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Arena Rex just got popular locally (did it just come out?) and looking at the pdf rulebook it looks pretty cool. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with it and what that experience is.

Is it fairly balanced? How smoothly does it play?

I'm considering jumping into the community with a few beasts and the guy that makes it so they don't run wild.

It is a boutique skirmish game. That means ultra-low model count with named characters. However, each model is realtively specialized with a number of special rules.

This appeals to some, but not others.

See also: Bushido, Rogue Stars, Batman Miniature Game, and Mercs.

Jacksmiles wrote:
Arena Rex just got popular locally (did it just come out?) and looking at the pdf rulebook it looks pretty cool. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with it and what that experience is.

Is it fairly balanced? How smoothly does it play?

I'm considering jumping into the community with a few beasts and the guy that makes it so they don't run wild.

I got my Arena Rex Kickstarter materials delivered at the end of 2014, so it's been around a little while but is just starting to pick up speed. Very smooth gameplay - rules are really "elegant", meaning simple, intuitive, and easy to grasp but will take time to master strategically. Also, everything is (IMO) superbly balanced, both within and between factions - no one ludus is better than any other, and you can win with every model option within the ludus you choose.

The official Arena Rex forums have lots of great stuff, including rules explanations from the developers. I'd definitely check out over there.

Easily my favorite miniatures game over the past few years.

It's been around for a little bit, but got a big break at Adepticon 2016. I've been playing it a fair bit this year when the owner of my shop got really excited about it and its quite fun. It's satisfying, but I wouldn't call it a lifestyle game by any means. I consider that largely a plus as I've got my gladiators painted up and I get a lot of playtime with them but I'm not constantly chasing new releases.

Gameplay wise its very fast and fluid; it's not tremendously complicated; mostly a game of alternating activations where you pick a guy to move and attack, but its got a neat cooldown system to keep it from turning into 1v1 conflicts. Terrain is important, as there's a lot of KB into hazards that actually reminds me a lot of Monsterpocalypse.

It's fairly balanced in the sense that there's not a huge variety in what models actually do. There's definitely variety, but in terms of offense and defense things don't deviate too far off of average values and models only have 1 or 2 special rules. There's also no real faction limitations, which means its probably the most "pick your favorite models and play" game I own.

It all adds up to a game that's probably on the better end of value for me. I play it often because its quick and its small enough to always have in my bag, and hasn't really demanded much out of me outside my original purchases. It's not all consuming in terms of money or hobby time, but I've gotten a lot of great gaming out of it and look forward to more.

Yeah, I am loving this game. Super fast to both pick up and play.

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