Rix: Arena Weekly Report

[RicardoRix]

So I decided to try and play Arena this season. Here is my Week#1 report.
It's mainly my personal views, which may show some insight for others, but you may think it's a bit self-indulgent, so you can take it or leave it - your choice.

I've only dabbled in Arena in the past. I mainly used it to join some competitive tables, just for a good game rather than actually climb the leagues. It worked well. This time I'm actually trying to accomplish some Elite and possible Top20 rankings.

I'll start with what I think are the most popular games to the least well known.

The games I've chosen are these:
Race for the Galaxy, A Feast for Odin, Number Drop, Lielow, Challengers. Rolled West, Hadrians Wall, War Chest. [NXS & Martian Dice].
Everything is 2-player except Challengers(4-player) and Hadrians Wall (3-player).

Race for the Galaxy: [4 for 8 : ELO~400]: [4 games won, 8 games played].. 5 Bronze.
This game, especially 2-player has to be one of the best bang for your buck games out there, I just love it. The game design is flawless.
The format is base game. All I really know - coolio!
So given I've been higher ELO than all my opponents so far - not a great start. The games I thought I'd won - I lost and vice versa.
I've played this game so much (more than any other game) perhaps I need to reevaluate my strategy. Pay closer attention.
Given how popular the game is, as much as I can hope for is Elite - top 100(?!).
I definitely hope to get a good winning streak going at some point. Need to get my mojo back after not playing it for a few years.

A Feast for Odin [1 for 3 : ELO~400]: 2 Bronze.
Completed 3 games so far, yowser these games are intense at 2 player. All 3 games are against Top10 ELO players.
This is not going to be easy, the game itself is a blast, so not so worried about losing. I did get an expert killer with my 1 win.
Here it seems that experience might count for more than strategy and tactics, which is a shame. So if it was 3-player I might fair better.
Pillaging still seems like the main way to go. Some heavy Hunting action even if it's just to gain a wood and a bow - an alternative way to initially get wood for a boat.
But with so many free map spots, load a long boat with ore for Pillaging, and always maintain the 1st player. I was hoping for something a bit more than just following obvious lines.
Maybe I can hold out all season without my brain exploding, but probably Elite league is all I can realistically aim for. If that.

Challengers[ 1st,3rd,3rd : 3 games : ELO~300]: 6 Bronze.
The results are worse than it looks, I never lost any bronze points.
The most famous 'most fun in a bag' game. Not sure what to say, I can see at the end of the season you need to get a bit of lucky winning streak.
This game is so easy to play and a welcome break sometimes from the other brain burners.
Had an interesting Make-up-artists with Ghosts combo.
Also lost to somebody running an extremely risky UFO and Submarine combo. Yeah works great if the UFO comes before the Submarine. This is where you can't take the losses too seriously.
On the flip-side it also gives the opportunity to try some risky maneuvers yourself when deck planning doesn't go quite to plan. Villain and butlers anyone?

Number Drop. [3 for 6 : ELO~250]: 4 Bronze.
Just going to start by saying, that if you've never played this little gem of a game, then give it a try. It's awesome, extremely clever design.
Yet another wake up call that nothing is going to be easy. I played the ELO#2 guy and he filled almost every square. Learning the lesson I can see how I need to think much harder about what I'm doing.
Yeah - no idea where I'm heading in the leagues. The game does get a bit samey. Definetely need to re-think the general straregy and plans, there might just be a bit more to it than I thought given the complete whipping that I recieved. Watch this space.

War Chest [0 for 1 : ELO~120] 1 Bronze.
These games are slow :/
So I didn't even have 100 ELO until this week.
Very, very new to the game, but seems like a blast.
This is very nearly an abstract game, but it gets completely mixed up with all the different tokens abilities. It's extremely compelling.
If you have a chess like itch to scratch then this modern game might be the answer.
Not really holding myself to anything in terms of results.

Hadrians Wall: [4 for 4 : ELO~400]. 3 Silver.
That's a winning score more like it Bragging out the way...
So this a recent game I found. This is the ultimate multi-player solitaire. But what it lacks there makes up for puzzling fun from a 5th dimension.
At 3-player games I did notice that a 2nd place player in the silver league got -ve points - ouch.
My first league promotion of all my 8 arena games, I wonder if I should stop playing a bit before progressing any higher.
I don't know why, I have the midas touch here, how long can it last...

Rolled West[0 for 0 : ELO~260] 1 Bronze.
3-player, currently playing with the #2 ELO rank player.
There is nothing great about the game, but what it does, it does do very well. I can't hold it at fault, and the decision making is pretty cool.
Shake some dice and race something somewhere. It's constant reevaluating - do the best with what you've got. Yes it's not an award winning game, but I like it.
Given the small player pool, I am secretly hoping to get at-least Top10.

Lielow: [2 for 2 : ELO~380] 7 Bronze.
A little known abstract game. My forte apparently.
I can't really describe the game, it's weird; Thoughtfully engaging and endearing. You can easily play this, not know what the heck is going on and still want to play it again.
The first game I really shouldn't have won. Thankfully my opponent finally made a mistake when things got a bit wild, otherwise I was toast.
The next game my opponent willfully did the opposite and just walked into an easy put together death trap.
I have high hopes for this, Top 3, potentially 1st place. We'll have to see if anyone that knows the full rules shows up. :/

Martian Dice.[ELO~220 - stopped playing] 0 Bronze.
I stopped playing this in Arena. It's just doesn't fit. The luck factor is too high. It's still a great game. But I can't imagine the grind required at Elite to just blame your luck at the end. The game is still maximum fun, but I'm not going to bleed it dry.

NXS: No-one is playing. 1 Bronze.
This is an abstract game. A little slow and methodical, but has some really cool concepts. I think it's just tournaments where the games are here.

[GTSchemer]

Good luck! I will say that Feast for Odin may have more to it than meets the eye. In particular if no one contests whaling, it can be VERY strong -- not just pillaging.

Also, don't forget you can block whaling and get workers back by failing intentionally (unless you get a lucky roll).

I'm not sure what you mean by strategy and tactics -- it has one of my favorite learning curves in a game, since the strategy/tactics of optimizing board layouts and timing actions takes a lot of thought.

[RicardoRix]

Good luck! I will say that Feast for Odin may have more to it than meets the eye. In particular if no one contests whaling, it can be VERY strong -- not just pillaging.

Also, don't forget you can block whaling and get workers back by failing intentionally (unless you get a lucky roll).

I'm not sure what you mean by strategy and tactics -- it has one of my favorite learning curves in a game, since the strategy/tactics of optimizing board layouts and timing actions takes a lot of thought.

Thanks.
I am mainly saying that in comparison to other games experience matters more here in AFFO. Usually I am playing games against similar ranked players, yet I have fewer games played in that particular game. (say like Agricola or Terra Mystica and here with AFFO). Normally I can make up for it with some shrewd tactics perhaps. But the experience in AFFO would seem to count for a lot. They know they right pieces to go on the right islands and the right action spots to accommodate it all. My short-term tactics usually fair better. It means I am really having to stretch myself with planning ahead.

Yeah, I personally prefer whaling, but to get the good islands you almost have to start with the long-boat if possible. Specifically 2-player Pillaging is so open, and you can load the boat with ore over time. Watching 9-12 point blue tile go every-round to a 2 viking action spot - it's just zapping.
I got 2 islands, lofoten and greenland, and got 4 long houses - I still lost by 25 points to rampant Pillaging. Yeah I have a lot to learn. And I'm not really sure exactly what I can do about it. Either way, the games are fun and I am enjoying the experience, but I am not going to be one of top competitors here.

[nik592]

Interesting! I've also played some in Arena in the past, mostly for the more reliable game partners and a bit of, hmmm, let's see where I can get to. So it's interesting to see the perspective of other users. Thanks for the write-up. Looking forward to seeing how the season plays out for you - good luck!

[RicardoRix]

Up from Week 2:
Overall much better results. Shaking off a bit of rust, but it's still not all gone. Small steps I guess.

Race for the Galaxy: [ELO~400]
Week#2: [6 for 6] : 1 Gold.
Week#1: [4 for 8] : 5 Bronze.

A good solid winning streak. No games worthy of note, but concentrating on phases when all else fails.
I had a starting world with 1 extra card on consuming. It means you can speculate a trade action in the hope of opponent settling.
Low rated opponents seem to fail to recognise the importance of cards in hand.

A Feast for Odin [ELO~400]
Week#2: [2 for 2] : 8 Bronze.
Week#1: [1 for 3] : 2 Bronze.
Really happy with that. After some debate last week, I took to doing some board efficiency studying. I feel much more confident in taking on the experts.
Had 2 really good games, very much looking forward to more games. This is my current favorite of the 7 games now.

Challengers [ELO~300]
Week#2: [2nd, timeout]
Week#1: [1st,3rd,3rd : 3 games]: 6 Bronze.
Really struggling to find cards in these games. The competition is far better than I would have thought. I have less hope of finishing in the top.

Number Drop. [ELO~250]
Week#2: forgot to play.
Week#1: [3 for 6] : 4 Bronze.

War Chest: [ELO~120]
Week#2: [1 for 2] : 3 Bronze;
Week#1: [0 for 1] : 0 Bronze.
1 win, 1 loss. Not too bad considering noobness. Still really liking this game.

Hadrians Wall: [ELO~400]
Week#2: [2 for 3] : 9 Silver.
Week#1: [4 for 4] : 3 Silver.
My 2nd place was a tiebreaker, so otherwise still have a perfect record.
There are only 4 people in Elite, and I'm in 5th now. Feeling pretty confident I can do well here.
Fine tuning my strategy, which is otherwise pretty solid. It mainly means not wasting resources in the final round, so monuments(too many blue), maybe the small-road and even a temple(!?).
Keep eye-balling the scout cards, rounds 4,5.

Rolled West [ELO~260]
Week#2 :[1st, 2nd] : 4 Bronze.
Week#1 :[0 for 0] : 1 Bronze.
A 1 point loss against Rank#1. Pffff.
There is only a few players here, maybe 10. The winning 5 seem very decent players. It's a tough call to come#1 perhaps, but hopefully Top3.

Lielow: [ELO~380]
Week#2 :[1 for 2] #2 Elite.
Week#1 :[2 for 2] 7 Bronze.
I had top-spot and then lost to an old nemesis. He played really well, I need to up my game to beat him.

[RicardoRix]

Week#3.

In general - some good progress.
On the positive side, I am looking straight into the Elite league for most of the games soon.
I am taking a break, at-least for a few days if not longer. Trying not to burn-out and I find I'm getting a bit bored.
Also I will perhaps not report each week from now on. I will wait till the end of the season.
One thing I've noticed is that the Arena scoring system is really unkind to 3-player games. 2-player and 4-player seem good.
3-player, you have to come first to progress. A lot of games where you lose by 1-point can be frustrating.

Race for the Galaxy: [ELO~400]
Week#3: [4 for 6] : 9 Gold.
Week#2: [6 for 6] : 1 Gold.
Week#1: [4 for 8] : 5 Bronze.
Good solid effort. There are a lot of leagues here. I think the next one is Elite.
I'm not sure how to get better at this game. I've played so many games, that perhaps I'm stuck a bit. When the cards come your way it's easy to play.
It's when I don't get off to a good start.

A Feast for Odin [ELO~400]
Week#3: 2 games on-going.
Week#2: [2 for 2] : 8 Bronze.
Week#1: [1 for 3] : 2 Bronze.
It's been a bit slow, but I have 2 concurrent games that are both nearing the end. I feel pretty good, but 1 of the games is going to be very close.
I branched out in Round#2 to buy a cow. Round#3 buy the 2nd breeding cow. Along the way I can get some 1V for 2milk. The 3x4 tile they upgrade to is awesome.
These tiles fit best on the home-board at the end of the game which is when you want them. Best to try and think of breeding as a slow free goods income without the need for an island.
The strategy goal I trying to get, is getting enough of the really good action spots.
In the middle rounds, you might get a few vikings left over and not much to do with them. I am trying not to just go hunting without weapons and taking the blue craft1 or craft2 spot.
This kind of play I think is just being lazy, and not really planning correctly. So when it's the right spot great, otherwise I should have come up with something better.
So basically I'm looking at ways to diverge, and plan better. An opponent is making good use of the Knarr special action.

Challengers [ELO~300]
Week#3: [1st, 2nd] : 5 Silver.
Week#2: [2nd, timeout] : 9 bronze
Week#1: [1st,3rd,3rd : 3 games]: 6 Bronze.
Not sure how I managed this, my decks were not very good. Never do I seem to get cards from 'A' that I really want to take into the late game.
I basically had some deck manipulation, and then ran into some Vacuum Cleaners and just had a really big deck. Really like Clairvoyant and vendors.


Number Drop. [ELO~250]
Week#3: [3 for 4] : Elite#13.
Week#2: forgot to play.
Week#1: [3 for 6] : 4 Bronze.
Still love this game. But I am not as good as I thought I was. Realistically aim for Top10, hope for Top5.
The +10 bonus is well-know game finisher. The X-cross-piece is by far the worst to deal with.
The game I lost, I lost very badly. Kept trying to play around the cross-piece and it didn't come in 3-turns. It's just a stupid position to get myself into.

War Chest: [ELO~120]
Week#3: [0 for 2] : 1 Bronze.
Week#2: [1 for 2] : 3 Bronze.
Week#1: [0 for 1] : 0 Bronze.
I am in at the deep-end and drowning. Learning a lot. The wheels are going to take a long time to turn. Still learning the units.
I got a timeout win (not included) and 2 losses to the same player.
OK, so if I get to Eite league is about the best I can hope for. Hoping at some point that things are going to start to click.

Hadrians Wall: [ELO~400]
Week#3: [2nd, 2nd] : 7 Silver.
Week#2: [2 for 3] : 9 Silver.
Week#1: [4 for 4] : 3 Silver.
So this is the tough class. Not really done much wrong and I lose points. This is due to the 3-player Arena nature I guess.
I got 95 points and came 2nd! 95! yowser.

Rolled West [ELO~260]
Week#1 :[2nd, 3rd] : 1 Bronze.
Week#2 :[1st, 2nd] : 4 Bronze.
Week#1 :[0 for 0] : 1 Bronze.
More tough lessons. The margins are very slim. I need to analyse the game more, find some better luck mitigation ideas.

Lielow: [ELO~380]
Week#3 :[3 for 3] #1 Elite.
Week#2 :[1 for 2] #2 Elite.
Week#1 :[2 for 2] 7 Bronze.
So I did get the #1 spot back, but I didn't get to play the original #1 guy that beat me last week. I can't really feel like I am the real #1 until we play again.

[h_illes]

Just chiming in so you get some feedback - this is surprisingly interesting, keep us posted!

(Also, #1 is #1, don't make excuses, just enjoy it and hopefully win even more.)

[GTSchemer]

I also found it interesting! I just didn't have more detailed comments at the moment.

I FEEL like the early cow upgrade in Feast for Odin isn't ideal, but I am not an expert at the game so I doubt myself.

[RicardoRix]

Thx, for comments.

I also found it interesting! I just didn't have more detailed comments at the moment.

I FEEL like the early cow upgrade in Feast for Odin isn't ideal, but I am not an expert at the game so I doubt myself.

Yeah, I didn't explain it that well. But the timing works out very well. (You can do it with sheep too).
I only buy 2cows, Round 2 and 3. I always just leave the cows breeding until the very end.
So along the way, Round 4 you get the first free cow.
R3/4 : preg + norm
R4: upgrade the cow.
R4/5 : norm + norm
R5/6 : preg + norm
R6: upgrade the cow.
R6/7 : norm + norm
R7 : 2 upgrade the cows.

Just looking at the bought tiles.
Let's be generous and say 1V to upgrade both cows to green. Personally I value a green 1 less than the total area, so 22 points in total.
The 2 milk with the cows must be 2 points each.

22+4-6 / 5V = 4 points per viking.

That's pretty decent, and if you wait for breeding you can get 2 free extra cows, which I think is very very roughly equal to investing into an island that gives you free tile incomes without doing anything extra.

[RicardoRix]

So I've dropped the ball on a weekly update, got a bit busy in real life.
Given there are just a few more weeks, less than 3 until the end I'll round-up my self assessed performance, and try and make predictions on final rank.
The aftermath will be my take on whether I will play it again or not in the Arena format.

Race for the Galaxy: [ELO~400]
Elite. Rank:69, with 1690 points.
I am enjoying my games, and I'm doing surprisingly well. Trying to make Top50.
This game still really shines in a competitive 2-player format.

A Feast for Odin [ELO~400]
Elite. Rank:20.
My interest is falling. I think I would much prefer 3 or 4 player games, still for the same reasons as my previous posts.
I find 2-player is very dry. I have stopped playing, hopefully get that Top20 spot.
Aftermath: May not play Arena again. Likely find another big euro to try instead. I will try 1 3-player game to test the water.

Challengers [ELO~300]
Gold 0. Yeah, ups and downs. This is still great. Elite league if I can get enough games in.
Aftermath: Solid fun game as always. My kind of fun too, the correct balance of crazy . Playing lots of games of this is not hard, so may well try this again in Arena.

Number Drop. [ELO~250]
Elite.Rank:9: I got some good solid wins. I lost a few too simply by being beaten to the +10 and finish early strategy. Most people seem to play this way.
It's a good strategy, but I have won by simply outscoring by playing both types of scoring at the same time - the ultimate efficiency drive.
Certainly now after playing competitively the game loses a little bit of interest. But the puzzle factor still makes the game itself a very enjoyable experience.
Aftermath: Unlikely to do Arena again. May just to get a single high competitive game from time to time.

War Chest: [ELO~120]
4 Silver. So my excuse is that the game is new to me. But still I should be doing better. It's very 50/50.
The main issue is that the games are very slow seemingly.
If I get to gold league I will be doing well.
Aftermath: This game suits Arena very well.

Hadrians Wall: [ELO~400]
Elite Rank:9. 1647. I made 500 ELO which is my highest ever, in any game :O.
Top 10 is a solid effort, and I won't play anymore, the players around are all very strong.
This game might be my best achievement of all these 8 games.
Aftermath: The game gets a bit stale. I won't try again.

Rolled West [ELO~260]
Bronze 5: Can't really get enough games. The competition is tough and their is a bit of a luck factor.
Aftermath: Unfortunately I think that means that the gameplay isn't good enough to be played anymore. Explored the game to it's end.

Lielow: [ELO~380]
Elite: Rank1: 1601.
I have been #1 for a few weeks, and I have not played. Surprisingly a few more players (8 total) have made it to elite as-well.
Aftermath: Good solid game, bit of a shame about the low player pool.