Gladiator and Siege events

Since we covered the Gladiator event reasons, we might as well cover the events themselves. Today was the first planning meeting for the Roman themed events coming up. Things were covered like Safety for the scouts.

There are two events, and they are fairly different. The first will take place at the university, and let adults hit each other with fake swords. It will be like a fair, with a roman theme. The second will be dedicated to scouts, and laying siege to box towers.

For the first event, it was decided that the scouts would be on the side. There would be events they could join, and enjoy, but the event would not be for them. The ideas were to have a gladiatorial battle, a team battle, a race, and a possible obstacle course. Along with this would be side events, like a dunk tank, petting zoo, and aiming game.

The first idea is simple enough, we put a bunch of people in a ring, and see who lasts the longest. There will be premade weapons ready for rent by our smithy. If you want to build your own, a deal with the local supply shop will have a booth with the items, and someone to teach you how. Then, if you decide to bring a sword, it has to pass a safety inspection.

The event itself will have two parts, the classic style, and the all out. The classic is two people enter, and the loser leaves, and the next person challenges the winner. We see who lasts the longest, and that person is the winner. The next is the all out battle where everyone enters, and whoever does not get taken out is declared the winner. We will divy that up based on people who enter to battle.

The team battle is also in two parts. The first is two teams go to war, and try to out each other. Brackets will be made based on the amount of entrants. The second is multi team battle of capture the flag. The goal is to get the other team’s flag to your area. If you do that, they are on your team. So, the goal is to capture, and not be captured. If you are out, you can be taken back in by being taken to your flag. Whichever team takes over all of the flags wins.

If that doesn’t entice you enough, an obstacle course could be made. The big question on this idea is cost. The player follows a trail, and tries to get through all of the obstacles. The theme will be an attempt to seize a castle. The player has to dodge balls being thrown at him from catapults and ballistas. Then they have to climb up a ladder, and get to the top of the area. There they have to fight the other contestants to the prize. If they can finish, the attack, and defeat everyone then they can grab the flag at the end of the course.

The winners of these competitions will receive awards of some kind.

During these big events will be smaller events around the area. A small bake sale will be there for people to grab a snack to eat. People will donate food, and others will buy it. Hail consumerism!

We will hopefully have a ballista ready for target shooting. The person has to get the ball into the right baskets. The score will depend on the prize. Heh, we could have multiple games like this, and give out tickets based on scores...

A small platform will be set up with pads all around it. Two people will face each other with a weapon. The goal is to get the opponent knocked off. This will be used more for enjoyment than any prize to be won.

A dunk tank would be cool. I think you know how those work, so I won’t describe it too much.

A petting zoo will be set up with donated cute animals. It will be said to torture you horribly for your crimes. Being licked to death by puppies is a horrible way to go.

Also within that theme is the torture room/ relaxation area.

This is the basic outline idea of the Gladiator event. The major factor is cost, time restraints, and people playing/volunteering. The battles are cheap enough, but anything past that needs to be discussed in how to do it with very little cost involved. The obstacle course can be done using basic building materials, and some cool decorations. The more people volunteering, the more stuff can be done. The more people playing, the better the event is.

The second event will happen sometime in June. It will be Cub Scout centric. The goal is to have cool events while the main event goes on. There will be an event angry birds style. There will also be an armor obstacle course.

There will be events like the gladiatorial event, only for scouts. This isn’t because of any special planning, but because it will happen anyway. The same rules apply for this event, only the scouts need to bring helmets.

   The siege will be a tower destroying game. Each team has a set of siege weapons, and fires them at their opponents tower. The towers will be made of cardboard boxes on a platform. Each team will make a tower, and then take aim. If you knock an opponents tower down, you get a reward for your tower. There will be several teams playing at once. It's basically multi team angry birds.

   An armor obstacle course will also be there. Each person is given cardboard and duct tape. They have to make armor to cover their body. The helmet will need to be worn for this. The scout has to get through an obstacle course as foam balls are fired at him. If he is hit in an unarmored spot, he is out. There will be individual and team competitions. Romans were good at team defense, so it will be cool to see if the scouts can use that.

There will also be targeting games, and launching of water balloons for fun.

The cost factor is not as big here, since everything will be mostly prebuilt beforehand. Those who need some help will get assistance for the event, and be taught how to make a shield and sword.

The events coming up are going to be really cool. I want to make sure that people enjoy them, and also that it is safe. So, we won’t do the full on siege I wanted. Instead we will have battles, and a siege tower toppling event.

The two events will have the Roman theme, and be promoted to as many people as we can. The first will be used to help fund my sisters brain operation. It will have battles, team battles, and a possible obstacle course. The second will have towers toppling by catapults and ballistas, while scouts wear armor. It will help teach cool ideas, and a bit of history for the folks involved.

I do hope everyone can enjoy it. To be honest, I don’t know a ton about Roman history. I know more than the average person because of my history degree, but I honestly couldn’t tell you the various Caesars, and how they led. Hopefully though the people who go into it will want to know more. Not just about Romans, but how to do things. The entire point isn’t to teach about Roman history, but that we can still have mock battles, build ballistas, and be tortured by kittens. We can still live.