Grey

Yes of course, inevitably yet another Warrior! I promise that at some point some other classes will see minis painted up, honest, as well as some more models for the Dark Faction.

Grey is my first Church mini, and I have lined up a few others from the same Organization so I can try out a Level 200 game to see how Organization Advantages play out.

Grey is intended to be a 'tank' or 'bodyguard' of sorts through reading some tactics posts on the Forums, and looking at his Actions and abilities.  While a fairly decent Warrior looking at his attributes, and for his Level, he has a unique ability that prevents him from taking out enemies, so he needs to be used in tandem with an ally without doubt.

I love the idea of the grizzled veteran, which is picture Grey as, and I painted this mini up in tandem with Clover as a conscious effort to step away from the 'dark palette' of the first three minis I finished.

Red is going to be a motif for my Church units going forwards; I will try and work in at least some red into all of their schemes if possible. While some minis will suit it, others may prove a little trickier, so time will tell on that plan.

The 'studio' version of Grey has him bedecked in white; since my Saints will be in White, I wanted to paint him in a way that would stand out from that, and from the darker hues I plan for units like Lostaroth Marchosias. I am sure it will work out as planned, or vaguely like as planned!

As I finish more and more Anima Tactics units I am getting increasingly itchy to try the game. Hopefully by February or March I will have painted enough to have a few games trying a few different models and Party combinations.

So five models painted for Anima Tactics this month. the down-side is that my percentage painted is about to drop imminently as I have a few more minis ordered and en route. Oh well...


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 61
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 5
Painted Minis Percentage: 8.2%

Clover

Well given my general slowness in painting, consider today's posts (this one and the next; Grey - click for link) as my likely peak in terms of any speediness in churning out Anima Tactics minis in quick order. I said I wanted to complete 12 more minis in the 12 months after my progress report - not sure if these should count as they were already under-way, but they are are done.

I had not intended to complete Clover at this time, as since he is a Leader he is primarily intended for games at Level 250 and upwards, basically around 5-7 minis I think. Well as i was deciding what to paint after Hiro, I thought I was going to paint Genma, but after splashing a bit of paint on Clover I knew quickly how I was going to tackle him and he was completed pretty quickly by my standards (those standards mean that I can quite happily start a mini and put it to one side to finish anything up to a couple or more years later...). Once I laid down the basics for coat, shirt and trousers it was a pretty swift job from start to finish over a few brief sessions over a few days. I lack the determination these days to sit for prolonged periods of painting, so doing 30 minutes here, or 60 there is how I tend to approach my painting at present.

Clover is one of the Leaders of Black Sun. The Black Sun Organisation is a corporation that specializes in Undead constructs of various Types.I have picked up some of these Undead and will get around to them in good time. One thing that has occurred to me is that I will try and include black-green as a motif among all my Black Sun Units. Other Organisations will get their own motif colours.

In the mean-time I do not expect that Clover will get a run out until I have gotten to grips with the game - I think Leaders will be 'off-the table' so to speak, that initial games will be in the 100-200 Levels range as we learn, until we feel comfortable with the game.

Still, it was a nice feeling to get another mini done. What I have noticed is that all so far have been Warriors; I need to get some Mystics (Including Summoners), Prowlers and Summons done to see the available depth of game-play in Anima Tactics. I have been doing some sorting towards that end, but need better weather to spray some minis up.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 61
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 4
Painted Minis Percentage: 6.6%

Progress Report

I love the Anima Tactics range, that is a certainty - it has an aesthetic that appeals to be, and is clearly influenced by console games I enjoyed in the 90's. All good. But like many minis hobbyists I can be obsessive, and after reviewing what I have accumulated since my last update I am determined to paint as many of these minis as I can manage among my other gaming and painting commitments - I aim to paint at least 12 in the next 12 months at least.

To that end I plan periodic updates of what I have painted, but also what I have ...ahem...accumulated...note never 'bought'..., and will offer a painted percentage of the sum total. My plan is that each period (probably each quarter but who knows) I will offer an update of minis painted so far (so should be aiming for at least 3 per quarter if I manage to stay in line with my updates), and a percentage completion. The idea being that as well as seeing the painted count rise, hopefully the painted percentage will rise, meaning I am not buying...ahem accumulating...beyond a realistic rate of completion.

So far:

Painted: 3
Painted Percentage: 4.9%

Painted

• Dereck Shezzard
• Hiro
• Kingsley Warlock

Under-coated or base-coated I have ready:

• Grey
• Clover
• Akio Kageshima
• Dark Cheshire
• Bael
• Genma
• Shinobi

Prepped but awaiting under-coat and in some cases a little green-stuffing:

• Al-Djinn
• Ahriman, Lord of Darkness
• Covel
• Ignis, Fire Demon
• Bella
• Aqua
• *Deimon
• *Juliette Kaim

In the pile of stuff in boxes and blisters:

• Legacy of Solomon
• Romeo Exxet
• Faust Orbatos
• Arkham
• Type 005 (blister)
• Type 005 (Black Sun starter)
• Alius, Holy Soldier (x2)
• Khaine D'Lacreu
• Khaine D'Lacreu LE
• Li Long
• Sophia Ilmora
• Kairos
• Saint Evangeline
• Kronen Roxxon
• Promethea
• Styx
• Tsubasa Kurokami
• Ophiel
• (another) Akio Kageshima
• *Arias Vayu
• *Elhaym
• *Tiamat
• *Lostaroth Marchosias
• *Wrath of Nature
• *Xavier
• *Saint Elienai
• *Grimorium
• *Hel
• *Kudoi
• *Kyler
• *Harod
• *Kirsten
• *Gemini – Zack & Zafini
• *Nahimana
• *Drake
• *Yuki
• *Sarah Reindhold
• *Adolf Brunner
• *Type 20: Verrier
• Samael Agent (F)
• Samael Agent (M)
• Church Agent (M)
• Wissenschaft Agent (M)

* indicates 'accumulated' since the last list...

Hiro

Go Avenger Ranger, go!

Hiro's background posits him as a boy reborn after an accident and rebuilt as the hero of his wildest dreams. He sees himself as an 'Avenger Ranger', a hero of justice, something he sees in the other Crows of Wissenschaft.

I love this nod to the Tokusatsu shows known to most of us in the west through Power Rangers, Masked Rider and V.R. Troopers. The rules of this guy emulate my memories of those shows, as perfectly demonstrated by his Posing rule; when Hiro defeats an enemy he has to expend an Action Point (or suffer Slow Level 1).

I have yet to play Anima Tactics, so I do not have a clue how he plays in the game, but I can guarantee that even when I have a few minis ready for my first games, I wholly expect Hiro to get a few outings!

I am pretty happy with how Hiro turned out, although I may do a little more on a couple of the areas of 'metal' on the model.

Hiro was started before Dereck Shezard, but it took until I felt I had enough focus and motivation to finish him off (if indeed he is finished) in a few stints.

I am pleased with how the figure looks in the pictures, and it probably photographs a little better than it looks in hand to be honest. That said, I definitely need to add some 'lighter' palette minis in my Anima Tactics selection I reckon; there is a lot of 'dark' going on so far. Well across the three minis if that counts as a 'lot'.

On my Anima Tactics painting slate now: Shinobi; Clover; Grey; Genma. 

Other minis that are base-coated include: Akio Kageshima; Bael; Dark Cheshire. 

I have a few other minis based and ready, but no under-coating: Covel; Deimon; Juliette Kaim; Bella and Aqua; Ingnis, Fire Demon.

Not sure which of these will be finished next, or whether something else will jump the queue - so stay tuned to find out!

Kingsley Warlock

Two Anima Tactics minis finished in 8 days? I am on a roll now - expect it to come crashing to an ignominious halt very soon no doubt!

Kingsley Warlock was started way before Dereck Shezard, but I stalled, mainly as I was struggling with the sword. NMM is still beyond me, but I like the final effect, and prefer it to regular metallics since I am not a fan of metallic paints. I find the changing of water and brushes etc too much of a chore.

As I say, I started this one quite a way back but stalled on the sword, which meant stalling on a few other bits as well, but once I repainted the sword, the remaining parts came together.

I really like the Kingsley Warlock mini; from the style (from the suit and long-coat matched with funky belt and shoes to the freaking huge sword).

For those that do not know Anima Tactics, all models have a class or role; well Kingsley Warlock occupies several of those (Controller - relates to Undead; Mystic; Warrior), meaning he is probably less effective than many mono-class counterparts. That said, I have yet to play the game so who knows! But what I do know is I need to get some of my other Black Sun Undead models painted soon. Being all of those classes opens up many, many choices in Advantage cards, since a lot are tied to classes. I am sure I will blog a bit about Advanatge cards at some point in the future.

Kingsley Warlock is Dark Faction too, and that means he can be played with other Dark and/or Neutral models outside of an Organization (Black Sun) list.

I have noticed that I go through phases in terms of the colour palette I use for minis, and the last two are no exception, with their dark hues. In the Anima Tactics minis pipeline I have Hiro (some commonalities with the palette of the first two, with added purple flourish); Genma (dark green and pale grey as key colours); Grey (who will be mainly, well, grey, with white contrast); and a Shinobi (dark palette again, dark blue as the main colour base).

Dereck Shezard

Click to embiggen

Wow. That took longer than I thought, or ever anticipated - finishing and posting my first Anima Tactics mini that is.

I only started Dereck Shezard very recently, despite having a couple of other minis in an almost completed state, but he got painted pretty quickly and I am glad I have finished one of these at last.

I love the visual ethos of the Anima Tactics range, and as a fan of games like Final Fantasy VII, FF VIII, Wild ARMS and others from the 90's, it is a game that pushes so many of the right buttons for me. I wish more of the minis were single piece casting like this one, but alas that is not the case. It won't stop me painting my way through this line, but it will slow me down, and as an admittedly very slow painter already, that is surely a funny notion.

I want to get playing this game sometime early next year, which means I reckon I will need around 6-12 minis at minimum to get started. And while I have plenty of the Anima Tactics line to do that with, my painting inertia will be the biggest hurdle without doubt.

Anyway, I am fairly pleased with this one; not my best paining ever, but some touches I am rather happy with. Hopefully Hiro and Kingsley Warlock will move into the 'finished' pile sooner than later. Watch this space.

Game-wise I have no idea yet! But his nickname is 'Godkiller' and he is one of he higher Level models in the game, and he is not a Leader which seems to bump the value of some characters up a little in comparative terms, so in all I expect he can kick some bottom when needed to do so.

Until Some (AT) Painting Gets Finished...

...I have been trying to immerse myself in the Anima setting to an extent that fits with my general current gaming focus.

Newcomers to the Anima collection of games like myself may be unfamiliar with how the range is set-up, but in a nushell there is Anima: Tactics (Tabletop skirmish game), Anima: Shadow of Omega and its expansions (a non-collectible card game) and Anima: Beyond Fantasy (the RPG game). While I guess the latter will have tons of depth and breadth in terms of setting material, it quite frankly isn't on my radar of interest due to other game commitments. That leaves Anima: Tactics of course, and the card-based games. Since my Thursday night gaming group diverts into different board and card games every so often, then the card game is a perfect fit.

I received the core box today and it is a nice little package (and may see some play on the way to Salute on Saturday!). Produced by FFG, the production values are up to the standards I have come to expect from that company. The card art is varied but nice, and the text on each is clear (whether it is 'gaming-clear' will be seen!). And just in putting some into sleeves I noticed the odd tip of the hat to Final Fantasy VII (certainly an obvious influence on Anima), with a Zeppelin Voyage card (a tip of the hat to the High Wind from FF VII) as just one example. It is a compact box with plenty of cards, some basic tokens and a few dice; nicely sized for travelling with and even with expansions should be eminently portable.

I will post more about the game when I have a game or two under my belt.

Taking Stock

I have been prepping another few minis over the past 2 days, which should give me plenty of choices to start painting.

I count around 124 minis in the range, including at least 2 limited edition minis.

So taking stock of where I am at suggests I should have enough painting to keep me busy for a while and yields the following lists.




Under-coated I have ready:

• Dereck Shezzard
• Hiro
• Grey
• Akio Kageshima
• Dark Cheshire
• Bael
• Genma
• Kingsley Warlock

Prepped but awaiting a little green stuff and under-coat:

• Al-Djinn
• Ahriman, Lord of Darkness
• Covel
• Shinobi
• Ignis, Fire Demon
• Bella
• Aqua

In the pile of stuff in boxes and blisters:

• Legacy of Solomon
• Romeo Exxet
• Faust Orbatos
• Clover
• Arkham
• Type 005 (blister)
• Type 005 (Black Sun starter)
• Alius, Holy Soldier (x2)
• Khaine D'Lacreu
• Li Long
• Sophia Ilmora
• Kairos
• Saint Evangeline
• Kronen Roxxon
• Promethea
• Styx
• Tsubasa Kurokami
• Ophiel
• (another) Akio Kageshima
• Samael Agent (F)
• Samael Agent (M)
• Church Agent (M)
• Wissenschaft Agent (M)

Bases

Something I started with my Pulp City stuff was using resin bases. Over time I started to be more selective and specific in matching certain base styles to certain models, although overall a bit of a random selection has been used I guess. Through it all the same grey colour has been used meaning that the bases may look more cohesive as a result. That grey colour will carry over to here.

Learning from that, I chose specific base styles for each Organization (Organizations are basically cohesive forces with a common background, and there are Wanderers who belong to no specific Organisation; the Factions cover the 3 affinities in the game - Light, Dark and Neutral; the Factions/affinities are represented through all of the Organisations - there are no all-good or all-bad guys here.

Consequently I settled on basing according to Organization for the most part, treating Wanderers as a single group here. Summons are supernatural creatures invoked by Summoners who manifest only temporarily in the material worl; for them I have decided to follow the basing for certain Organisations.

Bases Styles
1. Azur - a nascent empire that is emerging to rival the long-standing power of Abel; bases are 'Stone floor' by Dragon Forge, chosen as I thought it helps represent the sense of order and newness I can see with Azur.
2. Wissenschaft - this secretive Organization is constantly researching and discovering; these cobblestone bases (Fenris) should give a more modern feel than the other choices.
3. Samael - a secret society of supernatural entities, banded together against the hostility of much of the human world; I chose a slate/rocks style to represent a more nature-themed force (this base Model Display Products; I am also using some Micro Arts Studio bases).
4. Abel - the declining empire of Abel, pressed on many sides; I chose Dragon Forge's Ancient City Ruins to refelct an Organization that is steeped in history and has seen better days.
5. The Church - intrinsically linked with Abel, but an influential Organization in its own right, and within its duties chooses to hunt the supernatural; I went for an irregular stone-work style to make them look older than the Azur, and the base shown is Dragon Forge's Square Cut Slate, but I am also mixing some similar Fenris bases in as well.
6. Black Sun - a corporation secretly dealing with supernatural artefacts, and in particular necromantic weapons; Broken Wasteland bases by Dragon Forge just seemed to fit best suggesting ruin.
7. Wanderers - not an Organisation, but the name attached to those outside of the major Organisations; I chose Forgotten Empires by Dragon Forge since they have an exotic almost alien feel, and so will stand out against the rest.

Summons
Light Summons - will be as the Church (Square Cut Slate).
Neutral Summons - will be as Wanderers (Forgotten Empires).
Dark Summons - will be as Samael (slate style).

First Batch Of Minis Prepped

Okay, Anima Tactics could be a real obsession for me. If any one reading this has followed my Pulp City-related blog (Pulp Citizen), then you may be aware that I have taken a completist approach to collecting and painting that range. Anima Tactics could be next in line.

While I doubt I will immerse myself in AT quite as fully as with Pulp City (not least that I am part of the Pulp City Games Development Team), I hope to make real in-roads into the collection of minis I have already amassed for this game. Thankfully the rate of release by Cipher studios seems pretty slow - so that should synchronize well with my general speed of painting then!

I have a lot to learn about the Anima Tactics setting, game and mythology, although I have read the lavish hardback rule-book cover to cover a couple of times already. So this blog will chart my foray into this line, setting and game.

The first batch of minis has been prepped and can be seen below. These have not been selected for any other reason than most are only single or two-part, and give me a cross-section of design types to choose from.

The minis are:
1. Genma - Neutral Samael Mystic; Summoner.
2. Grey - Light Church Warrior.
3. Covel - Neutral Samael Optional Leader Mystic; Summoner.
4. Dereck Shezard - Neutral Wanderer Warrior; the latest Godkiller.
5. Dark Cheshire - Dark Samael Warrior.
6. Akio Kageshima - Neutral Wanderer Mystic.
7. Bael - Dark Samael Mystic.
8. Hiro - Light Wissenschaft Warrior; "Ranger Avenger".
9. Kingsley Warlock - Dark Black Sun Warrior Mystic Controller.

Welcome To The Anima Tactician

Not my first blog, nor my second, but one I am determined will chart a new minis pre-occupation for me: Anima Tactics.

It took a while to grab me, but Anima Tactics has done exactly that now, and so I am embarking on a journey to paint as many minis as I can for this game and see where I go with it.

Ever since Final Fantasy 7 I have had a degree of fondness of Japanese style console rpgs; enjoying FF8, Wild ARMS, Breath of Fire III among others. Anima Tactics is a tabletop skirmish game that captures the kind of game-play I enjoyed, with recognisable styles of characters, and best of all is a tabletop minis skirmish game that can be played with as few as 2 minis per side. All good.

I have selected the first 8 minis I plan to paint, so please watch this space.