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This is just a thought. I know we already have necromunda, blackstone, kill team, bloodbowl etc etc.

But I was thinking what about a gladiator pit style game. Designed to be best with more than 2 players but 2 would still work.

So you have your character. Load them out how you like, but rather than writing units, you write your character out with equipment. Armour type, weapon type, abilities, etc. Turn system similar to Kill Team turn system.

Can have gladiator arena type maps too.

Models can range between standard slaves, to marines who got separated and caught and have found themselves in one of these pits?

Some years ago (around 2009) in Cologne I attented a Games Day and they had a custom game there.

It was a Dark Eldar arena where you could pick from several characters like a Space Marine Captain or a Canoness.
I'm unsure if you had to kill each other, as I did not play it myself. But I did saw "neutral" monsters like Hormagaunts that came in waves and attacked everybody.

I would like such a (cooperative) game

One problem with more than two players in a free-for-all situation is that people gang-up on each other or split off.

So you either end up with several one on one fights; or you end up with two or more on one situations where several people pile in on another.

They can be brutal matches and quite fun as a side distraction, but as a main game I think they can be frustraiting for any kind of progress because its ever so easy for the same person (character/model) to get ganged up on (or to feel like they are).

These games are easy to make up yourself and don't need a dedicated release. My most successfull variants were in 5th ed during downtime in a tournament:

-robotwars, everyone got a useless tank like a rhino or a chimera and we played last man Standing. Only way to kill was ramming or shoting small arms at rear armour.

-grot wars. Everyone controlls one gretchin in an arena. In the center was a quad autocannon for any one brave enough.

My thought would be that there would be two modes. PVE and PVP.

So you can all enter and fight each other. Or have a mode where a horde of something comes in against yourselves and the rules for them can be simplified to ensure automation where possible. but its more down to volume than it is skill for the horde.

Gladiator combat on gamorrah sounds good, I think it could be a fun quick game. It would be nice if the game were simply a set of rules that support and encourage kit bashing so you bring your own gladiator with gear and features that chowed from within a structure. Or gladiator teams.

I agree you can make your own but I think, as long as it’s done well, and official set of rules and fluff is better

mrFickle wrote:
Gladiator combat on gamorrah sounds good, I think it could be a fun quick game. It would be nice if the game were simply a set of rules that support and encourage kit bashing so you bring your own gladiator with gear and features that chowed from within a structure. Or gladiator teams.

I agree you can make your own but I think, as long as it’s done well, and official set of rules and fluff is better

Oh the idea would be to totally kitbash your own within reaosn of course. No Cadia soldier equipping space marine back pack sort of thing. But no harm in a Guardsman with an eldar sword or somehting. Stuff they've accumulated over time to survive.

I'd also encourage cross faction kitbashes and conversions.

Best way would to recreate the arenas on Comorragh.
Again, pretty easy to self regulate.

You'd need to make it so characters can live more than 1 round of fighting. The initiative system needs to be determined randomly like BSF. This could negate any 2v1s not being fun.

Also, google Arena Rex.. cause... it already exists.

The thing about simulating the arenas on Comorragh is...they're not like the gladiator arenas you're accustomed to, where you have champion fighters kept alive between rounds. they're basically just giant spectacles of death and violence, because Drukhari can die and just resurrect themselves via the haemonculi, and they've got a vast supply of captured slaves, creatures etc to release into the arenas.

You'd need to have an almost COD Deathmatch style system of your dude scoring some points, dying, and then immediately controlling another character.

To be honest I would love a Shadespire/Beastgrave style game for 40k but set in the Dark Eldar Arenas and or/Chaos Arenas - made my own up in the past but would really enjoy this, dark Eldar have be shown to have gladiators from all across the galaxy

re the op - maybe depends on rules and models - I have way too many unplayed games already

Wasn't Gorechosen a thing? Khornate gladiators going at it. May have got the name wrong but it sells extortionately on ebay as it is out of production.

A proper gladiator game (of which I've only ever encountered one really good one, and it's unreleased) would be beyond GW's rules style right now...but I can easily see a simpler, minimalist Necromunda expansion in that vein.

That would be pretty cool. I'd love to see something where the great champions of 40k can go head to head with each other with rules written where it's a real match and not just a turn or two of whacking at each other.

Yes, I'd be very interested in better subject taglines.

 Elbows wrote:
A proper gladiator game (of which I've only ever encountered one really good one, and it's unreleased) would be beyond GW's rules style right now...but I can easily see a simpler, minimalist Necromunda expansion in that vein.

Theres a board game based on the Spartacus TV show called Spartacus: A Game Of Blood & Treachery that you could probably easily reskin to 40k. It has aspects of both managing the slaves and fighting in the pit.

It has players vie for influence, make deals and undermine opponents, buy equipment and slaves to fight before finally punching each other to bits.

I like the idea but at this point GW needs to stop with the system spam, drop titanicus and aeronautica and merge it into Epic, bring back BFG and keep what we have.

 Formosa wrote:
I like the idea but at this point GW needs to stop with the system spam, drop titanicus and aeronautica and merge it into Epic, bring back BFG and keep what we have.

Eh, Titanicus is pretty good on it's own. Keeping it as dedicated to Titans keeps the game focused and maintains that novelty factor, instead of just "small 40k". NOt much experience of Aeronautica, but similarly, I think giving it it's own space and dimension is worth it.

BFG should make a return though. Would love to see that.

 Sgt_Smudge wrote:

 Formosa wrote:
I like the idea but at this point GW needs to stop with the system spam, drop titanicus and aeronautica and merge it into Epic, bring back BFG and keep what we have.

Eh, Titanicus is pretty good on it's own. Keeping it as dedicated to Titans keeps the game focused and maintains that novelty factor, instead of just "small 40k". NOt much experience of Aeronautica, but similarly, I think giving it it's own space and dimension is worth it.

BFG should make a return though. Would love to see that.

Its pointless having three systems when one epic book can cover them all, still support them but through Epic, first part of the book can be Titanicus, then Aeronautica then Epic. That gives the players a choice of what system they want to play and only one rulebook is needed

Isn't the appeal of Titanicus micromanaging the titan's systems though? Presumably the same applies to Aeronautica. Merging it into one game seems like removing whats appealing about the games and replacing it with something less.

It just doesn’t seem like something I would play enough to justify the cost, like kill team it was a fun side game for a bit but got old.

Sim-Life wrote:Isn't the appeal of Titanicus micromanaging the titan's systems though? Presumably the same applies to Aeronautica. Merging it into one game seems like removing whats appealing about the games and replacing it with something less.

Yeah, I see Titanicus' fun as being in the micromanagement of the Titans themselves, and the fact that you *only* need to concern yourself with the Titans, and not the everything else.