Arena Rex Forums

An idea I quite like based on ideas here from the forum is to have an alternate way of pre-game preparation which mirrors the card game format of the Draft, as opposed to the standard format of Constructed.

Constructed: Each player creates a deck/cohort from home using cards/models from their own collection only. The players then meet and face off using their pre-constructed cohorts.

Draft: The players get together around a common pool of available cards/models. Instead of having created a deck/cohort from home, it is created on the spot by the players taking turns picking what they want. After this, the players face off using the newly created temporary cohorts.

For a draft format, you need a rule to determine how the cohorts are put together. The easiest rule is just to take turns picking models, I guess, like on the playground. But you could also insert a random element if you want to make it a bit risky. For example, first line up all the available models alphabetically. Then the players take turns pointing at a model, and then rolling a dice. On a 2-5, they get the model they pointed at. On a 1, they get the model to the left, and on a 6, they get the model to the right. Could be fun.

I guess the steps involved with this kind of format would be something like this.

1. Get together and put all available models in the centre of the arena.
2. Remove any duplicate models. (optional)
3. Decide how many models you each get to pick.
4. Do the actual draft using some method as described above.
5. Figure out if and how ludus benefits would apply, either using the normal rules or making up some special rules for them for this format.
6. Figure out hazards, scenarios and other details. (maybe done before draft)
7. Play the game.

Does this seem like it should work? And does it seem like it would be fun?

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I would agree that Draft in this game could be interesting.
Here's how Dota2 Drafts work:
http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Game_modes#Captains_Mode

I would say that this could be easily adapted to ARENA REX and should be a nice fit.
Since people sometimes like to play with their own models and don't want others touching theirs, this could also mean that everyone drafts from his own models. And if someone only has 6 models for a 5vs5 game, only Bans apply that reduce to the miniature count for the game. So if you bring 10 gladiators, the opponent will have a maximum of 5 bans (4 bans for 9 and so on).

Some questions that immediately arise:

1.) What about Titans and multiple-stage gladiators?
2.) What about riders and their mounts?
3.) What about Ludus Cohort benefits? Is it better to have this Draft for a 3vs3 or a 5vs5?

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Sheijtan's ARENA REX Experience

Yeah, there are loads of potential questions and interesting things you could do. I'm not so sure I like the idea of bans, I think I prefer simply that once a gladiator has been chosen, the other player can't also choose them, since there is only one. So you can't say "this gladiator will not be in this game at all", but you can prevent your foe from fielding a specific gladiator by simply selecting them first. But I guess that's a personal preference thing. Maybe the bans make the game more fresh, so you don't always have to go "groan, not this guy again". But you have to have quite a few options available before it makes sense to be able to ban.

The issue of having to share your models with your opponent I understand. Especially since many AR models are flimsy and easy to break. Sharing models mainly works for me if I think of the game like a collective board game, where everyone touches everything, not like a game where each player has their own personal collection that only they touch. So what works or not will depend on the play environment, I imagine.



1. I figure they will just count as multiple cards like normal. So if we are playing a 6v6 game, and I choose Proximo as my first model, then I only get 4 more picks instead of 5 more picks. Every time you pick a two-stage model, it takes up two slots like normal.

2. Count them as separate just like normal, I say. So if you want Zahra on Sereqet, you have to pick Zahra as one choice, and Sereqet as another choice. This means your opponent can screw you over by picking Sereqet after you pick Zahra. That's how a draft game works.

3. Yeah. Ludus benefits I feel like you can either do the normal way (once you have your cohort assembled, check if you qualify for benefits or not), or make up a special set of rules for this format. Depending on the models available, it could be almost impossible for anyone to qualify for ludus benefits. So you could, if you want, make a special rule saying that everyone gets a ludus benefit card, either based on the ludus you have the most of, or even just randomly. The sky is the limit.

As to game size, I have no idea, but I figure it should work for any game size...

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The way I would word the rules for the ludus and multiple stage picks would be; your first pick decides your ludus, after your first pick you can hold your pick for one round. If you have held your pick for a round you can pick a two stage character on your next pick, it counts for two picks.

Idk something like that anyways...

If you pick your ludus at the beginning, the other player can target specific gladiators to remove your ludus benefit. Therefore, I'd suggest picking the ludus at the end. In fact, it is not a problem having to play the same ludus, since the chance of a mirror match could be slim.

Same goes for taking a gladiator with two stages by holding the first of two consecutive picks. I'd always target the second stage with a ban. Therefore, I'd say, you'll get both stages but loose the second pick for a two-stage gladiator.

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Sheijtan's ARENA REX Experience

I like the draft idea and have used it twice in games before (it was easy because I supplied all the models anyway). The way I ran it was that if anyone selected a two-card model everyone else would be able to go around and make two selections immediately (or also select a two-card model) until it got back to the original player's turn. I like the idea of ludus benefits being conveyed per the normal rules so I didn't change that at all (but it's really just a matter of preference). I have almost all of he models by now so each player ended up with a large pool from which they can then select their cohort.
I've also done secret drafting too where we sleeved all the cards in opaque sleeves and removed the second stage cards of two-stage models. The cards were then dealt face down to everyone (we had 4 players). Each player then chose two cards to discard and one to keep. The rest of the cards were passed to the left. From then on it was the normal keep one card and pass the rest until we ran out (6 cards each). The cards in hand were out model pool for the battles (two going on at once) and the discard pile became the condemned for those scenarios and the rewards to choose from for each game's winner. It worked pretty well for us.

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Morituri te salutamus.

Haaa, the secret drafting idea sounds really fun too, I like that. That's more like a traditional drafting game, right? I haven't played many of those, just a strange japanese fairy tale one once.

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I would run the draft in a slightly different way:

Each person brings 7 cards worth of models. Roll off to see who drafts firsts. Pick one card out of your 7 then the next person pics a card until everyone has 5 cards worth of models. If you pick a model that has a stage, you are obligated to pick the next stage in the next round of the draft.

So the idea here is that you pick from your own models alone, instead of a communal pool? The only difference I see between making a cohort from home and this method is that here, you get to react to what your opponent picks when you pick your cohort.

Which is a cool idea. But different from the kind of drafting where both players are picking from a limited collective pool.

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So I played a game last night where we did the drafting thing for picking teams. We took all my models, put them in the middle of the arena, and took turns picking until we had chosen six cards each.

He started by taking Hroka on Caho-Ta (we counted this as one pick of two linked cards). I picked Zahra on Sereqet. He picked Ban-Luca, I picked Stheno. And so on.

We ended up with mounted Hroka, Ur-Kek, Mago, Septimus and Ban-Luca on one side, vs. Stheno, mounted Zahra, Valen and Otho on the other side. Very motley cohorts. He picked models he had all used before, whereas I picked a bunch of new models I hadn't tried. And I got crushed.

Lesson learned: An ARM 0 model against an ARM 3 model in a duel is a bad thing for one of them. I thought Stheno would rock, but Ban-Luca took out both her forms with ease and almost killed Otho too before she gave up.

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My Arena Rex painting log