Gangs of Rome, is a skirmish miniatures game set in Ancient Rome where rival houses use gangs of thugs to gain advantage and influence.

Update 23rd October 2022 – Added Wolf Nipple Salesman and Liberation Front to Arena Crowd

It’s a funny thing, but every time I have shared photos of my Roman Arena and it’s growing crowd the number one comment on Facebook has always been to add a ‘Meme’ from Monty Python’s ‘The Life of Brian’… one of my favourite films!

I mentioned this to my good friend, Iain Lovecraft and several months latter we have a new set of miniatures as part of the Might of Rome range, ‘Roman Crowd, Liberation Front‘. The set contains four seated miniatures (two men, one women, and one man who wants to be a woman) plus a seller of savoury tit-bits. These may (or may not) be inspired by ‘The Life of Brian’ or they may indeed just be ‘very naughty miniatures!’

The Liberation Front crowd fit in really well with the existing sitting and standing crowd miniatures. They have all been quickly painted using Army Painter Speed Paints before being superglued into the 3D printed Arena seating. The Crowd are also a perfect match for MDF Arena models, such as the one by Sarisa.

Link for Crowd, Liberation Front Pack

10th July 2022

Two weeks ago I had nothing for this game, no Roman Miniatures and no Roman Terrain. I can’t even remember how the topic came up in conversation with my good friend and gaming buddy, Mike, but it transpired that he had a good collection of stuff and was a big fan, so I set my self a hobby goal, (always dangerous), to be up and running with Gangs of Rome via a 6 month hobby project.

I can remember when the game first came out, which must be a couple of years ago being excited about it. I’m a big fan of terrain heavy, figure light skirmish games like Pulp Alley and 7TV, as I love making terrain and creating beautiful boards to game on. However, at that time, even I was put off by the idea of 6 miniatures for your force plus a 3′ square segment of Rome.

I had a search to see if I had anything that could give a start and found that I had some urban base boards from Sally 4th Terra Former range and some market stalls which I mainly use in Pulp games, from Sally 4th Exotic Locations range which could be pressed into service to fill some gaps until my Roman terrain collection gets a little more established. I particularly like the rug / fabric stalls that add a splash of colour. I do have a 3D printer. A cheap and cheerful Ender 5 which was the best gaming and model making investment that I have ever made. It cost around £220, 18 months ago and slowly but surely turns out lovely terrain pieces as a background activity on most days (and nights) of the week.

A quick search revealed that Iain Lovecraft had two collections of 3D print files that would be a great starting place.

I had also looked at Iain’s Gladiator terrain a year or so ago and had though beautiful but no because it will take for ever to print an arena. Then the penny dropped, for Gangs of Rome I don’t want a complete arena, a corner or a side would be ideal. The steps and raised seating give height to the board, and those lovely arches give some great cover. Each seating section takes around 24 hours to print, so at the end of the first weekend I had a usable corner piece that I can add to over the coming months.

When Gangs of Rome first came out Sally 4th stocked the complete range. When I searched the racks last week, I just had these 6 miniatures left… but it was a starting point. I painted them last week using the new Army Painter Speedpaint range, which I highly rate. Even better than the Games Workshop contrast paints which I also use and rate highly, and half the price!

I designed myself some figure bases and this 80mm round mob base or movement tray to match the cobblestone effect on my urban boards.

The Lovecraft Gladiator terrain also included some useful small pieces to go outside the arena like this drinking fountain and public toilets.

This picture shows the business side of the arena. I am going to have to sort out some sand for the base. I’m thinking of maybe using a large sheet of sandpaper cut to size and temporarily blue tacked in place.

To make this a manageable project and to get some gaming in and start learning the rules, I am going to initially focus on collecting and painting a gang, a couple of mobs and a 2′ square terrain board. This will then my expanded to a 2’x3′ board and finally a full sized 3′ square gaming area.

I have set myself a target of doing this over a 6 month period, as I have many other painting and model making commitments with my work at Sally 4th.

My plan is to update this hobby blog around twice a month, to share progress with whoever is interested. My immediate goal for the next update is to get the arena and a couple of Gang miniatures painted.