Church Agent (male)

Unit number 70 - done!

These Agents are the special forces available to the Church's highest circles of power. Many are trained from childhood to hunt down and destroy supernatural threats to humanity, while others use their divine gifts to further the work of the Church.

I started this mini along with another Church Agent and a couple of non-Anima Tactics minis at the same time, to take advantage of the fact that all were using red as a predominant colour. What that meant was that in a few days I managed to paint 3 minis, and so I have inched further forward with my Anima Tactics painting total. This mini was started once previously, and stripped of paint when I was unhappy with my progress. There is some pitting at the back of the mini I am unhappy with, but that will stay as it is, as I just do not want to strip and repaint it again. More importantly, it is my first Church unit completed (since Alis Testarossa) in almost 6 months!

As mentioned in a recent post (click for link), it looks like Agents may get a change to their rules, so I am very interested to see what will happen with Church Agents. once all the Agents cards have been revealed, I will probably get a set printed via Artscow until such time official cards are printed.

As the year draws to a close, I don't think there is any hope of achieving my target of 36 Anima Tactics units this year. However, I may get a couple more painted possibly, and if I can match the same total next year and the year after, the project will remain steadily on course. That may need me to paint 'smarter', doing what I have done with Deimon and Luther Delacroix and painting a couple of units in tandem for speed,

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 164 (added: nothing and still no sign of that pre-order from months ago...)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 70 (66 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 42.7% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 discrete units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he *still* is due for presumed release)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 43.4%
Year to Date Target: 29 of 36 units (3 per month target; 81%)

Azur Agent (male)

After turning around Akio Kageshima within a week, this mini has been finished in a slightly quicker period of time. I was painting something for a different game when it occurred to me that the other model had a very similar colour palette to what I would use for an Azur Agent, so while waiting for parts of that much bigger mini to dry, I started in on this. The Azur Agent was under-coated black, which means it has been waiting painting for quite some time, and of course I decided to use my regular Azur colour scheme, with the added accents of the white cuffs. It has surprised me just how many Azur units I have painted this year, especially as I have not finished at least one I thought would be done by now!

In the game background, the Azur Alliance is a rival power to the Empire of Abel, and the Azur Agents are the private army of the Supreme Archon.

In game terms an Azur Agent can be fielded multiple times depending on game size, and are customisable. Agents cannot really be min-maxed to match equivalent named units, but they can have a role in a Party. Of course they can simply be used as Al-Djinn Ash Slaves, but used in an Azur force something to consider is fielding them in the same Party as Kerberos who gives them a bonus to their Attack value. Even then though, there are simply more efficient options available since most Azur Prowlers are in the 35-45 Levels range, and the Azur Agents simply cannot match their capabilities, so I am not too sure I really see the game 'value' in them right now. Even worse, they kind of compete against Shinobi in terms of how they can be built, and comparing typical builds for both working off Stealth-based Attacks, the Shinobi will have a cheaper AP Action and be harder hitting, but the Azur would probably be built to be faster. So right now in the game it is hard to see that they can be used to their fullest potential. Hopefully that may change in the future.

On the Anima Tactics painting project front, I have several minis that could be finished quite quickly If I can muster the focus, so hopefully the last few weeks of this year will prove fruitful.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 164 (added: another Grimorium; still no sign of that pre-order from months ago...)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 67 (63 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 40.9% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 discrete units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he still is due for presumably 'imminent' release, and has been for a long time)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 41.4%
Year to Date Target: 26 of 33 units (3 per month target; 79%)

Samael Agent (male)

Forming a shadowy network of operatives, Samael Agents are tasked to unleash chaos and confusion across all of Gaia in the name of the Fallen Angels of Samael.

With this mini, I have been painting it bit by bit through the week, desperately clinging on to my often fleeting motivation! I wanted a quite muted palette, to create a sort of 'fantasy ranger' look to him; green, grey and brown as the main colour blocks all fit that kind of vision I think, with some contrasting brightness from the stave and magical effect. When I finished Dagger, this Samael Agent was only under-coated, so it has quickly leap frogged a number of part-done minis, which is okay - at least something has been finished! It may be a bit rough in places, but I can live with it. The most important thing for me is getting another mini done, and it has also been a useful exercise in  working with the green colour I used here and which I am using for another non-Anima Tactics project.

Until I get a more substantial Samael force together, I think this Agent is most likely to  be used in games as created by an Al-Djinn as an Ash Slave. Samael Agents belong to either Light, Dark or Neutral Faction depending on the abilities. This can have slight impact of things like choosing Advantage cards, as well as how a few units do or do not get bonuses against specific Factions.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 163 (added: nothing, but I *still* have two minis on pre-order <sigh>)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 65 (61 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 39.9% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he still is due for presumably imminent release, and has been for a long time)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 40.1%
Year to Date Target: 24 of 30 units (3 per month target; 80%)

Shinobi

Ninja! Essentially Wanderer ninjas, Shinobi are non-unique units for Anima Tactics, described as elite assassins said to come from the Eastern island of Varja. I like ninjas (I have painted 8 so far for Pulp City!), and so eventually I would like to paint a few of these (more on why in a moment), and I do currently have another available in the mound of blisters.

Shinobi can be taken once per 150 Party Levels, so usually one or two in a typical Party. Unlike other Agents (so far!), they can be included in Organization or Faction Parties (currently, other Agents may only be used in Organization Parties - not in Light or Dark Parties). However, there is also an interesting wrinkle with Kagemaru when used as an Optional Leader; then his Master Shinobi and Elite Shinobi abilities allow you to field a ninja squadron - he allows up to two additional Shinobi, with all Shinobi having a reduced cost! Use them in an Azur Party with the Shadow Lords Organizational Advantage and suddenly you can have Kagemaru (as Optional Leader) and 4 Shinobi with maximum enhancements, all for 155 Levels versus the usual cost of 200 Levels (basically a 'free' extra unit). Add more Prowlers such as Dagger, Harod, Kyler or Kirsten, and the cost break continues. Assassin force!

All that aside, I would rather have another Shinobi sculpt before investing in a third and fourth. Right  now however, there is no sign of another sculpt appearing but I will remain hopeful as other Agents have had two variants.

On the colour scheme, I had started painting the whole uniform dark blue, but I did not like it, so I dropped the mini into the stripping bath (Dettol; works a treat, and best stuff I have used so far). I re-started using 'black' (dark grey) as the base for most of the mini, and keeping the dark blue to add some contrast, which was a motif I started with Kagemaru. I will keep this colour scheme going forward for other Shinobi, but altering the position of the dark blue to break up the uniformity a little. Most importantly, my 2014 painting target is almost  back on track across all lines after losing a month in February (I want to manage four minis per month, plus another couple somewhere across the year), and for Anima Tactics I want to paint around three minis per month on average; so far for this year I have painted ten Anima Tactics minis, so I am down by two.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 156 (added: nothing, but currently several mins are on order...)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 52 (50 different models; technically as September has not yet been released, that is one-third of every mini I have, and one-third of those actually available!)
Painted Units Percentage: 33.3% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 151 units (including 2 LE minis; added September as he is due for imminent release)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 33.1%
Year to Date Target: 11 of 12 units (3 per month target; 91.7%)

Type-005 (blister) (II)

The last of my Type-005's. I think 3 is enough as in order to field more I would be looking at larger games, 400 Levels or more, which I don't see happening any time in the near to medium-term future. In addition, if I wanted to do another, I would want to balance things out with another copy of the Type-005 from the Black Sun Starter Set.

I am fairly please overall with how these and the Type-009 have turned out, and I can attribute my recent productivity with the Black Sun necromantic weapons largely to my Zomtober endeavours. To make a viable Party, I need to get some more options painted up I think, so units I feel I would like to get finished are Promethea, Bridget Setsuna, Deimon, Type-012 Hunter, Type-020 Verrier, and maybe another Type-004: Hellhound, the latter painted in a scheme more in line with my Black Sun units (meaning the first one will be for use mainly as a Summon). That said, I have 7 units for my Black Sun so far, 8 with the Type-004: Hellhound, so the basics are there!

On the wider painting queue, I did a quick count of undercoated or part-painted Anima Tactics minis that I have, and that is 45 or so currently, so I need to start making headway into that pile before long! At my current rate of around 3 per month on average, that is 15 months work, or around 3 years to paint everything I have acquired, so watch this space for progress!

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 147 (added: nothing!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 34
Painted Minis Percentage: 23.1% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

Type-005 (blister)

My second Type-005 (my first is here); Zomtober has really helped spur me on to get a number of minis finished this month (on the day I finished this Type-005, I finished 3 other minis).

This Type-005 follows the same colour scheme as the preceding one, and the third I am working on along with a Type-009 which will have a matching scheme too. Hopefully they will be a fearsome-looking selection of units when finished.

There are two Type-005 bodies, with a selection of two left arms, two right arms and three heads. I plan to stop at three of these units, as with the Type-009 upgraded, I expect the four models will weigh in at 85 Levels as they benefit from a Black Sun Organization Advantage which awards levels for upgrades. In a 300 Level game that leaves 215 levels plus 5 upgrade Levels for another Undead unit, which should mean around 4-6 additional models, or 8-10 for a 300 Level Party as a whole. Given that a 300 Level Party would typically be 6-7 units, that is quite a potential numerical advantage. I will need to work on a few more units to get there though.

I have started work on both the remaining Type-005 and the Type-009, so hopefully they will be finished while I still have some painting momentum. Let's see how that works out...

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 144 (added: another Type-012 Hunter)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 32
Painted Minis Percentage: 22.2% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

Type-005 (Starter Set)

I am pretty pleased with how this model has turned out. It has been assembled for quite some time, and was something I planned to get around to eventually, but with Zomtober underway on one way of my other blogs (click for link), I was inspired to do some Undead painting for Anima Tactics; to that end I made a start on my first two Type-005's (I have three; you can take one per 100 Party Levels allowed). This is the first, and I would like to finish the second before the end of October, motivation permitting.

With a really limited palette, this was actually quite quick to finish: the different areas of colour are skin; metal; black cloth; green cloth; leather straps; blank dead eyes. I chose to use my usual Zombie skin recipe rather than the Anima Tactics 'studio' Type-005/Type-009 skin hue which is a kind of magenta. That does look cool, but I know what I like for my Undead!

Type-005's seem to have taken time to improve in perceived value in the game. At first glance they are quite cheap units with a degree of customization available (more on that with the next Type-005 post). However as Undead they cannot take Advantage Cards, which means that mitigating their inherent limited accuracy (Attack 4; no special Attack or Charge that adds Attack or Damage) is a key issue. Initially their biggest inherent advantage could be that after being taken out, the essentially explode at the start of the next Action Phase. However if your Black Sun Party takes Elite Squadron (Plot Card) and has a Type-009 upgraded to Type-010: Commander, then suddenly taking a few Type-005's means that you can have Attack 6 and Damage 6 units at just 25 Levels cost apiece (Type-005A: Assault). Add to that they have a 12 inch range Attack and the possibility of some annoying spam is unleashed.

Time to start thinking of playing a Black Sun Party methinks! And time to get painting the other two Type-005's and my Type-009...

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 143 (added: still nothing since the last painted mini!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 31
Painted Minis Percentage: 21.7% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

Empire Agent (female)

Okay, okay; I did paint more minis for Anima Tactics than I hinted at near the beginning of June.

It has been a productive month for me, with 4 Anima Tactics minis, and 4 Freebooter's Fate minis painted (see here for my Freebooter's stuff), taking me to 34 minis for the year so far - I only painted 24 in the 12 months of 2012, so far so good then in terms of my productivity.

This is my second Agent, and means I am up to 155-175 Levels of Empire depending on how the Agent is configured. It looks to me that the Empire Agent can be made a very solid unit, with Armor 5 a very attractive option (I think my go to set-up will be to recover 3 Actions per Turn; +1 Attack and Damage; +3 armor for Armor 5).

With this mini I am up to 4 Empire units so far, and I am hoping to add Lilith as a Leader model making a potential 250 Levels, which in turn will be fairly easy to round out to 300 Levels with a Wanderer or an appropriate 50 Level Empire unit added.

For Advantage Cards, while it might me tempting to add Supernatural Armor, I think that is too costly to justify, so probably a simple Elemental Weapon to make an okay close combat unit. If taking a risk that I am fighting someone without decent anti-Armor, maybe Raphael's Gift to 'tank' the Empire Agent up a little.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 135 (added: nothing new arrived yet, but one or two on order)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 26 (a few more are in the dreaded queue)
Painted Minis Percentage: 19.3% (percentage of AT minis owned that are painted)

Wissenschaft Agent (male)

My seventh Anima Tactics mini is finished! Comments and criticism welcome.

Wait a moment; "Seventh you say? I count only six!"

Astute readers may have noticed only five preceding posts of painted minis. Well I finished my sixth on Sunday, but as it is part of a Team, it won't be shown until the other part of the Team is finished.

So on to this, my seventh as I said. This model is my first Agent; Agents are non-unique characters that can be fielded in multiples depending on the size of game (usually 1 per 150 Levels). That restriction stops spam I guess more than anything. Agents are customizable, and each Organisation's specific Agents has particular options available. Those options sometimes change the Faction (Light, Dark or Neutral) or Category of the Agent, however Wissenschaft Agents's are always Neutral and Prowler. A basic Agent is worth 20 Levels and can have a combination of options up to 20 extra Levels.

The models have some options for parts/construction, and each Organisation pretty much has male and female options available (same rules for each), so variety is easily achieved.

This was finished quite quickly, and I am particularly happy with the blending on the trousers, which were painted with the same approach as those on Clover. I think the colour scheme works well and so I have the nucleus of a small Party now, based around Wissenschaft: Hiro; Dereck Shezard; Wissenschaft Agent. That totals 150 Levels - not enough to qualify for an Organisational Advantage (which kick in at tiers of 200 Levels), but enough for learning the game I reckon. Time to start working on filling out the opposing Party then!

EDIT:

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 63 (2 more acquired after mini #5; oops)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 6 (the real '6th' will be counted when the whole Team is finished)
Painted Minis Percentage: 9.5%