XII

Phew, painting slump averted, I hope! Especially as it was three and a half weeks since Rayne was finished (well except for fixing her eyes).

He is described as the reserved and solitary supervisor of the Crows of Wissenschaft. The majority of Agents of the organization have never seen him, much less know him. He is a shadow that crawls in the dark, someone who appears inexplicably in different places of the world and leaves without a trace. Many say that he is no more than a ghost, a legend whose mantle is taken up by a different person over and over again.

I like this mini a lot, but then any regular reader knows I say that about most of this range, so nothing new there! I blocked out the base colours a couple of weeks ago then just struggled to paint anything. Finishing a Pulp City mini in the past couple of days helped reignite my motivations, which meant I was able to paint the majority of this in a couple of hours. I love the sword gun type weapon, which is a staple of some Japanese console rpgs.

If the picture looks a little odd at all, it is because I needed to do a quick fix to sharpen up the image. I also noticed I need to tidy up the purple sleeves where they meet the gloves.

In game terms, XII is naturally an accurate model with good Attack value. He also has a potential two to three hit combo of Actions he can use, so even lacking high Damage, against low Armor units I imagine he could be devastating. For Advantage Cards I am thinking either Supernatural Weapon or Piercing Weapon and Clock of Chronos; the former will add to his overall Damage potential, while the latter will try and ensure he can maintain those aforementioned two or three hit combos. No Primal on this guy, as the Damage boost would most likely be wiped out in a single Turn.

He is also a member of Team Assault Group, and the last unit I needed to paint for that Team, so it is nice to have another Team finished. I am hoping I can get some more games in of Anima Tactics in the next few months, and hope XII takes to the field alongside the rest of his Team.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 151 (added: Hecatondies Zero Sigma and a second Elhaym, Maiden of Light)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 43 (42 different models)
Painted Minis Percentage: 28.5% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 148 (including 2 LE minis)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 28.4% (this is going to look different as I go forward with some new releases due soon)

Rayne (XXI)

My first painted mini of 2014, and my 42nd Anima Tactics mini in all.

While it is not my best work (the face is disappointing), I have enjoyed painting this model (the jacket is pleasing and looks better in hand), and that is always a bonus! I hope it bodes for a good year ahead on the minis painting front.

Rayne, also known by the designation XXI, is a Wissenschaft Warrior who forms part of Team Assault Group, along with Lorenzo Cortes (aka VIII) and their mysterious Leader, XII. As I have been finishing Rayne, I have been thinking more and more that I want to get this Team finished sooner than later, although to make things  a bit more balanced, I also ought to try and finish a Church or Black Sun Team too.

In game terms Rayne looks to have an amazing Charge among other abilities; it does not have an especially high Damage value, but it is Attack 13 without enhancements, meaning with Gnosis or buffs, pretty much any target is fair game, even Dodging enemies.

In addition the Team option is an excellent return for 5 Levels of Advantage Card, and she also has Neokinesis, suggesting synergy with Dereck Shezard and Celia if they then take the Neokinesis Magnus Plot Card. I can see a Party with those characters featuring in a game or two this year (probably in Rob's hands since he has enjoyed playing Wissenschaft).


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 149 (added: Lilian Virgil; and Dagger - one of which has now been assembled and undercoated...)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 42 (41 different models)
Painted Minis Percentage: 28.2% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 148 (including 2 LE minis)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 27.7%

Empire Party

I finally have 5 Empire units finished after Sho was recently completed. With the price updates, and assuming a maximum Level Empire Agent, this Party would only come to 215 Levels, so would still need something like Cenette and Drake (as Team The Condemned Lovers) or Kagemaru and a 25-30 Level Dark Summon to be legally fielded as a 300 Level Organization Party.

In a nutshell then, it is quite a limited selection, and the number and choice of units probably needs to be expanded if I am to get best use out of Empire; but then we have only really played Church and Wissenschaft so far, so time will tell on that front. Still, hopefully I will get a game or two in with them before too long.

2014 - The Year Ahead

2014 kicks off and time to lay out my blog and hobby plans for the year ahead.

First things first though, which is a big thanks to everyone who Follows, who reads and most of all those who Comment on my blogs; all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Last year I planned to paint at least 48-50 minis and painted 63 (click for the summary post); good result. I actually painted a couple more as 'exchange' minis, but in hindsight, that could have been two more in to my total so no 'mini exchanges' for me in 2014 or possibly the next few years.

Last year I planned to post around 180 blog posts and hit 160. The year before was 158, so maybe that is around my natural rate of posting, around 3 per week across all 3 blogs.

So what does that mean for my blogging and hobby activity pans for the year ahead?

Painting minis and gaming is key. I'd like to paint at least 50 minis again. The reason why I have not upped that target is that I have nine months of a demanding course ahead of me on top of full-time work, so I need to be realistic. I think 50 is manageable amid that, although the target in an ideal world would be over 80 minis based on what I would like to have painted (ideal/unrealistic 2014 equals: 36+ Anima Tactics; 14+ Pulp City; 13+ MERCS; 7+ Malifaux; 5+ Batman Miniatures Game; 4+ Zombies; and 4+ Freebooters Fate).

Blogging will follow accordingly, so 150+ posts seems reasonable after the past couple of years.

If you Follow or read this blog, but not my others, it would be great if you could maybe take some time to check the others out:

• Anima Tactician
• Eclectic Gentleman Tabletop Gamer
• Pulp Citizen