Arena Rex Forums

I think Obedience making wild attacks optional would definitely make the Bestiae more appealing... but it would mean that a well placed cohort could do a potentially high number of attacks during a clear turn, which could be brutal (and pretty awesome). It would have to be limited somehow. Like maybe you get one free wild attack from any beast and can add others by paying Favor.


If the Morituri benefits applied only to Morituri gladiators (like all the other ludus benefits), then I think that alone would switch the balance to the Bestiae.

I often wonder why the Morituri are the only ones to have their benefits worded in that way. As a mostly Morituri player I love it... and I haven't really played enough games at sufficient proficiency to determine whether that affects balance.

_________________
Morituri te salutamus.

On reflection, I think I would start with just saying that Will of Antony only works on Morituri gladiators. (I would keep it so the beasts can still use Offering at least.)

This does seem to be more in tune with how most of the ludus benefits work.

You are right that letting beasts go wild if they want doesn't make sense. The whole point of Obedience is that the beasts are not wild, they do exactly what Anum says, and he can command them to attack by using Alpha. Them going wild "sometimes" seems out of character for the principle of Obedience.

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

I don't think it needs fixed. Anum's Alpha is super strong. There's no range and he can exhaust himself if need be, leaving the beast clear to react.

After running both, I feel Beastia is the stronger option.

The biggest thing is that Mori benefits are ONLY on a clear turn. In a larger game you don't get those as often.

Alpha works all the time. React with the beast. Next turn, clear the best activate Anum's Frenzy and have the beast attack again. You're free to react with the beast AGAIN even after attacking.

I don't know if I can explain properly. But playing the two, my play style favors Beastia.

It does make sense and I am glad to hear thay Bestiae works well with different play styles.
I will be giving the Bestiae Ludus a more in-depth look if I can get some games in this weekend.

_________________
Morituri te salutamus.

Good point that Gift is a tactic and can only be used on a clear turn, whereas Alpha is a passive ability that can be used all the time. I agree that Alpha is better than Gift for this kind of cohort.

It's also hard to disagree that if you play in such a way that you never or rarely get clear turns, which I certainly have done too, then the Morituri benefits aren't going to do much for you. But in that situation, Obedience doesn't do anything for the Anum player, since your beasts would never go wild anyway.

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

Which is also in favor for Beastia.

I think the biggest thing I noticed was the ability to continually act/react every turn with Acerbus. He's not a big damage machine, but with a 6 attack and a four deep tree, he was giving me a ton of favor and decent damage. Not many folks survive 16 damage.

No...no they dont

All this discussion is making me want to pick up Anum for sure. The forum system works! For RRG.

I currently have Proximo, Caho-Ta, Sereqet and Pseudo-Acerbus as potential beasts for the bestiae, so that should be an OK selection. Two light beasts and two heavy beasts. But Leo is such a great and iconic model that I will probably pick him up eventually. And the other horse.

And we really need RRG to give us a name for Anum's hyena.

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

Forgot to comment on this... I'm not sure about that. You can play your turns in such a way that you don't take clear turns when it would be a disadvantage to you, i.e. when your beasts would attack each other, but when your beasts are all closest to the enemy, then you start taking clear turns and thus letting your beasts loose with free attacks. I still maintain that wild attacks are a powerful thing, and that Obedience is thus also a restriction and not just a bonus.

Unless you are saying that if you don't take clear turns anyway, then Obedience doesn't matter, and then Obedience cannot be a restriction... which is true, but then it can't be a bonus either. So I don't think either point means a point in favour for the bestiae.

_________________
My Arena Rex painting log

No, you're correct. I used poor wording. I meant more that the drawback of Obedience is hardly felt, with proper management, in the Beastia. Make no mistake, losing Wild attacks is a drawback.

I would like to see Obedience be contingent on Anum being on the table. Losing Anum in the Beastia is rough, especially considering you're also losing Wild attacks.