This is so much less fun than the first one. Change my mind....

[Captain Chris]

I really liked the first game, and even Reforged but this is about as fun as, well, fighting a Tiger....

Month 1, first fight, 2v2. My Gladiators do about 300 damage max. Both the enemy do upto 800, 1 dead and 1 permanantly injured.
2nd fight, a Tiger. He gets 4 attacks to my 1, another dead gladiator and no money left.

Restart.
Basically the same, 1st fight, another 2v2, both mine dead.......

Am I missing something basic here or is this stupidly hard? Do I need to restart for a good rng roll on Gladiator or something? The first one was hard, but fair, this is just unfair and less fun.

[The Zodiac Gamer]

Start off with a big loan.

Invest in multiple scouts with high grading and hopefully get lucky with a B/A recruit (not too old either so they stay strong in the long-run). Don't be afraid to forfeit if you don't have anyone in good combat shape or their gladiators are much higher levels.

Max all your bets always. This is especially good in fights where you're outnumbered but know your gladiator is way better. Easy to make massive wins from bets doing this (one great gladiator will easily wipe the floor with three bums). The very small armoury size means you probably won't have the equipment space to fully outfit three guys anyway. Quality > quantity.

Get a good trainer (and the building that allows them) ASAP. This will put your guys far ahead of the other trainer's bums in a few months.

Invest expertise in the defensive skills that allow you to regenerate health on dodge/block/counter-attack depending on what your gladiator is best at. You'll be healing faster than the enemy can hurt you. The crit-boosting percent one in the offensive tree is great too.

[Agent Orange]

Train your gladiators to level 10, you will start winning from then on, A or B gladiators preferred. Don´t be afraid to forfeit matches in the beginning, you will get famous later on. Accept the inevitable losses.