Arena Rex Forums

Round 2
Round 2 was a fun and dynamic set up. The scenario started with two barriers extending radially from a central column, dividing the entire arena in half. Each player would divide their cohort in any way they pleased and place them on either side of the barrier, which was considered impenetrable. The surprise was that at random intervals of time, the moderators would call a "pause" at which point players would complete their current action and stop play and the moderators would rearrange the barriers on the arena in a new unknown pattern. Sometimes there were no barriers, sometimes there was one or two, or even three barriers extending from the central column. This could potentially cut off gladiators from their cohort... and even stop a pitched battle mid-fight by having a barrier appear between dueling gladiators.

In this round I went against no other than our very own MysteriousRacer_X and his Ludus Magnus cohort comprising Micon, Hermes, Otho, Iason, Septimus, and Marcus Furius. It was a fun match that saw some hilarious chaos ensue. My poor Tiet Khebi was killed before she could even attack a single figure. First she was gored by my own rhino as my opponent decided to not engage his gladiators with my charging rhino, leaving them just a tad bit too far when my clear turn hit. She was then finished off by my own Sereqet as I killed the opposing gladiator closest to the scorpion during a counterattack reaction that triggered the clear turn for me.
The barriers rendered my Anum pretty much useless for most of the battle as he found himself unable to cross them for the majority of the match. But that also meant he was fresh when the barrier finally came down and he entered the fight to kill some Romans.

Thanks to MysteriousRacer_X for his patience in constantly reminding that I could not, in fact, add any favor dice because %€&@$?€%#%& Otho Mentulus was standing right there...

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Morituri te salutamus.

Round 3
Round 3 was setup as regular munus as well with the addition of a Living Hazard (Leo once again) and 6 objective crates placed within the board (three on each player's side). During the match, after any model was involved in a battle (as attacker or defender) that model would gain the "Investigate" skill which would allow them to spend a favor or gain a fatigue in order to flip over any crate they were in base-to-base contact with and gain the prize noted on it. Prizes varied depending on the number marked under the crate. Some gave you 2 favor, others gave you a $10 gift certificate, and others still would have you win an authentic coin from roman times.
On this round I faced another fellow forumite, KEslinger who was also fielding a Morituri cohort. This one featured a guest appearance by Gaius Pallidus... which led to some Offering and Regrowth combos that were a pain in my neck.
I finally managed to use my beasts properly and place them in key locations during clear turns. Anum was also able to use Offering and Cleopatra's Gift to use Leo as a weapon while staying well outside the fight. The fight went long and time was called before we could finish killing each other, but I took the victory by having more vitality remaining. KEslinger did manage to take 4 of the 6 objectives, claiming some major loot.
(Somehow I managed to not have any pictures of this scenario...)

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Morituri te salutamus.

Round 4
Round 4 was the final round. The scenario for this one was pretty cool too. The Arena featured a small circular platform in center of the arena (maybe 12" or 15" in diameter) and central column hazard. Both payers had to deploy their cohorts along the edge of this platform. The battle would be fought as normal inside the platform but if any model was pushed against the platform's edge, they would suffer a wound (3 damage) and be placed outside the platform at that same point. These models would be considered "dead" and remain there until the battle inside the platform was resolved. Once that occurred, all the models previously pushed outside the platform would renter the fight as the platform was lowered and the entire arena would again be available for battle.

On this round I faced the other undefeated player, Zachary, who brought his Legio XIII cohort to set me straight. His cohort was made up of Gaius Pallidus, Aquila, Valen, Aemilia, Sulla, and Urien.
Zachary started the battle with blood, taking advantage of the short distance between sides to move Valen up to my mounted Zahra and lay the pain on her. Two attacks and one Exhausted Valen later and it was lights out for Zahra. Figuring Valen was Exhausted and no threat for the time being, I charged Acerbus across the field to take on Gaius Pallidus. My attack connected but wasn't enough to do major damage (just two successes) so I opted to push him and take him and his healing out of the battle, hoping to push someone else later and focus on a small enemy for the time being (after all, the whole point of my cohort was to resist pushes so I could break his team up and fight them three at a time). This attack would also keep my beasts close to his troops for maximum clear turn carnage. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. Having my rhino so close to his troops meant there was always an enemy Ready to attack Acerbus or assist any target of my attacks. He was taken down before I could push anyone else out. Things were looking grim as now both Zahra and Acerbus, my main pushers were dead. I managed to get back in the battle, thanks mostly to Anum taking on self-inflicted damage to keep the favor coming. Zachary's Aemilia proved to be quite the tank, surviving like 4 attacks on her while she only had two points of life left. It was unreal. She was a beast. I forget some of the details of the rest, like who died when and where, by then we were just deep in melee. I do remember a moment when we both had only two models remaining on the platform. I got excited as he killed one of mine and I realized my next turn would be a clear turn with Sereqet as Last Man Standing. I was excited because I realized that the wild attack would more than likely be sufficient to take out my immediate target (I think it was Sulla) and the subsequent activation would allow me to Power Attack the last guy with two favor... probably enough to finish him off too (Urien I think). As this things panned out in my favor my excitement turned to dust as I realized that this would mean Gaius Pallidus would reenter the arena as Last Man Standing... a terrible mistake I should have seen coming and prevented. Worse still, he would reenter within striking distance of my Exhausted Sereqet.
Game over.

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Morituri te salutamus.

Final Thoughts

It was a great event and I really enjoyed having unknown scenarios that made the game be more than just straight up "kill the other guy". Arena Rex has always been a game of positioning and the scenarios really make that aspect stand out. I like the scenarios being unknown so you are forced to pick out a well-rounded cohort... it also forces you to use models in ways you hadn't thought of before. I also like having objectives that gave real life prizes as opposed to just in-game boon.

I really enjoyed the casual and friendly atmosphere between all players. We were all joking and messing around even as our opponents were decimating our ranks. I hope that even as the game grows we can keep that friendly environment going.

Congratulations to Zachary, I really enjoyed that final match a lot (and all my matches really).
Well I think I've "talked" enough. Hope to see everyone out there on the arena.

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Morituri te salutamus.

Thanks for the report - as someone who couldn't get there this year, it's great to read about what went down. Maybe next year...

Gomez, Adepticon is an awesome convention all around. Definitely worth the trip!

Shorter report than RidiQles, but I'll take a shot at one too!

I ran Ludus Magnus - Otho Mentulus, Hermes, Marcus Furius, Septimus, Iason, and Micon

Round One

Got paired up in the first round with my buddy Alex, running Zephyri. He had Hagal, Frigge, Sven, Bjarrhvit, and Hroka on Caho-Ta. We've played plenty of times in the past, so it was nice to have a game with a bit of a different twist. I extended myself a little too far with Otho, and Hroka came in on the first round of combat and knocked him into the pit. Septimus responded with a double-move into an attack, exhausting himself to dismount Hroka, and put her in the pit. Things settled down a little bit from there. A few highlights though - Micon saw the opportunity, and dashed into the middle of the melee to attack Leo. He maxed out his tree, and ended up pitting the lion. Micon immedietely died afterwards, but it felt great to pick up a lion and chuck him in a pit. The real turning point for our match was a massive counterattack by Marcus Furius. Hagal came in with one damage on him, and Marcus counter attacked. Favor was on my side, and Marcus managed to max out his tree, dealing 11 damage, and killing Hagal on the counterattack. The next turn, Hermes stepped up and dropped Frigge. 2 models dead in two turns gave me a lead that I was able to hold on to for the win.

Round 2

I got matched up with RidiQles and his Morituri/Bestae cohort. He did a great job laying this one out already. I will add that he got totally screwed by the walls that kept moving around. In one of the last rounds, I had a clear turn. I exhausted Iason with Rouse to clear Septimus completely. Anum was right next to Iason, but behind a wall, so I thought I'd be safe. Then the pause got called, and the wall was removed! Anum came in and dropped the hammer on Iason, putting Septimus as last man standing. Two turns in a row, Septimus wasn't able to do 2 damage to Zahra, so she whittled him done and closed it out for the victory. Great game!

Round 3

Played against a very nice lady whose name escaped me. She ran a Zephyri cohort against my Ludus Magnus. I believe she was a pretty new player, and the dice didn't do her any real favors. I managed to win without losing any models, which I think was a first for me, but it was still a really fun match trying to grab all of the objectives to win some prizes. And my opponent was great, and had a great attitude throughout the match.

Round 4

Final match against Eric (different Eric, not KEslinger). Micon and Septimus went nuts in this mission, and started chucking gladiators off the platform left and right. When the platform finally lowered, I had picked up a big enough lead for my ludus to take the win without too much of an issue.

Overall, it was a ton of fun to play really unique events against new opponents. Great job by RRG coming up with scenarios, and the prize support was really generous. I got an authentic Roman Coin, a $10 store voucher, and a freaking Wendigo!!! Had a blast, and I'm looking forward to more, bigger events in the future.