Blood on the Sands is a historically inspired skirmish game that immerses players in thrilling one-on-one gladiatorial combats using miniatures, featuring six distinct gladiator classes, each with its own unique abilities and armaments: Hoplomachus, Murmillo, Provocator, Retiarius, Secutor, and Thraex.
Players roll a set of six action dice that allow you to take direct control of your gladiator. Action dice represent a gladiator’s ability and opportunities to manoeuvre, maintain endurance, defend from, and attack, their opponents. During the course of the game gladiators will become fatigued, wounded, or hindered, losing access to some of their action dice, placing them at a serious disadvantage.
The ambition behind Blood on the Sands is to recreate the dynamic, back-and-forth “dance” of a duel, reflecting the balanced intricacies that the Romans infused into their deadly blood sport. The mechanics produce narrative combats that move across the arena, demanding tactics, skill, and a degree of luck from the players, while avoiding the gameplay devolving into a simple static dice fest.