Lodging and Travel Information
WBC Event Previews
Results of WBC
Awards
Teams
Open Gaming
WBC Juniors Program
WBC Auction and Auction Store
vendors
vendors
Volunteer at WBC
Volunteer at WBC

WBC FAQs

 

 

 

Titan: The Arena (TTA)

HMW BEGINNERS WELCOME:
You may play if you have read the rules, played previously, or participated in a scheduled demonstration. The GM will be available for one hour in Exhibit Annex to teach the game. Be on time. The GM will remain for only 15 minutes if no one is present.

Demonstration: Wednesday 16 @ Exhibit Annex Table 5

Heat 1: Wednesday @ 17 - Laurel
Heat 2: Thursday @ 21 - Seasons 2
Heat 3: Saturday @ 14 - Seasons 2
Semifinal/Final: Saturday @ 16 - Seasons 2


 

Greg Crowe: GM (13th Year)

2 Top Six GM Nominations


Email GM


 

Links:

BGG Link AREALaurels

 

   

"Eight will enter, three will leave!" Come on, say it with me, "Eight will enter, three will leave!" Dyin' time is nigh.

Welcome to Titan the Arena, the only game where it doesn't matter who dies, as long as you did not bet on him. Place your bets on who you think will survive, and play your strength cards to make sure they do. Rounds continue until only three live, and whoever has the biggest payoff from their bets wins. What could be more fun?

Again this year I decided to have three preliminary heats leading up to (optimally) a semifinal of 25 players. The winners of each of the five games in the semi will compete in a Final to determine who will take home the wood. To determine the 25 players who will play in the semifinal, I will use the following criteria based on the WBC Standard HMW tiebreakers in this order of precedence:
1 Most Wins
2 Win in first Heat entered
3 Win in second Heat entered
4 Win in third Heat entered
5 Highest % of second place score
6 Most heats entered
7 High card draw
If I do not have 25 players who won at least one game, I will fill with those who won second in at least one game, using a modification of the tiebreakers above:
1 Most Seconds
2 Second in first Heat entered
3 Second in second Heat entered
4 Second in third Heat entered
5 Highest percentage of First place score
6 Most heats entered
7 High card draw

I will use alternates to fill to the magic numbers of 16, 20, and 25. If I have exactly as many qualifiers as one of those numbers, no alternates will be allowed to advance. Be sure to check the kiosk for your Qualifier/Alternate status.

The GM will be playing and will have two AGMs identified.

In-game Tiebreaker: Instead of the "player who made the last play" tiebreaker in the rules, I will break all ties in this tournament as follows:
Ties will be broken by looking at the bets on the last creature to die. The player among those tied who had the most points on that creature wins the tie. If a tie persists, then do the same thing with the next to last creature to die, and so on. If a tie still persists after looking at the bets on all five dead creatures, then the one among those tied who played most recently wins the tie. Note: Do NOT add tiebreaker points to the total scores; the total scores should only contain bets on the three surviving creatures.

This requires an accurate recording of bet history, but I will provide a diagram that makes it easy to record bets and eliminations during gameplay. If you have any questions about it once you see it, please ask.

Note about the New Version: In 2004, Fantasy Flight Games re-released this game, entitled Colossal Arena. Usage of this version of the game will be allowed with the following provisos: 1) The eight creatures that will be used are: Amazon, Cyclops, Ettin, Magus, Titan, Troll, Unicorn, and Wyrm. Remove all strength cards for the other four creatures from the deck before beginning play. 2) When the deck is exhausted, instead of ending the game immediately, use the Original Stalemate Rules as printed in the Official FAQ (available at Fantasy Flights website), which are the same as the rules in the original game.

In the Final, there will be the option to play the new version of the game according to its rules, but only if all five finalists so desire. If a single finalist wishes to play with the original rules, then that is what will happen. If the new rules are used, the eight creatures used will be randomly determined, for time considerations.
In order to make the two versions jive even more, I am instituting this rule, applicable to all games of both versions: The method of determining who begins play may be by strength card auction, or by any random method agreeable to all players.

Additional Prizes: Each of the five players who makes it to the final table will receive a cup-style trophy to commemorate their achievement. In addition, I will award the following medals, named after various spectator cards in the game:
The Mighty Minotaur (6) will be given to the person who places 6th in the tournament in lieu of a sandman fez. In a five-game semifinal, sixth place goes to one of the runners-up whose score was the highest percentage of their winner. Ties are broken in favor of the player with the highest actual score.
The Battling Behemoth (10) will be given to the player credited with the most kills in a regular heat game. Ties will be broken in favor of the player with the best average place. NOTE: A kill of a creature on which you have the most points (public plus your secret bet) will not count toward this.
The Shining Serpent (0) will be given to the player who loses the most points in bets placed on a creature who is killed in the last round of play in a regular heat game by another player. Ties will be broken in favor of the player with the best place in their respective game, followed by highest score.
The Ardent Angel (7) will be given to the player who has the highest last-place score in a regular heat game. Ties will be broken in favor of the player with the highest percentage of the winning score in their respective game.
The Weary Warbear (4) will be given to the player who has the lowest winning score in a regular heat game. Ties will be broken in favor of the player with the highest percentage of the runner-up score in their respective game.
The Overachieving Ogre (5) will be given to the player who has accumulated the most total points in all of their regular heat games combined. Ties will be broken in favor of best place among those games, followed by second best, etc.
The Greenie Griffon (3) will be given to the player who has the best Round 1 performance (highest qualifier or alternate) of any player who has never played in the WBC TTA tournament before, or at least not since I started keeping my master spreadsheet in 2009.

 
 
View Icon Key