What is Arena Rex?

As I mentioned earlier, I decided to back Arena Rex on Kickstarter.  I'm a huge nut for anything related to Ancient Rome.  Add to it that Arena Rex is a gladiatorial skirmish game (so low model count), coupled with some of the best gladiator sculpts I have ever seen, and well, I'm SOLD!  There's still just under a month left to support project as of the time I'm writing this.  Just as I have done with Kingdom Death: Monster, my goal here is to show you exactly why I decided to make the jump into supporting this game, why I'm excited about, and perhaps get the game "on your radar" at the very least.  I should also point out, all of below is based off what I've read online.  The rules are in playtesting, so everything is subject to change.  For more official info on the game, head over to Arena Rex.com...

So, without further delay, I'll dive into what little bit I know...

This Geek's Week...

- Got a couple of 8 man games of MWO in.  We won a few, but again, I think we could have done better if we coordinated a bit more with specific mech compositions and such.

- Played some Skyrim.  I'm a bit stuck, as I keep running into these hard to kill, named Dragons that either kick my butt, or kill my follower.  Thus, I've been trying to clear some dungeon areas, get some new gear, level, etc.  I also bought a house in the game as I was tired of lugging around all the dragon scales/bones.

- Finished Superman: Red Son.  I enjoyed it, especially seeing the Russian verson of Batman and the Cold War Era Green Lantern.

- Read through all the BattleForce rules of Battletech.  Sounds like it could be fun.  Only thing I'm not a fan of is having a single miniature to represent an entire lance.  I'll probably keep the models as individual mechs.  It will slow things down a bit, but not to classic battletech levels.

Here be GATORS...

Bloody Barnabas

For a while I was running a Gatormen army in Warhmachine/Hordes.  I eventually grew a bit tired/bored of the army, and ended up selling them off.  Part of the issue for me was that I wasn't a big fan of the wrasler' model, and didn't want to convert one from a snapjaw model.  I also was building this army around the time of the privateerpress model shortage, and could not get ahold of the Gatormen Posse models either.  All of which probably wasn't helping the cause either...

This Geek's Week...

Petco: Lies & Fish...

-  Playing MWO as usual.  I had a number of good runs this week.  Several 6-kill games, and top score/damage every game I dropped in my Centurion.  No 8 mans this week, which is a bit frustrating.  I'm starting to question whether the Devil Dogs have the commitment/desire needed for competitive play.  4 mans are not much of a challenge anymore, I'm ready to start doing 8 mans on a regular basis.  That said, it looks like "Community Warfare" may be coming in May, which could change things up in the 4 man vs 8 man debate...

- Played some Skyrim.  I'm kind of stuck at the moment, so I think I need to level up, get some better gear etc.

- Picked up the Battletech book: Strategic Operations.  I guess there is a ruleset in there called "BattleForce" which simplifies, streamlines, and makes for a much faster game.  Seems intriguing, and I think I've got my regular BT opponent interested, so I'll give it a read and give it a try!

- Ordered Superman: Red Son.  It sounded intriguing, as it is basically a "what if Superman's ship had crashed in communist Russia instead of Kansas".

- Locked in/Finalized my pledge for Kingdom Death: Monster.  If I did everything correctly that is...

- I also backed Arena Rex on Kickstarter.  It's funny because until KD:M, I've never really been a fan of using Kickstarter before, yet this is already the second project I've backed this year.   It's basically a Gladiatorial combat skirmish game, and as I've said before, I'm a sucker for anything related to ancient Rome.  The sculpts so far look truly amazing, and the game mechanics sound pretty unique and intriguing.  The KS campaign doesn't end until late April, but afterwards, I'll try and keep stuff updated in regards to the game.  Check em out at Arenarex.com !

This Geek's Week...

Now THAT is service!

- Built a "Towers of the Yogo" swarm deck.  The idea is to churn out as many people per turn to maximize the tower's bow effect.  The way it is is built, I should feasibly be able to get 3 personalities on the table a turn using just the stronghold, border keep, and harvesters. One additional holding should allow me to clear my provences every turn.  I have yet to test it, I'm sure it will need plenty of tweaking.

- Built a Ronin deck, just for fun.  My initial concern is with it is that it doesn't seem very focused.  It's got cavalry, scouts, and kensai... it is a mess!  I'll have to play it a couple of times, and figure out what aspect of the deck I want to hone in on.

-  Been playing MWO as usual.  I recently had a couple of great solo games.  One was in my Raven 3-L, in which I was the last alive and managed to kill to an atlas, a trebuchet, and a centurion to pull out the win for my team.  In another, I was running my Cataphract 1-X, and managed to rack up 6 kills in that match, and again, won the game for my side.  I think 6 kills in a single match is the most I've accomplished in MWO.  In games like those I like to tell my team afterwards, "Don't worry, I'll send you my bill...".  As a merc, it is sort of a catchphrase I've developed.  Also, my unit in MWO has a "tactical meeting" Monday night, to discuss 8 man strategies, and developed a list of competitive mechs and formations.  Despite playing in "Run Hot or Die" leagues, we really haven't taken 8 mans too seriously.  Monday will be a step toward fixing that, and hopefully stepping closer to the big leagues.

This Geek's Week...

- Playing a bunch of MWO as usual.

- Played a 150pt game of X-Wing.  I lost, as usual, but managed to take out several A-Wings, along with Chewie and Falcon.  Wedge w/ R2-D2 was still my bane.  I just cannot seem to get through an x-wing with R2.  I stripped the shields multiple times, put 2 damage on him, but he was always able to recover.

- Played a game of Sentinels vs La Capitan or whatever her name is.  We ran Omnitron, Unity (me), Mr. Fixer, The Scholar, and the new time bounty hunter guy.  At one point it seemed we were gonna lose.  She got out a card that let her search for 3 crewmen, and then followed it up with the same card again all in a single turn.  Once we finally were able to wade through all that crew, the Villain actually went down rather quickly.  Most Raptor Bots actually got the kill shot.  I think Unity may be my favorite Hero, with the Wraith coming a close 2nd.

- Painted a tiny bit on some of my DUST models.  Nothing major, just some washes.

- Played a TON of L5R.  My Scorpion Paragon deck, multiple times,  My Dishonor deck, Multiple times, and my Crab Berserker and Naga Enlightenment decks once each.  I played against an oni deck a few times, as well as a Dragon honor, and dragon fire monk, multiple times.  Played so many games, I cannot remember them all, but I did win more than I lost...

Wolf's Dragoons, Devil Dogs Galaxy

As you can see, the paint schemes will be directly inspire by MWO

If you've been reading my "This Geek's Week..." posts, you'll easily see that I play a ton of MWO. I've been a Battletech fan ever since I first saw the cartoon some 20 years ago, but it was MWO that truly reignited my love for the franchise.  Now as an adult, I'd say that I appreciate the Battletech universe much more now than ever before.  So, it should not come as much of a surprise to see MWO make an impact on my Classic Battletech games as well.  My latest force on the tabletop is inspired completely by MWO, and more importantly the unit I'm a part of in the game.  The Devil Dogs Galaxy of the Wolf's Dragoons!

This Geek's Week...

**Not a lot going on the gaming department, yet again!

- Been playing a bunch of MWO as normal.  Got my Catapult to master level, and built an Atlas D-DC.

- Finished painting up both my Zeus and my Raven for Battletech.

- Finished reading "Falcon Guard", the final book of the Jade Phoenix trilogy.  Started reading "Wolf Pack", a Wolf's Dragoons novel.