Quick Test Game

I am due to get in my first proper games of Anima Tactics in April, which will be against my main gaming buddy Rob.

Before then I thought I would trial on my own what I plan to use for the first introduction - a simple two on two game pitting Lostaroth Marchosias and Grey against Hiro and Lorenzo.

The game saw some basic Attacks; Charges; Special Actions and Special Abilities being used - all good.

Pictures:

1. Hiro ready for battle
2. Lostaroth Marchosias spots Hiro after moving up a hill
3. Lorenzo successfully Charges Grey and uses up an Energy Token to boost his Attack
4. Grey loses Life Points and is Thrown back by Lorenzo
5. Lorenzo follows up against Grey with Dual Buster

I was able to recall the basics that I needed; remembered to use Dodges; got a better feel for Action Points management. All in all pretty successful.

What was evident, and I had a strong inkling about this, was that by Turn 2 at most you should be able to engage Enemy models in base to base.

In only 3 Turns of play I felt comfortable with the basics of the game, and had employed a few different Action types, all of which bodes well for introducing others to the game in time I hope.

Bring on the proper gaming!

Sarah Reindhold

Another one down - number twelve ('gotta collect them all' - I may very well take that literally!).

I understand that Sarah Reindhold is related to the Azur character Reindhold (also known as Alfred Reindhold Webber), but cannot confirm until Saga III and/or IV book is out. Whenever that may be.

In the meantime this is my third Church mini, but has not really been painted towards putting into a Church Party at this time, more simply to keep up my painting momentum. That said, she is my first Summoner, so maybe she will get some use sooner or later. I did mention that I wanted to get some Summoners and Summons painted up, but I have more in mind Samael characters for that aspect of game-play.

Sarah's Actions are all around buffs and de-buffs, and one o the most interesting looking to my eye is her Upkeep Action Nathaniel's Incense which provides a Turn on Turn Life Point recovery. The only way to tell if it is as workable and useful as it appears is to get some games in of course! The down side is her de-buff ability appears to possibly switch off Nathaniel's Incense too.

My colour scheme for the various Saints in the Church will be the white clothing or robes with red shawl so their should be some uniformity as they start to appear.

I am not too happy with the face on this mini; the eyes have been done twice, and I am not doing them a third time - they stay as they are. Also the shininess around the red should be taken care of when I can eventually hit my minis with the Purity Seal.


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 80 (added: Azriel; Alastor; Saint Aestrega; Vayl)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 12
Painted Minis Percentage: 15% (that percentage growth has slowed down with recent purchases; I have another 9 minis on the way - so I need to get 2 done just to get ahead again when they have arrived)

Drake

Not much I can say about Drake, as being a Saga III or IV character, he is not covered in the first rule-book (Sagas I and II).

His blurb as listed on Anima Tactics Oracle cites him as a vagabond mercenary warrior, possessed of some form of the Blood of the Dragon, the same power that surges through the veins of Dereck Shezard.

Drake is part of Team The Condemned Lovers along with Cenette; the pair the bloody warrior and the on-the-run princess. I have yet to pick up Cenette, but inevitably will do in good order!

In game terms, at 50 Levels Drake looks like a slightly watered down alternative to Dereck Shezard at first glance: both are Neutral Wanderers; both Warriors; similar emphasis in terms of characteristics relative to their respective Levels. In addition Drake has an Action called Dragon Overdrive which is functionally like a weakened but cheaper to use version Dereck's Neo Genesis. however there are differences, with Drake backing up his Actions with a Charge and Dereck having a Ranged Attack. That said, I look forward to using both in time when I do get some gaming in.

This one was tricky to get my head around in painting and there are some bits I am quite chuffed with, other bits less so, but I am fairly pleased with the overall result. I do think the flesh and 'gold' look better with the model in hand than the photographs suggest.

I will try and turn my attention to getting some more Church models finished to allow me to make up a 200 level Church Organization Party since I can now do a 200 Level Wissenschaft Party (by including a Wanderer). I really, really want to get a couple of Summoners and at least 2-3 summons done soon since I think they will be a fun part of the game.

In the mean-time, stay tuned for my sporadic updates!

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 76 (added: The Colonel; Reindhold; and Dinah)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 11
Painted Minis Percentage: 14.5% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

The First Ten

The first in what I *hope* will be regular update summaries, chronicling my most recent batch of 10 minis for Anima Tactics, while giving me a nice group shot as a milestone.

I really am determined to paint one of every Anima Tactics mini, so it will be a long slog, no doubt about that!

I have tried doing something similar for Pulp City (click for my Pulp City blog), and with that project I am around 90-95% there at a guess. So it is doable, but only if I sustain progress. Last year was petty poor with only 24 minis completed. Already this year I am up to 11 completed minis; I would like to achieve 12 minis finished per 3 months across various genres and ranges, so thus far I am approximately on course with a couple of weeks to go in this first quarter.

In the painting queue for Anima Tactics I currently have: Yuki; Sarah Reindhold; Deimon; Genma; Saint Evangeline; Shinobi; and Valentine. However as my main gaming buddy will attest  stuff can drop in and out of that 'queue' quite randomly...

Anyway here is to 'the Next 10'; of those Drake is already finished so keep your eyes peeled!

Team Bella & Aqua

Bella and Aqua form a Team in Anima Tactics. That has certain implications for their use in a Party, for example they count as just a single Wanderer for the purpose of Party-building.

Usually Teams have their rules listed on a dedicated game-card, with special rules gained for taking the Team that apply to one of more models; however for this Team they are incorporated into the cards of both Aqua and Bella. that is because neither can be taken without the other, and all benefits are incorporated into their own rules and the fact that you get 2 units with combat Actions for a mere 60 Levels.

What it appears to me is that it means there are extra opportunities to Activate and Attack. Bella offers versatility, while Aqua offers annoyance and potentially a devastating Charge, or even Charge threat which in itself should be tactically useful, that even if not pulled off correctly, still will only likely lose a Level 15 model.

Aqua

Aqua is Bella's Constant Companion, and vice versa. Aqua is also a water elemental, but normally Anima Tactics seems to handle such things as Summons; well not so in Aqua's case.

You cannot take Bella without Aqua so effectively they are a Level 60 combo, but more on that in a future post. But essentially Aqua gives some cheap extra Actions; I say cheap, since at Level 15 Aqua is a steal and one of the cheapest models in the game.

I actually painted Aqua in January (finally, that mysterious seventh model I alluded to!), but held off until, Bella was finished. I hit a slump in February, hence the delay. Anyone who reads my other blogs will know I have periodic painting slumps, but this year I am determined to paint more than the year before (just 24 minis). So far I am on course for that, and I am now into double figures for Anima Tactics minis.

My next target is two 'game-legal' Organization Parties at Level 200. Watch this space.


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 73
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 10
Painted Minis Percentage: 13.7%

Bella

Another one done. And with Bella's companion Aqua, the first complete Team I have painted.

I love the Bella mini, as it fits the style of the range so well (probably mainly due to the fact that one sculptor is responsible for the majority of the range), but there are some very fiddly bits which means my painting this time probably has been nowhere near as smooth as I would like. Shading wash is defintiely a bit deep around the eyes.

The final result is okay; not brilliant, but it will do, and another mini down.

Game-wise Bella is a Wanderer, which mean taking her (and Aqua - they are Constant Companions so they always form their Team) in an Organization Party will see her competing against other Wanderers. So far I only have Dereck Shezard in that position; however, I do have other Wanderers in the pipeline so usage will depend on a combination of games, maybe looking at faction Parties and effectiveness.

Bella's primary Attack is interesting because it has 7 special effects and the the player chooses 2 from that list each time. My quick arithmetic suggest 21 combinations, which could in theory make Bella a super-utility character.

I really must get a game in soon. need some volunteers...


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 73 (added: Janiel)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 9
Painted Minis Percentage: 12.3% (even with more and more new acquisitions I have continued to make progress)

Lostaroth Marchosias

Lostaroth Marchosias is the high executioner for the Church, or something like that; whatever his background (the Saga III and IV book has not yet been released, so I am not sure to be honest), The moment I saw this model I thought: "Yep, he looks pretty bad-ass!"

I think this is the kind of great sculpt that I associate with much of the Anima Tactics range, and a model that looks like he could take some unfortunate enemy down - painfully.

Stats and abilities wise, there are some apparent similarities with Dereck Shezard, although the latter looks like he has a straight up unbuffed more devastating attack against a single target, while Lostaroth Marchosias looks more than capable of taking out a cluster of juicy targets.

My Church Party is building slowly now, and Sarah Reindhold is probably next up for that Organization. Before then though, I hope to finish Bella and Yuki since both are reasonably far along (Bella is very close to completion I feel, but needs some careful attention to complete with some very fiddly straps etc.

Lostaroth Marchosias was a key choice as he is an Optional Leader, meaning he can be fielded at his base version for 60 levels or as a Leader for 65 Levels. As I build up the collection that will add some depth of options to Party-building.


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 72 (added: Frederick Adler; Yuri Olson; Claire Adelheid)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 8 (the real '6th' mini to make 9 will be counted when the whole Team it is part of is finished)
Painted Minis Percentage: 11.1% (even with the new acquisitions I have made progress - woo!)

Note, yet again I have acquired more to add to the list, but at least I have stayed in line with a painted percentage increase!

Anima Tactics Resources

I posted about the Party Builder of course, but that got me to thinking that posting about some of the other resources could be helpful.

For those that don't know Anima Tactics is one of a group of games set within a single setting. Anima Tactics is the tabletop minis game while others are RPG and card-driven games, which is the reason for so many different manufacturers being involved.

For those dipping their toe into the Anima Tactics waters there are some useful resources available online (click for links):

Anima Tactics Oracle - an AT wiki

Anima Tactics Party Builder

Anima Tactics Forum (hosted by Cipher Studios)