netted gladiator, a fallen one etc, but I didn't paint those. It seems to be missing a secutor, apart from the dwarf. The large figures look great, however, which isn't borne out in the above photos. Here is a size comparison with a 28mm figure:
All that is needed now is an arena with 5cm square hexes:
Those look really good - what a great set!
ReplyDeleteThanks, they were very reasonably priced aswell. Italeri also made a set, but it is OOP.
DeleteYes, very good. You’ll need to get some animals now: lions etc. Cheap p,astic toys should paint up well enough
ReplyDeleteThanks. It will be difficult to find animals in the right scale, they all seem either too small or too big!
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