Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound (III)

I evidently like painting these things (after my first Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound is here; and the second is here)! The main reason for painting a third is that I wanted a couple of 'Summon'-version paint-schemes, and  also because my painting has slowed down. As they are quick and easy to do, it helps me avoid full-on painters block to have got 'something done'.

The funny thing is, I am not sure I have actually used any of them in a game yet! I may have faced one once, but I have not yet selected a Hellhound or Type-004: Hellhound unit in a game that I can recall. That said, now that I have added a few more Summons in the past two or three months, I am much closer to being able to try out a Summon-horde type of list.

Keep an eye out soon for a group shot of all my painted Summons so far, ten models in total, although I really intend one of the Hellhounds more for my Black Sun than as a Summon.

Still, I cannot see me painting any more of these - three is plenty I think - so its is time for me to look for other 'quick-fix' minis for when I experience painting slumps in my Anima Tactics project. That said, I have been doing a bit of work on some other units, so hopefully I can get on track with the project sooner than later.

Of course, I had to get a picture of all three Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhounds together.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 160 (added: nothing - but I am now waiting on 3 minis; one has been dispatched from the USA, and hopefully the other will be too soon - also from the USA)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 58 (54 different models)
Painted Units Percentage: 36.25% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 151 units (including 2 LE minis; added September as he still is due for imminent release)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 35.8%
Year to Date Target: 17 of 24 units (3 per month target; 71%)

Al-Djinn (II)

Another Al-Djinn, started at the same time as the first one, but finished separately due to the differences in some key colours. And finishing this one took a little longer than hoped as I have been focused on some writing recently which inevitably ate into painting time.

Given that the Al-Djinn are quite atypical, even among Summons, and are not straightforward attacker or tank type units, and that their support is not through simple buffs/de-buffs or Healing, then I suspect I won't be playing them too often, but you never know. Still, yet another reason for me to get more Dark Summoners painted!

Thinking about the fact that I am not likely to play these units too often, that makes me really wish Anima Tactics had better distribution and support into the UK. I think it is one of the better small-model count skirmishes that UK-based gamers just don't know about, but that is biased by my admittedly very strong liking of the minis and the game as a whole.

There is a strong background for the Anima range, nice rules, crossover into other gaming platforms, and real depth to the minis line (over 150 minis currently with more to come), yet on a few fora I have read comments about lack of awareness of the minis. There has to be enough of an audience to make future new releases sustainable, yet for some reason Anima Tactics seems very much to occupy a niche, within the low model count niche of skirmish games, within the larger niche of war-gaming; or 'a niche, within a niche, within a niche' as a friend once described another game I really enjoy immensely. The kind of game that has a dedicated enough audience for its own needs possibly?

I hope that does not sound negative, I'm just airing some thoughts. I love the game and its minis, and will stick with it. :)

I remain committed to my plan to paint at least one of every mini for the Anima Tactics range (and perhaps should be committed for it...). So please stay tuned to the blog to see how my progress goes! Hopefully another one or two units may appear before the end of this month.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 160 (added: nothing - but still waiting on 2 minis)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 57 (54 different models)
Painted Units Percentage: 35.6% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 151 units (including 2 LE minis; added September as he still is due for imminent release)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 35.8%
Year to Date Target: 16 of 21 units (3 per month target; 76%)

Al-Djinn

A little more Anima Tactics painting in the past few days, I started this and another Al-Djinn at the same time, getting the basics on each done to cut down on painting time (although this one was finished first as they don't have identical paint schemes).

"You called, my master?" Al-Djinn are described as spirits whom dared to defy the gods, imprisoned and isolated as punishment for their foolishness. Constrained by the bonds imposed by their imprisonment, they can still use their great powers to alter the destiny of the world.

In game terms they are one of the trickier Summons to use I suspect. That is largely due to their Action that allows them to copy the abilities of another unit. They had a rules adjustment with the 2013 Saga III & IV Update, reducing the maximum Level of a unit they can copy, as well as a Level cost increase for the Al-Djinn themselves, which reinforces that they were probably overdue for rules re-balancing.

The other tactic to use with an Al-Djinn is to create Ash Slaves: Level 20 or 25 Agents (their Level is dependent on whether your take the lesser of greater Al-Djinn option). Each Al-Djinn can create and maintain up to 3 concurrent Ash Slaves. This can allow the Al-Djinn player to exploit the opportunity for extra units to block Charge lanes, protect other units with Intercepts, add a little extra Attack capacity, or protect objectives.

I want to get more out of Summons in games, which means there are a few units I want to get painted before too long (Covel, Belith and Saint Hazael come to mind as Summoners, and I need to get to work on my Alius, Holy Soldiers too; I have started work on Arias Vayu).

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 160 (added: nothing - but still waiting on 2 minis)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 56 (54 different models)
Painted Units Percentage: 35.0% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 151 units (including 2 LE minis; added September as he still is due for imminent release)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 35.7%
Year to Date Target: 15 of 18 units (3 per month target; 83%)

Ahriman, Lord Of Darkness

My fourth Anima Tactics mini finished in March, and this was done from base colours to finish in a few hours, and completed in one day - something my haphazard painting process normally forgoes!

I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do for this mini for a while, but never made a start. Then I changed my mind, picked up the mini, and wanted to try a couple of new-ish paints in my collection from Reaper. The final scheme then formulated pretty quickly and I quite enjoyed doing a 'quick and done' paint-job. Nothing fantastic about the painting here, but done quickly to a satisfying standard, and yet another mini finished, and a step closer to number 50.

I am particularly chuffed to get another Dark Summon finished as that then frees up more balanced options for games.

Ahriman, Lord of Darkness is a unit that has benefited from the points costs revisions in the 2013 Saga III & IV Update. Costs have dropped to 35 and 45 Levels for the two differing forms. But in all honestly I can see no good reason to use the lesser form as the greater form has 1 extra point of Attack, but more importantly has an extra Bind Point, meaning it can stay in the game longer. Mitigating that Bind Point difference requires for more  than the equivalent cost in my humble opinion, so a no-brainer. And there is more; the higher level version benefits from Intangibility, meaning only enemy units with Magic or Ki Attacks or Effects, or of a Level higher than Ahriman, Lord of Darkness' Atman of 60 (so characters of Level 65 and above), can actually harm this particular Summon - pretty nasty then.

In the background, the Lords of Darkness appear to be the elemental opposites of the Maidens of Light. Since I am planning to eventually paint a second Elhaym, Maiden of Light, it would make sense to paint a second Ahriman, Lord of Darkness. Another purchase to make then!

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 155 (added: nothing, but thinking of ordering a second Arhiman, Lord of Darkness...)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 47 (45 different models)
Painted Minis Percentage: 30.3% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 150 (including 2 LE minis)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 30.0%

Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound (II)

This is my second Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound (the first can be seen here - click for link); and painted slightly more in keeping with my Black Sun forces this time, and alongside the Type-020: Verrier I posted a few days ago. Hopefully the upcoming picture of my Black Sun units together will bear that out.

I picked this model out to paint last week almost as soon as it arrived in the post, as I wanted something I could finish quickly and easily and because as much as I don't really enjoy painting that much (I am a gamer first, painter second I think; I want my gaming pieces to be painted though), I did quite enjoy the first one as something quick and easy to do, and this was no different thankfully.

I hope that I can overcome the lull I have been in and get a move on through some more Anima Tactics units sooner than later, I'd like to get to 50 painted models for the game before the end of May, preferably even sooner (although I wonder if the end of April is a goal too far!).

I have a fair number that have yet to be used in games I have played, including the Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound. Looking at this unit's rules again, especially as a Black Sun unit rather than as as Summon, it looks like a fairly cheap but potentially decent unit to harry and harass weaker support type enemy models. As a Dark Summon it is incredibly inexpensive at a mere 15  Levels.

I have a number of other Anima Tactics minis part-painted as well as dozens undercoated but not yet started. If I was a more disciplined painter I would start cranking through the partly done units I have, however I can be a bit of a gadfly when it comes to getting minis finished so that remains a forlorn hope I reckon. Maybe I ought to shame myself publicly by posting a pic of all the minis that have had some paint splashed on them? Or, then again, maybe not... :)

Anyway, this is my 45th Anima Tactics mini painted, which is pretty good going for a game that typically can be played with around 4-8 units at a time. Still, I really do want to paint at least one of every mini for this game, so that goal remains intact. Please stay with me and with the blog over the next couple of years to see how I get on with that ambition!

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 155 (added: nothing in the past few days!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 45 (43 different models)
Painted Minis Percentage: 29.0% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 150 (including 2 LE minis)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 28.7%

Ignis, Fire Demon

This has been stuck in the dread 'painting queue' for rather a long time. Bits of work were done on it, but very haphazardly from the outset. For example it was initially undercoated in black; then I realised that was a big mistake, so used some yellow spray to re-undercoat  it. Then some of the red base colour got slapped on and I noticed there was some extra gap filling to be done as the red was painted. So it simply got put to one side due to encountering those problems (mostly of my own creation). After very recently painting Maximo Ligori, I had a little bit of renewed motivation, so did a bit of work on Genma (also a very long time in the painting queue - as can be seen from this post here from 20 months ago), but thought to myself, I really had to finish Ignis, Fire Demon.

I did a quick bit of dry-brushing and washes on the red body, and set to work on the flames, before some final highlights to the body of the model. The flames have been the most time consuming, and although a bit of a challenge (reversing the usual progression of dark to light to light to dark from recesses to out aspects of the flame does take a little getting used to for me), I am actually reasonably happy with the results, and very happy it is finally done and finished. Not brilliant, but done, and a real change of palette from the recent Black Sun Undead units and Faust Orbatos and Maximo Ligori.

I had originally envisioned having two or three of these, but given how long it has taken me to get around to finishing it, I think I will stick with one. It is quite a tall model, approximately three and half inches from the base to the tip of the flames, so matches the Wrath of Nature in height (but certainly not bulk!).

With finishing this one, I have painted over 25% of the models I have for Anima Tactics. The next one I finish should take me to exactly one quarter of the available range, unless they suddenly release some more in the next few weeks!

Having more Summon options now means I really do need to get some more effective Summoners painted up (specifically Belith, Genma and Covel), and probably at least one more Dark Summon for a little bit of balance. In game terms Ignis, Fire Demon has seen a cost reduction from the 2013 Update. I know from reading the Cipher Studios Forums some players did not view it as a particularity effective unit previously, but there seemed to be some strong points about it that looked good to me (high Damage, base size, its special abilities), so with reduced cost it does look tastier than before. As a summon, there are no Advantage Card issues to plan for, so the primary decision is whether to take the super-cheap lesser form or the slightly more expensive greater form.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 147 (added: still not added anything for a while, but that may change soon-ish)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 37
Painted Minis Percentage: 25.1% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound

To to engrow

This unit is an unusual one in game terms, but I will get to that later. First up, the painting side of things.

This has been a 'quick and done' paint job (albeit one I am happy with, even if it is not spectacular), simply because I could feel a sense of painting inertia coming on. In the past few years I have undergone a few painting slumps, lasting weeks or even months, and I could feel another one on its way.

What I have learned in that time, is that just getting 'something done', finished and complete even if it is not my best work, can be useful to snap me out of doing nothing at all on the painting front. And given this year I am determined to paint as many minis as possible to make up for the relative inactivity of last year, well I needed to address that as soon as I could, and this was the perfect model for me at the required time. Something that could be done quick and simply, for what is hopefully an effective looking gaming piece.

The Hellhound is my 28th Anima Tactics mini, and the 41st mini I have painted this year so far (versus the paltry 24 I painted in 2012; 6 of those were in one month alone). So progress continues!

This mini is unique (so far) in Anima Tactics, as it can be fielded in either of two ways. One option is to use the model as a Type-004: Hellhound, a 25 Level Neutral Black Sun Undead unit; basically a pretty simple fire and forget type of nuisance, particularly due to its Charge and its Dark Hunter ability, with the added benefit of Stealth.

The other option, and right now the one that intrigues me more, is to use the Hellhound as a Level 15 Dark Summon. Again, it is kind of fire and forget, but with the advantage of a free de-buff Action against nearby enemies if the Hellhound kills its target. As a unit it is very cheap, and adds a simple to use extra unit for a Dark Summoner.

In fact I am so intrigued by the possibilities with the Summoned Hellhound, I plan to add at least one more to my collection, probably to be painted with a colour scheme more in line with my Black Sun units. It also makes nice counterpoint to the cheap Light Summon (Hamadria).

As a Summon or Undead unit, the Hellhound/Type-004: Hellhound cannot have Advantage Cards attached, meaning more Levels elsewhere.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 142 (added: Hellhound; Goethia; Frey; Freya; and female Wissenschaft Agent)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 28
Painted Minis Percentage: 19.7% (percentage of AT minis owned that are painted; percentage pretty much unchanged due to those pesky acquistions!)