So I had another game today. This game was somehow more enjoyable than previous ones, but that might be because we got the rules right.
Me Urien Aquila Ban-Luca Gaius Lupa
Opponent Frigge Sven Hroka Leo
Board - Pit in the centre, square of four pillars roughly 10" from centre.
Pre-game thoughts
The main test was to see how BB played when they had extra Favour generation. Since some people seem to think they're OP, I gave them to my opponent (who'd never heard of Arena Rex before) to see how they played with a new player. As much as I love BB, I've been rather taken by Legio XIII recently, and wanted to try the out. The plan was to get to gave two teams - Urien and Ban-Luca, and Lupa and Aquila - combining Hot Headed with Co-ordinated Strike. Gaius would then go where he was needed, healing if need be. My primary target was Leo.
The Game
There were two phases to the battle.
Phase One - a battle on two flanks
Urien and Ban-Luca marched up the left flank, while Hroka, Sven and Frigge moved to meet them. Urien made a power attack with Hot Headed, but it failed terribly, and Hroka killed him rather swiftly. Ban-Luca reacted with a move to avoid being pushed into the pit, withdrawing back to my side. Meanwhile Lupa and Aquila moved up the right flank, and faced Leo. Lupa used a power attack with Hot Headed to kill Stage 1 Leo before he had any chance to Roar (though he did provide plenty of Favour from his vitality bar). Phase 2 Leo was far deadlier, especially when Counter-attacking, and him and Aquila generated a lot of Favour while bleeding each other. Frigge moved to help, but it was Leo who killed Aquila. Lupa then crushed Leo's skull and made a tactical retreat to join Ban-Luca and Gaius, who up to this point hadn't activated.
Phase Two - pile up
I consolidated my cohort near the bottom right pillar. Frigge moved in on the right, Sven from the left. While Phase One was being resolved, Hroka overstretched herself and was eventually killed when Lupa withdrew. Frigge killed Gaius, but naturally he didn't die. I positioned Ban-Luca behind Sven to use Co-ordained Strike, but poor rolls and some misjudgement saw Sven pushing her into the pit. Lupa reduced Sven to 2 wounds, but was killed by Frigge. I believe Sven finished off Gaius. Frigge was the only model that survived the game unscathed.
Favour
We both generated quite a lot of Favour. The most either of us had was six, but five was pretty average. Early on luck favoured my opponent, but he didn't manage his Favour as well as I did, so when Leo died his Favour started drying up and his luck changed. By the end I was managing to have one or two Favour, though Lupa was getting a free one with Hot Headed, while my opponent had very little, but his luck came back and he consistently did large amounts of damage without the need for Favour.
Reactions
I had a better understanding of reactions in this game. I used the move reaction to help me fall back and reposition, while my opponent used counterattack with Leo to great effect. Neither of us have quite mastered the set up for Assist though. Opportunity attack was the only reaction that caused a little confusion.
Clear Turns
Only one Tactic was used, by me, and that was Manoeuvre to help me withdraw a model. I didn't make any use of Maniple, which I probably should have (I set up to use it several times, but I was always Fatigued). While I had a lot of Favour at times, the cost for Stone Guard was too great at the time. Of course BB used Relentless, but only once or twice. There weren't that many Clear Turns.
Post game thoughts
Both my opponent and I agreed I held Gaius back too long. I also think that instead of sending Urien and Lupa ahead first I should have sent Ban-Luca and Aquila, then positioned Urien and Lupa to set up co-ordinated strike. My opponent was perhaps over-confident in Leo at first. I should have targeted Sven when I had the chance, but my opponent rather forgot about him, and so I did too. Lupa was awesome, and her ability to power and attack with a free Favour then withdraw (with Reposition plus a move if needed) made her my opponent's primary target.
Opinion and Questions
I was generally happy with BB being able to generate Favour, however I feel like they could all do with a reduction in damage, and in some cases armour (Sven really shouldn't have any armour). They're relentless, and fast and favour hit and run, this should be balanced with lower health, armour and damage than average. Their health seems fine, Frigge's armour's fine, but their damage is a just a little bit high. Legio XIII are okay on the whole, I can't really pinpoint anything single thing wrong with them, but they are comfortable average at pretty much everything, with higher armour than LM. Still think Urien needs an extra injection of character. Gaius' Undying seems a little odd, but I can see how it might prove useful.
Question about Opportunity Attack. It says when an enemy moves in your engagement range, so does that include when they enter your engagement range, because that sounds odd. I charge towards you to make an attack, but somehow you kill me before I raise my weapon. If that does apply, then why wait to counterattack? I feel like it should say "when an enemy attempts to leave this models engagement range". Overall I'm not a big fan of Opportunity Attack. I think there should be some way to deal with hit and runners, but the way Opportunity Attack is written now just isn't it for me.
It was my opponent's first tase of Arena Rex, and he rather enjoyed it (helped he won =P)
_________________ Bentley Hunter from the Kickstarter.
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