Arena Combat Night!

An impressive 6 games were had tonight, 2 of them being the Oddball mod developed by Toby and 4 of them being standard Arena matches.

We had some new players, Scott using a Cryx army and Stuart borrowing some Khador.

Matches went as follows:

My Vlad won against Toby's Old Witch;
Toby's Sorcha won against Scott's Goreshade;
My Butcher won against Stuart's Butcher;
My Butcher won twice in a row against Toby's Vlad;
and last game Stuart's Butcher won against Toby's Sorcha.

Good times had by all, and we may have even recruited a couple more people into playing Warmachine!

The Oddball in the middle! Who will get to it first?

Looks like the Old Witch wants a piece of Vlad...

Look at that suspenseful positioning...

Old Witch and Scrapjack try to kill Vlad! And fail miserably.

Final Top 10 Rankings tonight are:

1) Toshi's Butcher
2) Toshi's Vlad
3) Toshi's Irusk
4) Toshi's Karchev
5) Raymond's Lylyth
6) Stuart's Butcher
7) Toby's Butcher
8) Raymond's Thagrosh
9) Toby's Vlad
10) Toby's Sorcha

Khador holding 8 out of the 10 top slots!

Arena Game on Vassal

Using the Arena rules that precede this post, I played a game against Toby online using Vassal.

Vlad + Drago vs Old Witch + Scrapjack + Berzerker

Long story short - Old Witch charged Drago, and failed to kill him. A mightily pissed off Drago turns around with 3 Focus and Signs and Portents.

Kills Old Witch in one hit.

WARMACHINE: Arena Combat Part 3

BRUTAL GLADIATOR POINTS:

Brutal Gladiator Points are awarded for extreme violence in the arena, and are a bonus both in the individual arena matches and the overall arena season. Brutal Gladiator points are given for certain achievements – and are marked by a token next to the Warlock or Warcaster that won them. On the maintenance phase after the Warlock or Warcaster has earnt the point, after reaving fury and gathering focus, they gain one bonus Fury or Focus over their normal limit.

This does not increase their control area. It may be spent just like any other Fury or Focus point. Any Brutal Gladiator points gained by Warbeasts/Warlocks go to their controller.

Brutal Gladiator Achievements:

- Brutal Damage: Causing 20 or more points of damage in a single hit, be it a melee, ranged, magical or power attack. (ie, pButcher roll POW24+5D6 for massive damage)

- Brutal Slayer: Killing a model in one attack from full health. (only Warbeasts/Warjacks and Warlocks/Warcasters are counted)

- The Impaler: Killing the opposing Warcaster/Warlock by impaling them on a Spiky Wall (the final point of damage is caused from a Spiky Wall collateral damage roll)

- Curb Stomper: Killing the opposing Warcaster/Warlock by using the Power Attack: Stomp.

- Sudden Death: Winning the game with one health remaining on your Warcaster/Warlock. (does not count if the Warlock cut themselves to reduce to 1hp)

- Long Distance Thrower: Throwing an enemy model more than 6” into another enemy model.

- First Blood! : The first team to do damage to the enemy.

- Sacrificial Lamb: Transfer enough damage to kill your Warbeast and then go on to win the match.

- Number of the Beast: Roll 3+ 6’s in any attack or damage roll.

Brutal Gladiator Points:

Each team accrues the Brutal Gladiator Points they gained in battles – when they have enough, they unlock perks for their team that are used in each game from then on. Brutal Gladiator Points don’t get used up outside of the arena, and are used to differentiate the most successful teams.

20 Gladiator Points: Warjack/Warbeast Bond – The Warcaster or Warlock has developed an intimate bond to their Warjack or Warbeast, in the case of a Warjack it may now be assigned up to 4 focus from the normal 3 focus, and in the case of a Warbeast both its Fury stat and its Threshold stat increase by 1.

40 Gladiator Points: Martial Coordination – The Warcaster or Warlock has enhanced their unique bond to their Beast/Jack, and it has picked up some of its controllers Martial Instincts. All Beasts/Jacks taken with this Warcaster/Warlock increase their MAT and RAT by 1 – with a maximum of their controllers MAT and RAT. (ie, Vlad has MAT7, so a Warjack could not be MAT8 with Martial Coordination)

60 Gladiator Points: Empathic Responses – The Warcaster and Warlock have become very protective of each other, and this has enhanced their defensive strategies. Warlocks can now transfer damage to their Warbeast, even if they are maxed out on Fury or have their Spirit Aspect lost. Warcasters in base-to-base contact with their Warjack may spend one focus point to transfer a successful damage roll to their Warjack instead of taking it themselves.

WARMACHINE: Arena Combat Part 2

Arena Format and Hazards:

The Arena is an Octagon approximately 22” in length. The two back walls are where the models are placed, and they must start with their bases touching the back walls.

Roll for Hazard placement, by rolling a D2 each. (1-3 = 1, 4-6 = 2) This is how many hazards you may place, which can be any combination of Deployable Cover (maximum 2 pieces total), Spiky Walls (maximum 3 pieces total). Roll for Initiative as per normal and the winner chooses whether to place hazards, deploy and start play first or not.

The Arena is a very hazardous place to be battling, and can have many varied traps and dangers.

Walls: The walls are made of solid, 3 foot thick Iron and cannot be penetrated by the weapons that the participants have. Knobbly in texture, they are dangerous to be pushed up against due to the rough nature of them. If a model is thrown, slammed, pushed or otherwise moved against its will into the walls, they will suffer an unboostable collateral damage roll at +2 to the STR value of whatever pushed them into the wall. (ie, a Juggernaut (STR12) slams its opponent into a wall, the opponent takes a POW12 (boostable) from the slam, and then if they hit the wall they take a POW14 (unboostable) from hitting the wall. Models crushed into the wall take a STR+2 (unboostable) damage roll from the wall, with the additional dice of damage.

For example – A Juggernaut slams an Ironclad over Stryker into a wall. The Juggernaut rolls a 6, and moves 8” into the wall (D6+2). The Ironclad takes a POW12+2D6 from the Slam, and a POW14+2D6 from hitting the wall. Stryker is CRUSHED in between the wall and the Ironclad, and takes a POW14+3D6.

Spike Walls: Some of the walls may be Spiky Walls if chosen by the arena participants. These walls are covered with deadly iron spikes, sharpened to a fine point. They are strong enough to penetrate Warjack armour, and make mincemeat out of soft flesh. Spiky Walls cannot be the original two back walls where people start. Clever opponents will throw or Slam opponents onto these spikes for grievous damage!

A model slammed, pushed, thrown or otherwise moved into contact with these spiky walls involuntarily suffers a massive amount of damage. Spiky Walls inflict an unboostable collateral damage roll at +4 to the STR value of whatever pushed them into the wall as well as an additional dice of damage. They will also suffer from WOUNDED. WOUNDED is a continuous effect that is similar to corrosion – except that it increases by +1 each round it doesn’t expire.
Models crushed into the wall take a STR+4 (unboostable) damage roll from the wall, with 2 additional dice of damage, as well as suffering from WOUNDED.

For example – A Juggernaut slams an Ironclad over Stryker into a wall. The Juggernaut rolls a 3 and moves 5” into the wall (D6+2). The Ironclad takes a POW12+2D6 from the Slam, and a POW16+3D6 from hitting the wall. Stryker is CRUSHED in between the wall and the Ironclad, and takes a POW16+4D6. Both the Ironclad and Stryker suffer from WOUNDED.
Deployable Cover: A player may put down one piece of cover as part of their hazard deployment, this must be placed in one of the ‘cover spots’, and acts like an obstacle for the game. (Assumed to be as high as the arena, cannot fly over it, move over it with Pathfinder/All Terrain) It grants the standard +4 DEF if benefitting from Cover.

New Power Attacks:

Body Slam: The Warjack or Warbeast grabs the enemy, lifting them above their head before slamming them back down into the ground, causing massive damage to them and anyone they land on.

A Warjack or Warbeast with at least one Open Fist may make a Body Slam Power Attack by spending one focus or forcing them to. Make one attack roll at -4 to hit the enemy model. If the Warjack or Warbeast moved 3” or more, reduce the penalty by 2. If the Warjack or Warbeast has 2 Open Fists reduce the penalty by 2. (So, a Warjack who moved 3” and had two open fists would make a normal, unreduced attack roll). If the Body Slam attack hits, the model targeted takes a POW equal to the STR of the attacker, which may be boosted. Once the damage is resolved, you may place the targeted model anywhere as long as its new position is within .5” melee range of the attacking model and in its front arc. If there was a model in this new position, it is moved directly away from the attacker until there is room for the Body Slammed model.

Any model that has to be moved as a result of this attack is CRUSHED by the Body Slammed model and must take a collateral damage roll equal to the STR of the attacker plus an additional die. This damage roll MAY be boosted. Also, all models hit by the Body Slam Power Attack are knocked down. The Power Attacking model may boost/be forced to make additional melee attacks.

Stomp: The Warjack or Warbeast lifts its massive bulk and brings it down with all its force, crushing a prone enemy against the ground.

A Warjack or Warbeast that is not Serpentine may make a Stomp Power Attack by spending one focus or forcing them to. You may only target a knocked down or Stationary enemy. This attack automatically hits, and inflicts a damage roll equal to the STR of the beast/jack making the attack multiplied by 2. (A Juggernaut Stomping would be POW24 – STRx2) This attack gains an additional dice of damage, and may be boosted. The Warjack or Warbeast may boost/force for additional attacks.