A round place is fundamental for an arena, here you have the essential. This one was created for Victus, another gladiator game. Look at the hexagonal approach of the rules. However the board seems interesting, irregular surface with a rough finishing. Marble or MDF? Maybe with smaller pieces for the floor you could compose something with a great feel. More infos on the creator’s blog.

Balsa for this arena by Historical Miniaturist

Another polystyrene arena. It was from 10 years ago from Belgium.

Another creativity example: an arena made by polystyrene. This guy took some thin polystyrene sheets, then shaped them to create a circular arena. I would prefer an elliptical shape, but he opted for a circular one. To complete the overall look two doors and a podium with columns below were added. The boulders that constitute the walls were engraved with a pen, like the hexagonal terrain. A realistic paintwork gave the final touch. On the close-up you can see the fine details. Well done!

This arena was built by Mike Vasile to play with his rules. I think that he used polystyrene for the building and added some decorations as columns and roof from railway modelling. Easy, frugal, but huge because it is for 28mm miniatures.

To play a gladiator fight with 15mm miniatures you haven’t the need of a big arena. Utilising few blocks you can realise a simple but effective arena. And some final touches can give it a respectable aspect. What can I add? Easy to storage.

I found on the web some photos of a gladiatorial duel realised with 54mm or 20mm plastic figures. As scene you can see a wall made by preformed blocks with some interesting airshaft windows at ground level. As you surely know, under arenas there were passages and wings, underground facilities for the spectacles. So here we haven’t a complete arena – I dunno if instead this is only part of a complete arena – but an idea on how to create walls with something less expected as doors.

If you want a luxury arena, you could buy a wooden arena like this one, photographed during the Christmas food and craft fair here in Rome. It is a currently Colosseum representation made by local artisans. Very elegant, even if the walls are not so easy to climb to play with miniatures inside. Maybe this can persuade you that this thing is your cup of tea…