As he lives so firmly in the past himself, Warlord boss John Stallard likes to regale us with tales of yore on an almost hourly basis. Recently he’s been ‘educating’ the younger members of the Warlord team with stories of an ancient game very popular with Roman Legions called Spot the Gaul* where legionaries would try and guess with a cross where they think the heads of their adversaries would end up.
Some or none of this may be true – we just nod politely and carry on with our work…
You too can play this ancient game and try and guess which square the head is currently in.
As you can see above gallant centurion, Titus Aduxas, has vanquished his opponent – a Gallic warrior – with an expert cut of his gladius, severing the Gaul’s head from his shoulders!
By using your expert eye and low cunning, guess in which square you believe the unfortunate Barbarian’s head is currently occupying – has the head only just left the shoulders or has it long left its place on it’s host? You decide!
Once you have decided you can send us your entry in the following ways:
- Email us at spotthegaul@warlordgames.com – place the grid reference (e.g. A2, H4 etc) in the title of your email or if you would like to be more accurate send us a copy of the image with your X in place.
- Postal entries will also be accept to our usual address marked for the attention ‘Spot the Gaul competition’
- Multiple entries are actively encouraged along with getting all your mates to enter as well to give you the best chance of winning!
In two weeks time (8th March 2013) we will reveal where exactly the head is with the closest or most skilful entry winning an Imperial Roman Starter Army box set!
Please note the judges decision is final. No, really – any attempts at bribery and coercion in the form of pig-based meat snacks will devoured hungrily but will be frowned upon. Maybe…
*A ‘spot the ball’ competition is a traditional newspaper promotion where the player has to guess the position of a ball which has been removed from a photograph of a ball sport, especially football. The position of the ball must be deduced from the relative positions of the sportsmen shown in the photograph, the directions in which they are looking, etc. The game was common in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s in newspaper promotions and players would pay for a certain number of crosses on the picture, which was sent in by post to the promoter. Prizes were awarded to the entrant with the ‘most skilful entry’, not to the single cross which was nearest the exact centre of the ball…
Dan Hoyt