Our club has recently been involved in some interesting Gladiator combat. The rules used were from Gary Comardo and titled "We Who Are About To Die Demand A Recount." Interesting set of ideas at work in this simple and fun game. However they did not include animals in the statistics for the combat rules.
Here are statistics for how to fight Lions in the Lion's Den:
The Lion must be considered a two hex animal. The gladiators take up one hex and the lion will take up two. From the front hex all of the five sides are considered front hexes for the lion and he may attack into all of these adjacent hex areas. This is to reproduce the quickness in the reflexes of a large cat. From the rear hex there are two side hex locations to the left and right. The lion may not attack into these hexes and the gladiator gets a +1 when attacking into these side hex locations. The last hexside left is the rear hex. The lion may not attack into his rear hex and the gladiator is given a +2.
When the lion attacks he is given a +3. When the lion is the defender use a +0 straight die roll. This is to reflect the ferocity of claws and fangs and the unarmored condition of wearing a fur coat in the arena. I recommend the same Action point list for the lion but give the die roll a +3. This should produce a very agile fast great cat.
Start the lion out with a 12 Strength and maybe even consider a 1D6 increase. You could put on a "spectacle" with some of your better gladiators and some "doctored" lions that have been rendered somewhat less ferocious by having drugged and removed some of the claw. Alter these statistics downward to reflect this.
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