Wargames Terrain Workshop Death Match Game

Death Match is a simple sci-fi gladiatorial game with humans and alien races fighting one another as well as alien beasts and monsters in an arena. The game is produced by Wargames Terrain Workshop and I have to admit, the whole concept just grabbed from from the moment I first learned about it. I have always had a hankering for playing a gladiator game but I never found the set of rules that made me commit to playing them. THW's Red Sands, Blue Skies came close. I did buy them but never got round to playing a game with them. Part of me was looking for something more than just a Roman-styled historical game. I wanted something extra; a fantasy setting may have done it but I never found such a game. However, science fiction has always been my favourite gaming genre, so when Dave Stone, from WTW told me he was developing a sci-fi gladiator game I was immediately drawn in.

Dave kindly sent me an advanced copy of the rules in PDF format for me to play test. I printed them out and even designed my own arena using tiles from World Works Games' Arena Works set with a 1" grid overlay on them. The figures I used were mostly 28mm scale EM4 Roman Gladiators, a few appropriately armed sci-fi figures and some fantasy monsters (giant spiders shown here). The huge Sky Shark was an official Death Match figure and it is every bit as fearsome as it looks. The rules are very simple to learn. Players roll 2d8s which can be attack dice, defence dice or one of each. The dice are supposed to have symbols on them (swords for attacks and shields for defence) but Dave was, and still is, trying to find a cheap source for them. So, normal numbered d8s are used and the number rolled determines what symbol is used. High is good, low is bad. If both dice come up with double 1s or double skulls, that is very, very bad. Results are compared to see who scores the most hits or defences and if hits win, then damage is determined. When a figure suffers sufficient hit points lost he/she or it is removed from the game.
Fast forward to when Dave came to stay with me for a short while. Prior to his arrival, the Death Match game went on sale on the WTW webstore. I placed a large order for the game and enough figures for a four player match. Rather than post them to me, I asked Dave to bring them with him when he drove all the way to my house. This arrangement suited us both fine. That evening, we played a game on the official arena mat (beautifully made of neoprene plastic) and used some of Dave's own painted figures. It was a huge thrill playing with Dave, who had done much to design the game rules and of course, sculpt the figures for it. I got soundly beaten but I could have no excuses. Dave was simply the better player on the night.

Here is a game in progress using the official figures and gaming mat. The gaming mat measures 2' square and is made of neoprene plastic like a computer mouse mat. This makes it very strong and durable and is my favourite material for gaming boards. You'll notice the game board does not use a grid pattern, which I'm fine with. By having two types of arena, with and without grids, means I can use these in an even wider variety of games. For example, the What's Old Is New games use 1" grids for their ground based combats, so I can use my scratch-built arena if I decide to convert Death Match to N.E.W. (there's a good chance that will happen).

At present, the game features four gladiatorial races - the humans, the large horned Ceratids, the insect-like Exuvium and the reptilian Scabendi. In addition, are numerous beasts and monsters, a few of which are shown above. I have all of the gladiator figures, the bystanders, the 3D gaming tokens and most of the monsters. I will be buying all of the monsters in due time. Over the next few posts I will be reviewing the figures that are currently available for this game.

Dave has a number of expansions planned for the game, the most exciting of which are 3D stands to form a complete arena model. That will look most impressive. New races and monsters are also in the pipeline but I don't want to say too much about them, suffice to say, I'm interested in all of them. 

Death Match is a fun game to play that can be played solo or with 2 to 4 players. Matches do not usually last long and depending on the dice rolls can be over very quickly. If you fancy a really long match, try increasing the number of gladiators per side from one per side to two or three per side.

Regular followers of my blog will know that I'm a big fan of Dave's Wargames Terrain Workshop figures and models and this game has quickly become one of my favourite sci-fi skirmish games. My one and only criticism of the game is the lack of the official dice - a problem which Dave acknowledges and is working on to rectify. When it comes to buying the game you have a number of options. The cheapest option is to get a PDF copy of the rulebook for just £5.00. Alternatively, you can buy the two player deal set for £65 (RRP should be £80.50) which bags you 1 Exuvium and 1 Scabendi figure of your choice, 4 monsters (Deathcoil Beast, Horned Hominid, Lava Salamander and a Recnac), the rulebook, the gaming mat, and tokens for defensive stance, favour, initiative and knockdowns. If you go for the four player deal set, it will cost £75 (RRP should be £94.50) and you get everything from the two player version plus a human gladiator figure, your choice of a Ceratid gladiator figure and extra tokens. I went for the four player deal set to get me more bang for my buck. Here's a link to all of the Death Match products - http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=death-match