Tales of the Ninja #3

It too a little longer than planned, but the Tales of the Ninja team have released issue number 3!

Tales of the Ninja is a fanzine dedicated to the games of Ninja Division (Cipher Studios and Soda Pop), and #3 has a few pages summing up my Anima Tactics Painting Project. :)

Anima Tactics - The Beginning of the End?

Yesterday saw a huge announcement about the future of Anima Tactics, one that may be the nail in the game's coffin. Cipher Studios announced they are discontinuing the range.

Link to the announcement

Cipher Studios announces that the Anima Tactics™ Miniature Skirmish Game is being discontinued.

The Cipher Studios web store will close March 13th. Stock will then be transferred to the Ninja Division | Soda Pop Miniatures warehouse and resume sale on March 30.

The last new figures for Anima Tactics™ will be released through the web store, including a special edition Celia model.

So there are seemingly 5 releases or so to come, likely to be: September; Nimrod; Anaximenes; Legion; and special edition Celia. 

Aside from my obvious disappointment, the timing seems odd given that at the end of October 2014 an update was promised soon after about the game.

That aside, the announcement apparently won't impact the Gate of Memories Kickstarter campaign(s), so I still hope to get the Bearer and the Nameless.

the discontinuation of Anima Tactics the miniature game does not affect Gate of Memoriesr [sic]. Anima: Gate of Memories is being developed by Anima Studios. Kickstarter fulfillment [sic] will be delivered as promised when the game comes out. Hell Dorado development is being continued. We will actually be speeding up development on the releases for the Inferno book. We are simply moving to a direct sales model. -Kai Nesbit

Going forward, all is not necessarily finished, and the game may yet return in some new form. Carlos (the man behind Anima Studios) posted this via Kickstarter:

Link 

Hi everyone.
Regarding the announcement of Cipher Studios about Anima Tactics, I want to coment some points to make everything clear.
1°) Will it have an impact on the videogame?
Of course not! Gate of Memories development will go on in the same way as it was planed. The game is going to be finished and all the pledges will be given as promised, regardless if you are a backer of the first or extended campaign.
Anima Tactics was not directly related to Gate of Memories development.
2°) Will the minis of the Bearer and the Nameless be released?
Of course. Including AT rules for them. ^^
3°) Will another company takes over and continue AT instead of Cipher?
Right now, we are working with Edge Entertainment in a new branch of Anima Tactics sequel game. Give us time to prepare everything. ^^
4°) Will the Saga 3 rulebook be released one day?
Yes, but in a different way than the original plan. Right now, we are working in Anima Tactics Saga, which is equivalent to Anima Tactics sequel / 2nd edition.

As for my project to paint the whole range? That will continue. It will be harder to maintain without the carrot of periodic new stuff, but being more clearly finite means I can have a countdown goal to aim for. Hopefully by the end of 2018 I will have a complete painted AT collection, which may be a unique feat. Watch the blog for progress. :)