GladiGala Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Overview
• Objective
• Gearing Up
• Starting a Game — Your Strategic Declaration & Setup
• Setup
• Game Sequence
• The Gladiators
• Movement
• Attack
• Your Supporting Crowd
• The Safe Zone
• Treasury
• Winning the Game: GladiGala's Medals and Ranking

Contents

One game board / arena, 16 gladiator minis (5 Sword, 5 Spear, 3 Dagger, 3 Club), 24 minis colored clap-on bases (6 each color), 16 Magnetic cards/panels (5 Sword, 5 Spear, 3 Dagger, 3 Club), 24 black metal discs, 24 attack markers (6 each color), 12 Hit markers (12 red discs), 1 Center Stage, 4 Tactical panels, 4 Treasury panels, 24 School Symbols tokens (6 each school), 12 Crowd tokens (3 each school), 4 eagle tokens (one for each school), 49 denarii tokens (32 "I" coins, 12 "V" coins, 5 "X" coins), 1 game insert, Game rules.

Game Overview

GladiGala is a skirmish style family game of fast paced tactics and simultaneous play — a tactical rush for fame & fortune.

Objective

A GladiGala day (game) is played in 2 matches, morning and afternoon. Your objective is to be the most decorated gladiator school by the end of the 2 matches. A match ends with a winner in one of 2 ways:

I. First player to successfully snatch an opponent's Eagle is winner of the match awarded MEDAL of EAGLE - GladiGala's highest rank award and your top objective.

OR

II. Match is over when 5 gladiators are out of the match. The player holding most coins in their Treasury is the winner of the match, awarded MEDAL of COIN - GladiGala's second ranked award.

At the end of the day the most decorated gladiator school is declared "Supremus" — and Champion of the day.

Gearing Up

1. Players decide which gladiator school they want to play: ACADEMIA, LEO, SOLIS, or SPIRITUS and gear up. This holds true for all player counts:

Each player takes their Tactical panel and Treasury panel, their Eagle token, 3 "One" coins (place them in your Treasury), and your 3 Crowd tokens (each school has their own color tokens). Set the rest of the coins to the side, this would be the "General Treasury Stack". For example, SOLIS's gear:

2. Next, players draw their gladiator team for the coming match (formation). Each match players draw a new gladiator formation they enter the arena with. The team is made of 4 gladiator types; Sword and Spear are both Class I gladiators, Dagger and Club are both Class II gladiators (explained in detail on page 5 - The Gladiators).

To draw your gladiator's formation use the magnetic control cards. Each card you draw represents a gladiator on your team. These cards are the means by which players later control movement and actions of their team. To draw, divide the cards into a Class I stack and a Class II stack (marked on back of cards), shuffle them and place both stacks face down.

In GladiGala there are always 12 gladiators in the arena. Players take turns drawing cards:

2 players: Each player draws 6 cards — 4 Class I and 2 Class II cards (each school plays 6 gladiators).

3 players (two formation options, player's choice): Each player draws 4 cards — Either 2 Class I and 2 Class II cards, or 3 Class I, and 1 Class II cards (each school plays 4 gladiators).

4 players: Each player draws 3 cards — 2 Class I and 1 Class II cards (each school plays 3 gladiators).

Once your cards are drawn and your formation revealed, place 2 black discs on each of the control cards; one in the center square and one at the bottom portion of the card on the idle position marker, as shown to the right:

Next players take a matching gladiator mini for each of the cards drawn. Apply the clap-on base according to each player's school color.

3. Now that players know their formation for the coming match they finish gearing up:

First, collect your attack markers. Players get one attack marker for every gladiator. Note markers are numbered I, II or III representing a gladiator's attack force (markers are double sided to allow different combinations).

For every Sword and Spear gladiator in your team take a II marker. For Dagger take a I marker, and for Club a III marker. Thus each gladiator in your team has one attack marker matching their attack force, as such:

Next, take as many red "Hit mark" discs — as the number of your gladiators (depending on player count).

Starting a Game — Your Strategic Declaration & Setup

• After all schools have geared up and have their gladiator formations, and just before entering the arena, it is time for players to take their first decision of the game — making their "Strategic Declaration" (only in 3-4 player games). The Strategic Declaration is your announcement of your school's strategic goal for the coming match. Each player chooses 5 school symbols of other schools. These represent from which school — you think — would be the first 5 gladiators to lose and leave the arena. Just to recall, a match can end when 5 gladiators are out of the match. In more than one way you declare who your friends are and who your foes, for the coming match. As the match develops players gain coins for achieving their declarations (further explained in the Treasury chapter, page 9).
• Players make their Declarations in the beginning of each match.
• Have all the playing School tokens spread out face up in the arena. Players take turns choosing 5 school symbols, other than their own, and place them on the designated 5 spots on the Tactical panels. This is accomplished in 2 rounds — first, players take turns choosing 3 opponent's school symbols, and 2 more in a second round.

For example: SOLIS declared that the first 5 gladiators to leave the match would be: 2 from SPIRITUS, 1 from LEO, and 2 from ACADEMIA schools (there is no importance as to the gladiators type):

In a 2 player game there is obviously no meaning to this. When playing 2 players the extra added value and coin is granted for making consecutive successes (further explained in the Treasury chapter, page 9).

Setup

First, here's a quick look at GladiGala's arena and its terminology, as described in the illustration below:

1. Place the Center Stage wooden piece at the center of the arena. A gladiator losing and leaving the arena is stripped from its clap-on base, the base is then placed for display on the center stage. Losing gladiators' bases are to be placed one on top of the other as the game progresses. This is the best way for players to keep track of the Strategic Declaration they made earlier and account for the actual results in the arena.

2. Next, players place their Eagles in the arena. Eagles are placed in the same 2 possible locations for all player counts, always in the arena's second ring.

Notice that the Eagles are placed in front of the marble seating illustration of the arena — your honorable place — as you seat and manage your gladiator team from the sidelines.

Each player places their Eagle on one of the two possible squares, marked in red in the following illustrations.

• Players cannot move their Eagles during a match!
• All gladiators are to face the Center Stage when beginning a match.

4 player game: Each gladiator school begins the match with 3 gladiators; all begin the match placed on the arena's 1st ring. Players are free to decide which gladiator type starts where. All gladiators are to be placed adjacent to one another — one of them has to be right behind the Eagle. For example:

3 player game: Each gladiator school begins the match with 4 gladiators. 3 are to be located on the arena's 1st ring, 1 gladiator on the 2nd ring, next to the Eagle. All gladiators are to be placed adjacent to one another — one of them has to be right behind the Eagle.

To balance the player's opening positions in a 3 player game: The middle player may place his/her gladiators freely according to the above definition. The other 2 players place their gladiators with one limitation: all gladiators are to be placed away from the middle player's Eagle position. For example:

2 player game: Each gladiator school begins the match with 6 gladiators, 4 are placed on the arena's 1st ring and 2 on its 2nd ring. All 4 1st ring gladiators are to be placed adjacent to one another — one of them has to be right behind the Eagle. The 2 2nd ring gladiators begin on both sides of the Eagle. For example:

• In a 2 player game Eagles are located on opposing sides of the arena.

3. Next, players place their gladiators in the arena. There is great importance to the gladiator's orientation since gladiators move and attack in relevance to direction they face! When placing your gladiators make sure their "front" is aligned with the arena's square markings. For example:

4. Once all gladiator formations have entered the arena, and just before the match begins, school leaders place their Crowd tokens on the benches surrounding the arena. Each school has 3 Crowd tokens to place, 2 Thumbs Up tokens (green), and 1 Thumbs Down token (red).

• Place your crowd tokens with the crowd symbol face up (your school's color) — the thumbs up/thumbs down symbols are known to you only!
• Players take turns (be nice, let the younger player begin) going clockwise placing one token at a time. Crowd tokens are to be placed on the benches surrounding the arena and cannot be placed opposing one another.

For example: SOLIS placed a crowd token. Players cannot place a crowd token on the opposite bench (X mark). Basically, there can be one Crowd token per row/column.

Game Sequence

GladiGala is played in 2 matches, morning and afternoon, each with an unlimited number of rounds, each completed simultaneously in the following order:

0. Initial setup.

1. Players discreetly give movement and action orders to all gladiators using the magnetic control cards. Once players finish giving movement & action orders, they declare "Done", and set cards face down at their appropriate place (later explained). Players may no longer use the cards in this round.

2. Next, players place their attacks. Choose your targets according to attack rules. Your gladiators' attack is always in relevance to their CURRENT position.

Declare "Done" when finished.

3. Players may choose to activate their crowd.

4. Players reveal their magnetic cards and apply the orders selected — movements and actions.

5. Resolution: A gladiator that moved to (or stayed) at a location where the opponent's attacks are placed is marked as "Hit". For the first hit place a red disk under the gladiator's base. When a hit gladiator is hit for the second time - it is out of the game and its base is placed on Center Stage.

Two hits and a gladiator is out of the game!

6. Finally, each round ends with coins changing hands. In GladiGala all the tactical results are eventually translated to coins, called denarii. Players add coins to their Treasury in a few ways (take coins from the general stack):

• For any successful attack.
• For successful use of the crowd.
• For achieving a strategic Declaration.

Players can also spend coins:

• For upgrading a hit gladiator.
• For entering the arena's "safe zone".
• For a successful shielded maneuver.

Coins are paid to the general stack of coins.

7. Round is over, collect and reset your cards (place upper disc in the center square and lower disc on its idle position), assess the situation and lead your gladiator team to the next round. If you play with the "Match Leader" eagle mini — at the end of the round hand it to the player with most coins in their Treasury at the end of each round — this indicates the school leading the match.

The Gladiators

Time to get acquainted with GladiGala's champions, the gladiators. In GladiGala there are 4 gladiator types that differ in their attack ranges, successful attack value in coin, and their special skills.

Gladiators are divided into 2 Classes, Class I and Class II:

Sword and Spear are both Class I gladiators, and are typically your gladiator team's core force.

• They differ in their attack ranges (see Attack rules).
• Their successful attack is worth 2 coins.
• Their extra skill is "maneuvering under shield" — meaning they can perform a marvelous play combining both a defensive and an offensive act in one move!

When Spear or Sword "move under shield" and if they get hit — they do not necessarily get a hit mark! Two things do happen: The attacking school still gets their coins for the attack, and players using shield pay out of their Treasury one coin for the act (place it in the "shield" coin mark on the Tactical panel). It is up to the player to decide whether to pay the coin for the act or take the hit.

All gladiator schools are restricted to 3 coins converted to "move under shield" actions, thus there can be up to 3 coins stacked on the "shield" mark on your Tactical panel.

Dagger & Club are both Class II gladiators, and are both a welcome addition to your team allowing greater tactical options. Dagger and Club perform differently from one another in the arena and differ in their attack ranges and special skills.

Dagger:

• Her attack is worth 1 coin.
• Her extra skill, if being implemented (by placing the lower disc on the lightning symbol), is advancing 2 squares in a move — making her the fastest, best athlete of the match! (Dagger would move 2 spaces in the direction indicated with the upper disc).

Club:

• His successful attack is worth 3 coins.
• His special skill is in the force of his blow! When achieving a successful hit, and if his extra skill is implemented, Club's attack removes the hit gladiator out of the match in just one hit!

Note: If Club successfully attacks a gladiator that "moved under shield" with his skill implemented, the hit gladiator is not removed from the game but does get a hit mark! (Unless the hit gladiator does not pay the coin for its defensive move — in which case it is removed out of the match).

Movement

Movement orders are given by using the 2 black discs on the gladiators' control cards/panels.

• Only one gladiator is allowed on each square area in the arena.

• Players give movement orders to all gladiators each round.

• Each round, all gladiators can stay in place or move to any of their 8 surrounding squares, as shown below:

• In GladiGala a gladiator's direction is crucial. Movement orders on the cards are always in relation to the gladiator's forward orientation indicated on the base of the miniature.

• The desired new location and maneuver is indicated on the magnetic card using a combination of the 2 black discs.

The upper disc is used to indicate a gladiator's desired new location. The center square of the nine is the gladiator's current position. If you wish your gladiator to stay in place, keep the upper disc at the center square on the card.

For example: ordering the gladiator in the image below to move forward and to the right would be indicated in the following way, and translated to such movement:

The lower disc allows a choice between 2 possibilities:

1. Add turning to the gladiator's move, 90 or 180 degrees (any of the 3 turning signs on the card). Turning is important and has to do with your gladiator's attacking range.

For example: ordering the gladiator in the image below to move to the left and turn 90 degrees ccw would be indicated in the following way, and translated to such movement:

2. Implement the gladiator's extra skill (the lower symbol on the card). A gladiator cannot turn and use extra skill at the same time.

To implement any of the two simply move the disc from its idle position to the desired chosen maneuver order.

For example: ordering the gladiator in the image on the left to move backwards and to the right AND implement its special skill, in this case "move under shield".

• If two or more gladiators are ordered to go to the same square, none of them move and each remain in place (you can use this as a tactical tool to limit opposing team's movements as the game develops).
• It is not allowed for 2 gladiators to trade places.

Placing your cards:

Once players finish designing their movement orders they place the cards face down at the edge of the arena/board — in reference to the relevant gladiators, as such:

Attack

After players finish the movement stage programming the cards and setting them in place, they declare "Done", and are no longer allowed to change their commands.

Time to go for an attack! In GladiGala all successful attacks are translated to coins filling your Treasury!

Your mission is to try and anticipate your opponent's moves and place your attacks where you think opposing gladiators are going to move to (or stay). Now players physically place their attack markers.

• Each gladiator has their own attack marker and can attack once each round.
• You place your attacks in reference to the current gladiator's location, not its future one.
• Each gladiator type has a different attack range (for players' convenience gladiator's attack ranges are displayed on the Tactical panels).
• Players are allowed to place their attack markers anywhere within the gladiators' attack range.

A gladiator's attack range is in relevance to the direction the gladiator is facing, always straight ahead!

The black circle indicates the gladiator's current position. The red circles indicate each gladiator's attack range. Players can place a gladiator's attack on any of its valid attack locations. Note that both Sword and Dagger can also place an attack marker on their current position.

For example: SOLIS's Sword can attack the location as indicated by the attack marker since it is in its attack range. Notice Sword's attack is in relevance to its forward orientation!

• It is allowed to place more than one attack marker to a specific square.
• A gladiator moving to or remaining in an attacked area is "Hit". For the first hit place a red damage disc under the gladiator - indicating this gladiator is hurt.

A hit gladiator loses some of its fighting ability and can no longer maneuver freely. From now on its moves are restricted to orthogonal movements only! (a hurt gladiator loses its diagonal movement option).

A gladiator hit for the second time is out of the arena, and out of the match!

A gladiator leaving the arena also loses its color base which is set on Center Stage.

Players are awarded coins for successful attacks. This is your main goal in the arena and best way to add coins to your Treasury. Each gladiator type has its successful attack worth in coins. The numbers I, II or III on the attack markers indicate the worth in coin of that gladiator's type successful attack. Sword and Spear's successful attacks are worth 2 coins. Dagger's successful attacks are worth 1 coin, and Club's successful attacks are worth 3 coins (as illustrated on the Tactical panel).

Your Supporting Crowd

Your crowd can affect the game, adding more coins to your Treasury, or denying coins from opposing player's successful attacks.

Each crowd token affects the entire square column in front of it, for example: SOLIS's crowd token can affect the column marked in green. During the match it can have effect on any of the squares marked in green (note there cannot be a crowd token on the opposing side of the arena):

• Players can activate their crowds at any time during a match immediately following the attack stage of the round. Each crowd token can be played only once during a match (twice per game).
• Players decide whether or not to activate their crowd before the cards with movements are revealed and before knowing if your attacks for the current round are successful. In a way, you place your bets on specific attacks your gladiators make.
• To activate your crowd simply turn your token and reveal it to other players.
• Each gladiator school has 3 Crowd tokens; 2 with a thumbs up (green) symbol and 1 with a thumb down (red) symbol. Each has a different effect on the match.

Thumbs up: when activated, you cheer your own gladiators whose attacks are located at the column affected by the crowd token. If the attack affected turns out to be successful, your school gains 1 extra coin to your Treasury for every successful affected attack — an award to what the crowds sees as an outstanding performance...

Thumbs down: when playing your thumbs down token you affect other schools gladiators' attacks. When activated, you deny other schools from gaining coins for any successful attacks their gladiators achieved! Your crowds have decided your opponents' attacks were poor, and not worth any coin, and sabotage your opponents race for denarii.

The Safe Zone

GladiGala's 4 center squares of the arena are called "The Safe Zone" - in its center located the "Central Stage". During the game, players cannot place their attacks in these squares and gladiators in it are safe and protected from getting hit. Obviously, there can only be up to 4 gladiators in the Safe Zone at any given time during the game. Players can enter the Safe Zone freely any time during the match with any of their gladiators.

• Movement within the Safe Zone is restricted to orthogonal movements only — gladiators cannot move across the center stage in diagonal movements.
• If 2 or more gladiators try to simultaneously move into a square in the Safe Zone, none move as with regular movement rules.
• As customary, there are no free lunches in Rome. Entering the Safe Zone cost your school 1 coin, being paid from your Treasury to the General Stack at the end of each round. A school pays 1 coin for every round a gladiator spends in the Safe Zone.
• Gladiators in the Safe Zone are protected from attack but also cannot perform attacks.
• A gladiator is allowed to attack again once they are out of the Safe Zone.

Treasury

In GladiGala, all tactical results and decisions taken by the players during the game are converted into coins. Your Treasury is where your school keeps all its coins. The school with most coins in their Treasury at any given moment during the match is the current leader of the match.

At the end of each round players collect from or pay the General Stack coins in accordance to their performances.

There are 3 ways to gain coins:

1. Collect coins for successful attacks.
2. Collect coins for successful use of your crowd (note that successfully using the "thumbs down" crowd token effects other player's coin collection).
3. Collect coins for correctly matching your strategic declaration made at the beginning of the match with the outcome of each round in regard to Center Stage gladiator base allocation.

Once 2 gladiators are out of the match players begin collecting earned coins in relevance to their declaration. There is no meaning to the order of the school symbols you placed on the Tactical panel, only its combination!

At the end of a round, and if a gladiator school matches 2 symbols to the gladiators losing and leaving the arena (portrayed by the color bases on the Center Stage) — collect 2 coins. Collect 3 coins for matching 3 out of 5 symbols. Collect 4 coins for matching 4 out of 5 symbols. Collect 6 coins for having a perfect declaration match, 5 out of 5 symbols!

Note that collecting coins for a perfect declaration can only happen at an end of a match — since 5 gladiators being out of the match also deem the match as over.

For making accurate declarations, players can collect up to 6 coins in total during a match.

For example: once a school collected coins for matching 2 out of 5 symbols (2 coins), once it matches an additional symbol and reaches 3 out of 5 accurate matches (3 coins), it collects only 1 additional coin.

Note there is a possible situation where more than 5 gladiators leave the arena (since this is a simultaneous game and more than 1 gladiator can leave the match at the final round). In such a case schools gain coins when all colored bases/school symbols are taken into count. For example, the round and match ends where 6 gladiators are out of the arena. A player can still get a sum of 6 coins for 5 out of 6 accurate symbols matches in their Strategic Declaration.

• 2 player game: Players do not give a Strategic Declaration at the beginning of a game since it is not relevant. In this instance, players are awarded extra coins for making consecutive successes (a success being removing an opponent's gladiator from the match and its base placed on Center Stage).

At the end of a round, a school collects:

• 2 coins for 2 successive successes,
• 3 coins for 3 successive successes,
• 4 coins for 4 successive successes,
• 6 coins for 5 successive successes.

Here also, players can gain up to 6 coins in total during the match, coins collected as the match develops.

If 2 gladiators from opposing schools are hit and out of the match at the same time the advantage is given to the school about to gain more coins. For example: LEO lost a gladiator in the previous round (its black base is on the stage). This round both SOLIS and LEO lost a gladiator. LEO's base is first to be stacked on stage and only later SOLIS's base thus SOLIS would get 2 coins for its 2 successive successes in this round.

There are also 3 ways to spend or pay coins:

1. Pay the General Stack out of your school's Treasury for any entry or stay in the Safe Zone.

2. Pay for any "move under shield" actions taken by your gladiators. Place 1 coin for each such action taken in the designated place on your Tactical panel, as shown below:

A reminder: each school can implement this action only 3 times (meaning you can spend up to 3 coins for taking this action — simply stack the coins one on top of the other, as the match develops).

3. Pay to upgrade and heal a hit gladiator: as explained before, a hit gladiator can only move orthogonally and loses its diagonal movement (thus losing some of its fighting ability). Players can choose to pay coins and upgrade a hit gladiator allowing it to maneuver freely again. To upgrade a gladiator place 1 coin on the panel in its designated mark (coin marks next to the gladiators' attack range illustration). For example: SOLIS upgraded its Sword gladiators:

When upgrading a gladiator you upgrade all gladiators of the same type! For example: your team has 2 Sword gladiators in the current match. One of your Sword gladiators took a hit and is now restricted in movements. By upgrading the Sword type gladiators, you upgrade both Sword gladiators (meaning if your second Sword gets hit its movements are not restricted). If such upgrade is applied during the morning match, that coin or coins are removed and added to the general stack before beginning the afternoon match.

• Match Leader Marker: if used, the school with most coins in their Treasury at the end of each round gets to hold it declaring this school is the leader of the match!

Winning the Game: GladiGala's Medals and Ranking

GladiGala is a game played in 2 matches, morning and afternoon. At the end of each match a winner is declared and awarded one of GladiGala's 2 medals; Medal of Eagle or Medal of Coin (medal tokens are double sided to allow all combinations).

After 2 matches the most decorated gladiator school is winner of the game and GladiGala's Champion!

There are 2 ways to win/end a match:

1. Medal of Eagle — received for snatching an opponent's eagle! This is your top tactical goal. Once a player manages to snatch any other opponent's eagle the match is over with a winner.

To snatch an eagle a player needs to get any of their gladiators to an opponent's eagle location (physically stand on it) and then carry it successfully into the safe zone. Successfully means that the gladiator carrying the opponent's eagle is not hit twice and out of the game before entering the Safe Zone.

• Once you manage to get hold of an eagle it moves with your gladiator as it performs its movements, thus an eagle can change locations as the match progresses.
• If the snatching gladiator is hit and out of the game the eagle it carries remains in its final location for the rest of the game.
• As long as a gladiator carries an eagle it cannot use its special skill (there's a limit to what a glad[the rest of this line is clipped at the page edge in the source PDF and cannot be recovered]). A gladiator grabs an eagle it has to keep on holding to it trying to get it to GladiGala's safe zone.
• In rare situations where 2 players manage to snatch eagles and simultaneously land in the safe zone the Medal of Eagle goes to the player with more gladiators still active in the arena. If players are still tied it goes to the player with most coins in their Treasury.

[Transcriber's note: this section announces "2 ways to win/end a match" but the surviving text (page 10) prints only item 1, Medal of Eagle. No text for item 2 is present, because pages 11–12 are lost. The match-end condition for Medal of Coin is given in the Objective section above. Nothing has been added to fill the gap.]