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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 3:12 am 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Since I've started painting, I've been painting really fast and with much enthusiasm. The miniatures are just really fun and great to work with. This thread is like my "thoughts about the game in general" blog type thing, but I'm documenting my progress on painting the models in the painting forum thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33989

Of the eight models from my initial order, I have as of right now fully painted the three Morituri, and am about halfway through Medusa. The three Ludus Magnus are undercoated, and Proximo is still being assembled - when I attached his head to his lower jaw, they didn't align super well, so I took them apart and will align them better with some green stuff.

I've also tentatively started working on a custom Euryale. I love the gorgons, but not her model, so my only recourse that I can think of is to sculpt my own. Only problem is that my sculpting is very crude, and most likely will look ridiculous next to the intricately beautiful AR models. But I'll never know if I don't try.

I'm pondering whether or not to give this imaginary Euryale model a staff as a weapon - the other two gorgons both have weapons, and she doesn't, but I can't decide if I like that or not. That she is unarmed gives her a animalistic feel, like she is a beast-like monster like Wendigo rather than a tool-using humanoid. I'm not sure which direction I would rather go in.

Anyway... this is my initial demo setup. One Morituri cohort, one Ludus Magnus cohort, of three or five cards each. I have one friend that I usually play mini games with, I will see if I can get a hold of him to play as soon as I have the models painted. Otherwise I guess I will try and reach out to some local clubs.

My thoughts now wander to what I'm going to get to expand my collection next.

One thing that is strange is that one of the models that originally attracted me was Septimus and Nero. But as time goes on, I'm getting less and less interested in it. I really don't understand. But right now, what I mainly want to get is a 3-strong Legio XIII cohort. By far my favourite Legio model is Ban-Luca, so she is #1. Then I want to fill out with Aemilia (her spear maiden sister) and Valen. So I guess I should wait until Valen is actually in the store, which he currently is not, being a pre-release.

Then: Stheno is obvious, as the last gorgon. I really like Hroka and Caho-Ta, which would start me on Zephyri, so she appeals a lot. Finally, I have an idea for a conversion of Sereqet I would love to try out. So once I get there, my $150 order will probably consist of approximately the above.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Tue Aug 23, 2016 4:29 pm 
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Noxius

Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:09 pm
Posts: 2
First off, I fell in love with the game at GenCon, wish I'd seen the Kickstarter but happy I didn't have to wait for it.

I've assembled all my Zephyri and they went together beautifully. I don't often give advice but try to find Gorilla Super Glue Gel, make sure it's the Gel. A very small drop bonded stuff superbly. Be sure to shake well. The material they used for the casting takes the glue very well and creates a super strong bond.

I plan on priming them tonight as the rain has finally stopped. I'm intimidated by the details but plan on taking my time to give them the paint job they deserve.


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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:40 am 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Hi Magnus, welcome to the forums! I'm actually happy not having been part of the kickstarter, as I also love just being able to order the models without having to understand that it's a future product I'm getting into. Now, it's a current product. :D

I'm in Europe and have never seen Gorilla super glue, but my normal super glue works just fine. The main thing for me is pinning the thin and weak parts so they don't break.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Fri Sep 02, 2016 4:29 am 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Alright, so I've finished painted half of my collection of eight models from my original order, and my three Ludus Magnus are almost done too. So I've basically just got Proximo left to paint. I'm therefore thinking that if I want to keep up my pace of painting AR models, I should get in a new order now. It'll take at least two weeks to arrive, and by then I imagine all the stuff I currently have will be painted, and I will be chomping at the bit for new miniatures.

When I was in the store, I saw that the new arena mats are available to order. I winced a little, because when it comes to my hobby, I really don't like buying things other than miniatures. I avoid buying things like books related to miniature games, because what I love are the miniatures, and prefer 100% of my hobby expenditure to go on them. But I need a pre-defined arena space to play the game in that I can carry around. So the mat is essential.

So the order I made last night became:

1 * Aemilia
1 * Arena Mat
1 * Ban-Luca
1 * Caho-Ta (with riding Hroka)
1 * Hroka
1 * Stheno

It's branching into the two last ludi that I didn't order anything from last time, but only two and one of each. Ideally, I would have added a Valen to the order, to make a trio of Legio XIII, but he was a pre-release and is not in the webstore yet.

My original order was designed as 2x3 ludus gladiators and 2x 2-stage monsters, so 10 cards in all, to be able to play 3v3 or 5v5 games. This new order adds a mix of 3 ludus gladiators from two different ludi, one one-stage beast, and another 2-stage monster. So my collection is (will be) no longer as symmetrical as it was before. I can group the new models together as a mixed ludus cohort of three gladiators plus Stheno - but then that leaves out Caho-Ta and puts Hroka on foot. Alas, such must be the way for now. Once Valen is available, and I do a third order, he can round off the Legio XIII threesome and mounted Hroka can be an optional two-card addition to bring them up to five strong.

One thing I am really looking forward to though is my first mounted model. Magnets here we come! 8-)

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:07 am 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
A little bit of an exciting development for me - one of my roleplaying friends put me in touch with a friend of his that plays miniature games. So I joined him and his friend for a night of playing Malifaux last Wednesday. They were really nice, and the host kept asking me about Arena Rex, as I had mentioned to him first thing that this is the main game I am interested in just now. Both of the guys said that they would be totally interested in trying out AR with me.

So that's a really good thing. However, the host at least mentioned that he's not so keen on the cost of the models. He likes bargains and inexpensive products, I think. Which is very fair. A few years ago I would have been exactly the same.

A quick comparison is interesting I think. I liked the Malifaux models I saw online a lot, and the game seems pretty fun, so I decided to get two starter boxes. A starter box contains six plastic models on a HIPS injected sprue. The cost of this box, to me, was 350DKK in my local currency, so about $50. So I got 12 models, of really nice quality, for $100 flat. And I ordered it from a Danish webstore and got it two days later.

In contrast, when I made an order for Arena Rex products about a month ago, I ordered 8 models in all - six humanoids and two bigger monsters. The monsters cost a bit more than a humanoid, so let's say they count as 10 models in all. I got free shipping, but the cost of the individual AR models combined with the fact that I had to pay both 25% import tax and a service charge meant that all in all, I ended up paying $225 for my order. And it took two weeks to arrive.

So I think that the only people in my local area who will be into buying their own models will be those that 1) get really into the game, and 2) feel flush enough to spend extra $$$ on imported extra luxury models. Which I am - but I'm not sure if anyone else will be.

That said, the important thing for me is if I can succeed in getting other people to play the game with me. Obviously we can just play with my models. If they are satisfied with that, I am too. I love building up my collection. I also said that the game rules and model rules are totally free, so if they want to build their own cohorts, they can just use the existing Malifaux models they have as proxies. I'm totally OK with that too. Just getting people to try the game, and seeing if they like it, is a great first step, I think.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:19 am 
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Crudus
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Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2016 1:47 pm
Posts: 257
Location: Los Angeles, CA
I agree. Get them playing, even with proxies. It spreads the word about the game and gets people interested and that means more demand, which means more chances of local distributors, which will bring prices down. I think a game like Arena Rex is one you can hand out for free as much as possible, because the game is great and will hook people in and the models will just sell themselves when they become available... because they are just gorgeous.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 10:11 am 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Still haven't managed to get a game in, though still trying to set it up. But one thing I wanted for sure was 3-man mini-cohorts for demo purposes for all the ludi. Not that easy to decide on, as I - sorry to say - don't like all of the models in the AR range. And I only want to get models I really like. The demo crews I think I have settled on are:

LM: Iason, Septimus, Otho
Morituri: Mago, Khepros, Ur-Kek
LXIII: Ban-Luca, Aemilia, Valen
Zephyri: Hroka, Bjarrhvit (or maybe Sven), Hagal

I wanted to avoid flimsy models that stand on one leg as much as possible, because I imagine them to be played with a lot. Alas, this didn't seem possible with the Zephyri. Hagal and Bjarrhvit are OK, but Hroka dances on one leg.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 7:40 pm 
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Noxius

Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:39 pm
Posts: 1
Sorry if I'm resurrecting the thread where I shouldn't be (this is my first post here so I'm worried I'm breaking a rule - hope I'm in the clear!).

Hey all, name's Kalkris and I play Morituri. I've only really gotten in self-taught demos with other players learning as I learn, but in teaching myself the game, I've managed to keep room open.

Anyway, I have a pretty extensive arsenal of Morituri glads, and Serequet (because tbh it counts), and I've been doing demos with the following 2 cohorts of 3:

Thoth, Zahra, Tiet-Khebi
Ur-Kek, Mago, Khepros
Serequet as Living Hazard

Anyway, I wanted to post on here seconding your choice of having Ur-Kek, Mago and Khepros be your demo cohort for Morituri, as I think it's quite solid without overpowering other options (from the looks of things, at least, as I'm sort of stuck in my little bubble of Aegyptus models so far XD). So yeah, good call!

~Lil Kalki


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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:38 pm 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Finally played my first two games tonight. So much fun, really good game. The Ludus Magnus won both games, even though we swapped models between each game - they are just more straightforwardly powerful than the Morituri, I think. So I think in the future, it will be more fun to mix it up, so it isn't the same three gladiators on each side every time.

Ur-Kek was pretty powerful when he was last man standing though. Move, first attack, second attack, use Offering, use Cleopatra's Gift, third attack. Ouch.

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 Post subject: Re: Entering the arena
PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 3:11 pm 
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Viridis
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Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 4:38 am
Posts: 1484
Location: Scandinavian Denmark
Hmm, how did I miss Kalkris' post from earlier? That's super bizarre, I definitely haven't read that before. Well, thank you for the support Kalkris! :D

I saw that RRG are doing a sale just now, so I caved and made another order, even though I still have one model left from my last order that I haven't painted (riding Hroka). So I now will be getting: Khepros, Otho, Hagal, Sven, Valen, and Sereqet.

I kinda see this as my last "big" order, as now I will have what I consider to be a good selection of gladiators across the ludi as well as beasts. So I imagine that future orders will mostly be single models or pairs. I'm kind of satisfied with just owning two of the four mounted models (Hroka and Zahra) - but maybe in six months I will want to get the last two as well.

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