Arena Rex Forums

About half done constructing a 30inch 3D arena out of foam core maysonite and liquid nails. so needless to say I'm a little excited. Now that I've proxied a few games I have a few observations of my own. (caveat: what follows is purely my opinion and observations and will not be.short)

First off my first few tries where one v one, in my head this seemed lik e a good idea. In practice however these games were flat uninspired and not very dynamic, needless to say I was left disappointed. I know, I know rules even say 3v3 and after these initial tries I agree. 3v3 games they sugest are in fact perfect, it isn't to much to control and gets you the important rules like the depth of the fatigue mechanic/ proper clear turns/ and reaction orders. All of which really fall apart in what I call "that desperate hour" that moment you realize your alone cornered and fighting to survive. I'm sold on the mechanic. It makes the game work and ultimately. It makes sence for tactics and options to break down when your alone. Just know that true one v one games are boring affairs that do not work.

Now on to some movement observations. I read over the rules several times and have read most of the comments here about the lack of movement and I must say though at times parts of my 3v3 games turned into a clinch. I did not find it difficult to maneuver. It just all seemed to be in the timing. The biggest help was reaction moves. There where several instances when clinched fighters took the opportunity to walk away during an opponents turn (you can react move when they move and active players can not make reactions) even had more then one occasion when models moved to engage and their target moved away forcing the aggressor to fatigue to follow(I found this particularly useful when being faced down by hotblooded models like Urien). Though it cost fatigue to (dodge away) it also prevented the attacker from power attackng. Another thing to keep in mind is that most gladiators can not react op-strike with any fatigue at all. That along with all the pushing, fallow-ups, re-positions, and the occasional flying gladiators(due to Micon) my games did not seem to terribly static.

Next on to individual models

Noxius: is fast and hits like a truck. But don't let that shield fool you when faced with a real threat he folds. second wind can get him running again faster then expected but he tends to take only two/three hits if your lucky. And losing him is often not worth the dmg he inflicts (best often to off him yourself should the option present itself)

Urbicus: on the topic of secound wind. Some mintioned being let down by this fella and though I agree he is no power house but he has relatively average stats. And his two abilities keep him a constant threat. Even fatigued (see above about most gladiators can't react; well this.guy can). No he isn't a killer driller but he puts the pressure on and keeps it on.

Ban-luca: tough and a really versatile attack tree. She has less vitality but I find her arm makes it a none issue. Is she.to.tough? In a world where pits are a thing and with.power attacks and extra successes from exhaustion she is far from unkillable I often find higher def models harder to deal with. If you wanted to weaken her.I would say.one less def instead of armor the armor makes her unique, but I never had issues dealing with her.

Gaius Pallidus: one of my.fave art+story pieces but on the idea of un-killable and who was hard to deal with. This guy brings resilience to your entire cohort he needs to be dealt with, and fast. In three of the four games he was killed, but I ended up being able to get rid of him only by pushing him into a pit he just refused to die. In the first game he was last up, and as the last man he is a demigod taking out two gladiators and still ending the.game with over 3/4 his life. In game two he was instrumental in winning. Due to his healing despite being pushed into a pit mid to late game, in the other games he did not play a large role only because he was forced into a pit first off. His presence controls the battlefield. His attack tree hits hard with some versatility. I can see no reason not to take him. In or out of Legio.

Septimus: from over whelming to underwhelmed. out of all the models I was looking forward to rules for this guy tops the.list with Gaius and Iosan and though I think Gaius is perhaps a tad on the to powerful side Septimus I find very.disappointing. I find him lacking when compared to the other titan mounted riders. And even compared to his closest pedestrian matches Urine and Aquila. He seems super lackluster and over all disappointing. He doesn't have the board cntrl of zahra or the teaming abilities and dmg output of Hroka, Hroka seems to have everything. Speed dmg output, teamwork versatile dmgtree. As for his fellow pedestrians, Aquila and Urien hit like trucks with there earlyer [3]s and Urien who I think he is most like has much more to.offer namely with the farigue lvl he inflicts Septimus could relay use a 6th success on his tree for when u push him with his lodus passive. Some extra dmg or fatigue up like Urien or even a flashy finisher like reposition or favor die. But what.I most wish he had is an early first or probably better secound tier [3] (it would force a decision of dmg or push) but what I think would be neat is the ability to turn his "momentum" into a "reposition" it would distance him from Urien and Aquila who are obviously killer drillers and offer him some solid mobility versatility and uniqueness.

Iosan: In all the games so far I liked him the most he seems quick on his feet, he has enough uniqueness that he does not get lost in the mix. as far as balance he doesn't hit like a tractor trailer, and his abilities help the team. I found this support works well and his Dmg tree generally can allow him to tag someone for a point or two and still be able to dart away to assist during your own turn if it is your desire like Urbicus he doesn't blow me away but he helps keep the heat off of your team the same way urbicus keeps it on... one pairing of note is he teamed very nicely with Viatrix and her tuant and def of 3 ..

***** worth a special note: after using Iosan and I found him so tremendously useful i thought that the legio passive must be sick(awesome). but I found myself not being able to use it as much or as well. at first I could not figure it out I mean for all intensive purpose having it on everyone and at +1 should own defensively and it was nice the twice I got it off(ever) but I found Iosan would help someone 2+ times in every game. It's the 3 inches of movement. enemies could not position themselves away from my defender Iosan could simply hop in to position.

Viatrix: seemed to work "ok" her stats are pretty good (I kinda wish she had a reason make people hit her like an extra parry def or one more point of armor) do not get me wrong a 3 def is nice but 2 armor means when she does get nailed she doesn't take any more hits then the rest of your gladiators. that and combined with your enemies ability to "walk away/or around her" really made her only control her tight little bubble. special note of course goes to iosan who helped her live in two games longer then she should have.

Interesting observations there Metal. While I haven't played any games yet I made some quick notes about my impressions of the gladiators both during the kickstarter special highlight spot reveals and after (when we got the full playtest card document) I went through and noted some observations/basic overviews on each of them to fill in the gaps in my knowledge.

I haven't fully read your thread yet but a cursory glance reveals that it mostly matches up with my impressions. Would you care for me to share my old basic jottings to see if I spotted anything you might have missed? It's generaly only a sentence or two for each gladiator. Not as in depth as yours, but I'm looking forwards t soaking up everything you've written here to see how it bears out.



Please tell me that's a typo. I know you found him unimpressive but surely he wasn't that bad :p. It's also possible that this is the Septimus on foot profile that they've given us and the mounted one hasn't been released yet.

LOL. Yes. Urien is a.word I fight with on my phone not to auto correct. And I actually like him a lot. He pushes and maneuvers as much as Septimus. And hits like a truck

Also. No I don't mind, friendly discussion is welcome.

Alright, here goes then. Not very in depth but more of a first impressions really.

Legio 13

Aquilla generates favour rapidly/easily.

Aemilia intervenes & intercepts but without the defensive bonus.

Ban Luca locks down activations and is a juicy target to push enemies towards as she's ready for them.

Gaius Pallidus regenerates and can even heal his allies slightly.


Ludus Magnus

Otho Menthulus denies favour but cannot use it himself either.

Urbicus is the tireless foe.

Infelix attacks & counterrattacks a lot.

Viatrix is bait. She likes to tank a lot.

Micon repositions and throws.

Iason intervenes and supports his companions.

Hermes lives by his reputation.

Marcus Furius builds favour through control

Lupa is a wild card who may strike hard but can be shut down at a prohibitive cost.

Septimus & Nero - waiting for more


Blood Brothers

Vargr is a violent berzerker who can cause a lot of damage at the risk of his own health.

Frigge is a protective mother bear who'll lash out at those who threaten her brothers.

Sven is a swift berzerker who likes to dance around the edges.

Bjarrhvit can pin down a foe whilst remaining incredibly agile herself.

I need to study how Berzerk works as I suspect it's a bit of a situational balancing act.


Morituri

Mago pins people down and gives them a beating

Tiet Khebi can build favour and can trigger some strange effects.

Ur Kek beats his foes into submission with exhausting blows.

Thoth weighs favour in the balance and is the master of death.

Giant Scorpion Rider has a prodigious reach.


Any

Noxius - glas canon & favour generator.

Leo .....

Euryale .....

Wendigo (may be Blood Brothers) .....

Proximo the battle giraffe ..... freaky stuff!

LOL those are indeed very generalized descriptions. And by merit of generality they are generally correct. For example. Though Aquila hits hard, and generates favor by the merit.of simply doing dmg. He generates no more favor during your active turn then any other gladiator with favor on his/her tree (like urbicus, viatrix, vargr, etc.) Though it is possible for him to create 2 favor by hitting hard enough.to.give your opponent one favor and then pushing his target into a pit and gaining 2. Or simply killing Noxius would net him 3 (though notably if Noxius was fresh you gave your opponent 3 favor also.) But, Hermes, Septimus, Marcus, Thoth, ban-luca, Frigge, Aemilia, and the three above can all conceivably create just as much with.varying degrees of effort.

Well all the model spotlight ones were jotted down by me as reminders while the kickstarter campaign was being run. The others were written down within about half an hour of the cards pdf being released. I'm trying to avoid getting detailed impressions stuck in my head before I try them out in play as it can be hard to shake an incorrect idea later on if it's become ingrained. That is, however, why I'm interested to see other people's thoughts and impressions. It helps to confirm and reinforce or redefine my expectations so that I'll be able to enjoy the game all the better.

More importantly....... I backed the kickstarter mainly for the miniatures. The rules are an added bonus. However, knowing how each character plays in terms of personality and style will help to influence me when I come to painting them . An aggressive character might be more flushed in the cheeks, a defensive cunning one might narrow his eyes or sneer a little. Obviously I won't be working against the sculpt but there's a lot that can be done with paints to bring out character.

Ah. Very cool well I can appreciate that. I really wish viatrix had the armor or def to take a little more.