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%)

Kira

Another minis finished. In all, March 2014 has been a pretty productive month for me, with five Anima Tactics minis painted (the others being a Type-020: Verrier; a second Type-004: Hellhound/Hellhound; Arkham; and Ahriman, Lord of Darkness) and two minis for other ranges. Like Arkham, this one had been part-painted for months, so it is very pleasing to have cleared it from the painting queue. Even if looking closely at the pictures it looks like I have a bit of tidying to do around the back of the left ankle!

With Kira completed (with the caveat above!), my Wissenschaft force has grown to the point where I have a few options for 300 Level games. This year, I would really like to crack into the Gears. That will be dependent on settling on how I want to paint them in a consistent and pleasing way.

In game terms, Kira overlaps a little with Alessa Raincross, so I can see them being played together to double up capabilities. They are far from identical however. Following the 2013 Update, Alessa Raincross had her cost adjusted to 40 Levels, the same as Kira. Kira edges capabilities with higher Attack (5 vs. 4) and Life Points (13 vs. 10). However, Alessa has a longer range Special Attack (24 inches). Both have a multi-attack Special Action, with Alessa's throwing out more actual Attacks against a slightly better range for Kira. Alessa has Stealth, which Kira does not, but that is limited in context of her two Special Attacks, so in all, I think Kira wins out for me. That said, they look pretty 'shooty' for 80 Levels together, and I can see both getting a run out in a Party.

The obvious Advantage Cards are probably things like Piercing Weapon and/or Elemental Weapon, and also Gnose to reduce the threat of enemy Ranged Attacks against Kira.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 155 (added: nothing, but I have something on order...)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 48 (46 different models)
Painted Minis Percentage: 30.97% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 150 (including 2 LE minis)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 30.7%

Hamadria

You may have spotted Hamadria in the battle report preview images I posted and she was finished quite quickly for that game.

Although very quickly painted, and certainly not my best work, I am reasonably happy with the end result, how this Summon has turned out.

A Hamadria appears to be some kind of nature spirit, but far less destructive than the Wrath of Nature. Using here the other day has changed my mind about Sarah Reindhold; the two worked well together as effectively a 55 Level pair of units, with overlapping healing Actions. When I used Sarah Reindhold with Elhaym, Maiden of Light as her Summon I thought it was an expensive combination, but this combination worked well with their stacking healing actions synergising very well. add to that that Hadria has a cheap basic ranged Attack to throw into the mix, and she is a very effective, if fragile, unit.

As a Summon Hamadria cannot have Advantage Cards attached to her, so no specific strategy there.

After posting about the upcoming battle report I thought it could be a while before I finish any more Anima Tactics, but I finished one mini today and almost finished another, so I am on a bit of a roll.

I really, really need to paint up some Dark Summons soon, but honestly I do think that painting what I feel like seems the best way to go for now instead of frustrating myself and losing all interest from trying to do a specific mini.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 129 (added: Hamadria!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 23
Painted Minis Percentage: 17.8% (percentage of AT minis owned that are painted)

Juliette Kaim

Click to embiggen

Juliette Kaim is the Azur Alliance's greatest messenger, passing on the orders of the Arbiters.

Juliette is also my my first completed Azur Alliance, the first of that Organization like Yuki was for Samael - I really am determined to paint all of this line if I can pull it off, so branching out is one of the key things to enable that I think; that way I can get a small foot-hold into each line-up.

This unit is quite atypical in several ways when compared to the rest of the line. Most units weigh in at between 35-60 Levels, with the majority in the 40-50 range. At 25 Levels Juliette Kaim is a very cheap unit, but one that has a particular function. The knock-on effect of the standard costing is that at 200 Levels you expect to have 4 units, possibly 5 cheaper units. At 300 Levels you expect to have 6, possibly 7 units. The point is that Juliette stands outwith the building blocks of Levels, except when you look a little deeper.

One Party I have in mind is to use her with Team Les Jaeger (The Colonel; Kyler; Rheindhold; and Kirsten). Collectively they come to 175 Levels, allowing Juliette to neatly take that up to 200 Levels.

Another factor is that Juliette is all about buff and de-buff. And to maximize her buffing capability she needs to be in a Party with an Arbiter. The Colonel will fulfill that role if used as part of Team Les Jaeger, so another pointer in that direction.

I have read a number of forum comments that Azur Alliance is 'under-powered' compared to other Organizations, but since I plan to paint and hopefully try out everything eventually, that does not deter me. And the idea of a sneaky bunch dressed in black appeals to me a lot!

On the Advantage Card front, well at only 25 levels I wonder whether she would be better left without, allowing another Unit to use those precious few Levels of Advantage Cards. That said, if I was to give her any cards it would be something like: Gnose (meaning no Ranged Attacks or Charges against her from more than 6 inches away); or Nue (adds to the difficulty to detect the unit if it is Hidden, which is important as Juliette needs to be Hidden to use one of her Actions).

On the painting, I am fairly pleased, although the neck frill may get a little more work before varnishing.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 127 (added: Sho; slowed down the acquisition slightly there!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 20
Painted Minis Percentage: 15.7% (percentage of AT minis owned that are painted)


As an aside, the current available range stands at 147 minis by my estimate; at my current rate that would around 44-45 months to complete the lot even if they don't release anything else! Time to step up my painting speed methinks! :)

Wrath of Nature

My first Summon!

Not that I have painted up a worthwhile Summoner yet (I do not see Sarah Reindhold as a useful Summoner at this stage of my understanding of the game), but hey, it is a start...

The blurb for Wrath of Nature describes them as 'an incarnation of the unleashed power of Gaia'.

Summons are non-unique, meaning a Party can include more than one of each type subject to the Levels limit. Summons do not start in play, but are brought to the battle-field by the Summoner they are attached to. Summoning has an Action Point cost according to the Summon's rules. In addition, most Summons have a choice of Level cost which they can be bought for, with a lesser and more powerful version available. That difference may be in characteristics, or Innate Abilities or Special Actions. The Level cost of Summons is accordingly lower than perhaps an equivalent model with the same abilities (if there was such a thing), and this is reflected in their Atman rating, which is their relative worth. In addition they can be used within an Organization Party without taking up the Wanderer slot.

The Wrath of Nature is a bit of a lumbering beast with a lot of Life Points and Armor, but not too mobile. The fact that it is huge should be evident from the third photograph alongside Sarah Reindhold.

I would like to get at least one more Summon and a decent Summoner painted up before my planned games later this month.

In the mean time the painting queue changes randomly as ever, and Yuki had some work done today: not even a Summoner! So whether I get done what I want is anyone's guess...


Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 89 (added a lot since the last update: Kerberos; Veronica; Deadmoon; Jerome; Justine; Cordelia Rosalind; Damaris; and Momiji)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 12
Painted Minis Percentage: 14.6% (yep, it has gone down! That splurge has dented my progress, so time to get splashing those hairy sticks onto minis!)