Arena Rex Forums

Does the game run on the presumption that all models are balanced against each other, and an even cohort is simply even number of models against even number of models?

It would seem that someone that wanted to take three titans would have a decided advantage against someone that takes three models but none of those are titans.

Yes to the original question, with the caveat that some individual models (mostly titans) count as two models because they have two cards/stages, which effectively means they are two models in sequence that share one physical model. Basically, most models have a points cost of 1. A few models have a points cost of 2, because they have two stages, and each stage costs one point. And two even cohorts means two cohorts that contain the same number of cards/stages.

An easy example of two even cohorts with different numbers of models would be a normal ludus cohort vs. the gorgon sisters. In this case, the first cohort would contain six models, and the second cohort would contain three models, because each of the gorgons have two stages and therefore count as two models each.

Aside from the question of stages, titans have a big base and cannot be pushed, which is very strong, but if you look at them, you'll notice that they usually either are weaker in attack or defense. Take Sereqet as an example. She has good defense - DEF 2 and ARM 2, like many gladiators - but only ATK 5 and only has 9 damage in her tree. So she pays for her titan strengths by being weaker in other areas.

That's generally the idea in this game. Obviously there isn't perfect balance, but everyone will often have different ideas about which models are better or worse. Leika is an example that has been discussed here - some people think she lacks power, others think she is just fine.

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I like your explanation as someone who plays mostly historic war gaming I was wondering how the models matched up "points" wise.