So we had 4 players and me GMing. We had Myles, Iain, Graham and Brian.

Myles is in charge (!) with his character Maximus [FA/NFA: 4/6; Rep: Bitter] (whose brother Furius leads the Legion). His right hand man is the Indecisive Ianus [4:6], with two legionaries Virgil [5/5; Treacherous] and Alexander [6/4; ??].

We had a few Weaknesses (induced by my Witches) where Maximus was struck deaf and mute by a fall to the head, repeating a child-hood illness (caused by his brother), Alexander was isolated by the witches and taken for sacrifice (unsuccessfully in the end as the Legion intervened) due to his headstrong ways.

Some Strengths too. Maximus has been stabbed in the back by his brother Furius before (when he seduced Maximus' wife) and he used this to great effect when the enemy tried to outfox him in battle. Virgil also showed Strength in his barbarian roots, slaughtering the masses.

Myles and Brian levelled up. Maximus also increased Rank, while Ianus gained a new weapon (to be picked next week).

Spotlight scenes (between encounters) worked well and they weren't all a mixture of "Treatment" scenes to heal, either. Yeah, healing isn't automatic and requires a small scene between encounters.

Myles absolutely did me with an Ambush when I was doing a one-to-one encounter with his deaf and mute Maximus. When shall we three meet again? On the tip of Maximus' spatha it seems.

Bloody and enjoyable.

We tried out Flanking at only Close range and we never got to use it (well, Myles would have but he had already Ambushed and slaughtered my 1 Threat Token by that point...). However, and crucially, we could see that it was a useful addition at all ranges.

So, we play next week with Flanking as an option at all ranges. Flanking means that the Threat cannot Kill you on a success (though they can move you, i.e. unflank themselves, if they beat your roll).

The extra health level (Bloodied) was satisfying and help offset the desire to have Treatment Spotlights between encounters. The Treatment scenes we did have were enjoyable.

Myles' Maximus throwing a dagged at Furius' foot, before staggering off to a tent to have his wounds tended. Ianus also had some tender treatment from a slave girl, while Virgil had the gaping axe mark in his arm seared by a heated blade, before being bound in lint and leather.

So, thumbs up for Treatment scenes. Crucially, for me, was the establishment of meaningful relationships and positioning of the characters fictionally to each other and NPCs in these scenes. It was not just a case of "heal a wound".

Other Spotlight scenes were...

...some "Assault" Spotlights where Maximus and Virgil failed to slay some innocent pagans, and merely stoked up trouble for my following encounter. The witches sought dreadful revenge for the hostile assault Maximus made on a small child, who he thought he had killed (but hadn't). This child will return in the fiction, of that we are assured!

...some "Leverage" Spotlights where Brian got a +1 to FA and then +1 to NFA between encounters. Ianus also got a +1 to FA by proving his virility with the slave girl who had tended to him between previous encounters.

...I think we had one successful "Stratagem" Spotlight from Myles (an NFA scene to reduce Threat). Maximus plotted and tracked down a pagan and discovered the whereabourts of the kidnapped Alexander -- Maximus killed the pagan once he had finished interrogtaing him. Pencil notes scribbled by me afterwards. Very satisfying I thought.

I need to make a sheet for NPCs, since we are growing a nice brood of relationships, including Maximus' wife who has only appeared in Flashback so far.

So... looking back at it this is how the game "order" is working out.

*Intro: it's AD 316, Constantine, barbarians and a turbulent time, Christianity accepted but not yet adopted by the Empire, you are Roman legionaries walking to the ends of the Earth.
*Character Gen: name, rep, kills (with d6s), rank, gear and we're ready to go.
*GM opens with a scene, sets up the legion leader and where they are (informed by the pick list of their mission), leading straight into...
*Platform, Tilt and an encounter, which has an associated fictional goal. Roll for Dominance.
*Rounds and turns until the Encounter ends, walking through the combat rules and Flashbacks if necessary/desired.
*GM "ties the fiction up" for the completed encounter and this leads into...
*Spotlight scenes for each player, from a choice of Stratagem (NFA), Assault (FA), Leverage (+1) or Treatment (healing). Roleplayed out with GM taking on NPCs with gusto, and PCs taking a "go" each (or in tandem if they partner up for a shared spotlight scene -- but crucially they each get a "moment" to play).
*Fiction leads into following encounters and spotlights.
*Threat Tokens expended by the GM following the fiction and for pacing to help set tempo.
*Eventually we reach a Climactic scene and the Threat is nullified.
*GM "ties up the mission"
*Book-keeping to end the mission with Levelling, promotuion, demotion and so on.

Things to note:
*Ambushes are now tweaked. They simply let you start the encounter at a "Flanking" range, which in turn allows you to safely kill if you wish (or flee or whatever).
*Kills can be assigned for Stratagems and Assaults following what happens in the fiction. Stratagems can remove up to your lowest kills if you wish. Assaults up to your best.
*I need to track who is most effective removing Threat Tokens. For the purposes of this Weaknesses count as removing 1 (as they do) but Strengths remove a flat 3 when they are invoked regardless of the number of tokens removed (maybe it should be a flat 2??! we can look at this).
*At the end of the Mission the most kills dices off with the most Threat removed for levelling.
*The loser of that levelling roll and everyone else then dice off for the second levelling.

I need to detail what the Ranks get. I guess the choices for most are sword and shield, spear and shield or two-handed spear, perhaps bow? For the higher ranks a horse might be useful/desirable. I need to add detail for playing non-legionary player characters (scribes, slaves, wives, witches, physicians).