The Next 10 (7)

It has taken me around three and half months, but after finishing my first Church Agent here is the seventh instalment of the 'Next 10'.

In the time since the last batch of 10 units, there have been no new releases for the game, so I am staying ahead of that, although I do wish the delayed releases would become available soon - 'new stuff' helps motivate me to paint 'old stuff' sometimes.

With 4 units finished recently, Azur is most represented in this batch. I was glad to get 3 more Agents done, but most of all I was very happy to get Arias Vayu painted as it added another much-needed Light Summon, and was a unit I was putting off tackling.

Unfortunately no larger models were completed in this batch, which is something I think I need to make a concerted effort with in the near future, maybe with a couple of Gears. I still need more Samael and Empire units too.

Looking forward, I think a realistic target for 2015 is probably 30 Anima Tactics units, meaning 2-3 per month. If I can have the next Next 10 done before the end of March, then that would put me ahead, so we shall see where I actually end up.

The Next 10 (6)

It has taken approximately four months to finish the latest ‘Next 10’. It isn't for want of motivation, but purely other commitments that have impacted on my painting time. However, with Reindhold done, that gets me to the magic 60 units painted.

Thankfully the rate of releases is so slow for Anima Tactics, that I don’t envisage getting too far behind any time soon! That said, I would sooner I was painting around three or so units per month. I hope to get one or two done next week, and there are a few that are not far from completion so that should be a realistic proposition.

My painting across all the ranges I like has dwindled this year. So far I have managed only 25 minis across all ranges (well slightly more than that, because I have painted 4 out of 5 models that comprise a single Anima Tactics unit, but until I finish the remaining model, I won’t show them off – I count all 5 pieces as a single mini for my totals). I am promising myself a strong finish to the year in the last two months.

I am pleased with the mix of this batch; 5 Organizations represented, as well as my first Gear (Gear Mk. Trithemius) and 3 Dark Summons. As for what is next? Stay tuned!

The Next 10 (5)

A real slow-down in the last few months in my Anima Tactics painting. It took me two months to crank out units #'s 31 to 40, but close to four months to paint up #'s 41 (Sho) to 50 (Janiel). I guess momentum will wax and wane, and painting nothing at all in February certainly did not help!

Janiel rounded out this batch, and as she has been hanging around for a while (she was undercoated black, which tells me she was under-coated a long while ago as I have almost entirely stopped using black for undercoating), I was very glad she is done and out of the way so to speak.

Black Sun have seen most new additions along with Wissenschaft, with a mix of odd units here and there for the rest. I think my favourite paint-jobs of this batch are either XII or Arkham, with Kira and Sho closely behind.

Looking forward, if I manage to maintain my current rate of progress, I think 3 years is a realistic target to get everything I have for Anima Tactics painted. That said, I could probably do with a surge of painting across a single month in the near future to help me toward my goal, and I would love to get into the Gears and some more of the larger units I have. And having 6 more units incoming from various online orders does not help shorten the goal-line....

The Next 10 (4)

My most recent batch of 10 Anima Tactics minis all together. It has been approximately two months between my third 'Next 10' and this post; I seem to have picked up some recent momentum it would appear!

Thematically, this month saw a big push on Black Sun, and a lot of 'not-black' colour schemes, and so it hopefully looks like a big contrast to the last batch. Please forgive the picture; I struggled to get all of them in focus, due to depth and height - this was the best of around ten or so attempts.

As I mentioned in the Celia post, hitting a total of 40 minis feels significant to me, so that has been pleasing. I am now filled with belief that within three years I will have painted them all! Maybe...

Anyway, onward and upward, and here is looking forward to the fifth 'Next 10'.

The Next 10 (3)

It took around 3 and bit months between the first 'Next 10' and the second 'Next 10', and to my surprise not too much difference for the second to this third 'Next 10'. I thought I had slowed down much more than that time would indicate, but then July was pretty productive in my Anima Tactics painting.

While momentum does feel it has slipped, I hope to pick some up in the next couple of months. Currently I have 112 Anima Tactics minis to paint, and I do not yet have them all, so this remains a big project!

This batch saw a lot of female characters painted, as well as a predominance of Church and Empire. What that bodes for the next 'Next 10' is anyone's guess!

As for the image, next time should see the usual triangle formation return, but the pesky extra spirit thing with Damaris messed that up this time around!

The Next 10 (2)

20 minis down - who would have thought it?

I started this blog in March 2012, yet did not complete an Anima Tactics mini until December 2012, and since then have completed 20 minis (well 21, but that latest one has not been shown yet...).

As planned, and so far so good, with  each 'Next 10' I will gather up each full batch of 10 minis when completed which will give a narrative of sorts to my progress.

By my best guess there are currently 147 available Anima Tactics minis, and that number is set to continue to grow. I think I will be at least able to keep pace, but the real challenge will be sustaining the momentum of the past 7 months (roughly 3 minis per month as of the past few days), or better yet., exceeding that rate of completion. I am also still on course with my target across all lines as a whole for the year which is pleasing.

Anyway, this is second 'Next 10'. And check back in a couple of days for another new addition to the ranks!

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!