Nostalgia Kicking In

I have been on a bit of an Anima Tactics nostalgia trip today, looking at artwork and cards for unreleased characters.

I love the Anima range of minis, I absolutely do, and wish they were still in production - that would help get me motivated to carry on painting them. I have a few which are part-painted and I hope to get some motivation to pick up brushes on some of those soon.

One of the problems for Anima as a brand is there is no real news. There have been hints that Anima Studios is entering into a renewed partnership with Edge Entertainment, with he first emphasis on the rpg line. However, the video game (Gate of Memories) has clearly been an anchor on other developments, taking so much longer to finish off than ever anticipated.

Right now the biggest positive step I wish for is the Gate of Memories physical rewards, but there is still no sign of those. The Extended Campaign Kickstarter page hasn't had an update in over 4 months which is a concerning sign. As it is, if Edge Entertainment are able to begin production on a successor edition to Anima Tactics, I do not foresee that before early to mid 2018 at the very earliest, possibly much later than that. Unfortunately hard information is pretty difficult to come by.

New Year, New Impetus?

Apologies that the blog has been dormant for so long. My hobby attention has been elsewhere and I failed to meet my small-ish target of of twelve Anima Tactics minis in 2016 and only finished one - due much to the lack of motivation that the lack the new releases or news creates.

In the past couple of weeks a picture has emerged of the casts of the Anima Tactics minis rewards from the Anima: Gate of Memories Kickstarter project. That has res-parked a little motivation for me, but whether it will be sufficient remains to be seen. The Nameless is on the left and The Bearer on the right.

Anima Tactics minis seem to be very scarce now, which is not unexpected. However, Anima Studios (seemingly calling itself Anima Project now) is showing increased signs of life with a Twitter account and a new Forum, and there have been assurances of progress on some kind of return for Anima Tactics which would be marvellous, even if logistically very challenging (I believe that the moulds and masters were with Cipher Studios, so bringing all those existing minis back into the game or a new version of the game could be very expensive).

On top of that, I managed to snag a rare unreleased mini last year, almost completing my collection.

I wait to see what 2017 holds, and i hope to paint more than one Anima Tactics mini in anticipation.

Nimrod

Nimrod has been painted over the past couple of weeks, and marks my 75th painted Anima Tactics unit. It also marks another lull has occurred, at almost five months since I painted Sharsha. This year I have set a goal of 12 painted Anima Tactics units which is achievable, but only if I can gather sufficient motivation.

Once I started the painting I was briefly side-tracked finishing a few minis for another game, but managed the bulk of the mini over two sessions, with little bits here and there to finish off. In all it felt fairly straightforward, although I am not totally happy with the face, but I consider it finished, especially given how few Anima Tactics minis I have painted in the past year.

Nimrod is a Level 40 Prowler for the Church. At that Level, of the painted units I have so far, he would substitute for either Grey, Luzbell or Saint Astraega, and like all of them he offers something unique for a Party. What Nimrod has is threat to Hidden and Intangible models; suddenly Stealth is not the great protection it ordinarily is. His Actions are likely to leave Nimrod stranded, so timing his Attack or Charge will be crucial.

In terms of Advantage cards, Covert Operation to give Advanced Deployment looks good; Clock of Cronos or Fate Clock at least leaves the option of a defensive Action Point (for Dodge); or Gnose to get Nimrod into position.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units Units Painted/Owned: 75/169 (44.4%; added - nothing)
Anima Tactics Discrete Units Painted/Range: 71/163 different units (43.6 %)
Year to Date Target: 1 of 12 units (1 per month target; 8%)

Anima Tactics Production By Cipher Studios Ends?

Well, last year's announcement by Cipher Studios was bad enough for Anima Tactics, and now it looks like Anima Tactics minis have suddenly become more scarce.

A fan asked Ninja Division about restocks of minis:

"Are the out-of-stock Anima Tactics minis on the webstore now gone for good?"

And this was the reply from Ninja Division:
(source link)

"that is correct."

So it looks like whatever supplies are available are currently the last remaining copies of the various minis. Taking a brief look around the internet suggests availability is very reduced for much of the range compared to this time last year.

It also means that the last few releases (Sharsha, September, Nimrod and Anaximenes) may be among the rarest minis for the game.

It could be that Cipher Studios plan to move ahead separately from Ninja Division, but that does not seem likely.

What seems the case is that the promised Legion and Limited Edition Celia are not going to appear. I have asked about those two minis specifically, and not received an explicit answer from Ninja Division.

I accept that this is speculation, taken from the information available, however it means I strongly believe the first era of Anima Tactics is pretty much done except for the arrival of The Bearer and The Nameless miniatures as part of the Gate of Memories Kickstarter.

I retain some hope for a future of some iteration of the game, and I hope that somehow the existing characters make their way into any hypothetical future edition, even if only in the form of game rules if the minis won't ever be produced again.

Anima Tactician In 2015

2015 was a very lean year in my project to eventually paint at least one of every Anima Tactics miniature. I managed only 4 units in 2015, whereas in 2013 I painted 36, and in 2014 I painted 29.

On the plus side, I was especially please with how Adolf Brunner and Cordelia Rosalind turned out.

The wind was knocked out of my sails by the Cipher Studios announcement early in the year - my enthusiasm dwindled to almost nothing. I still want to finish the project, but 2018 is probably unrealistic now.

I have set a much more modest goal for 2016 than 2015, aiming to paint 12 units, or an average of 1 per month. Hopefully that target can be met and the project gets back on track in some form.

There is the possibility of an unofficial UK Ninja Division tournament in 2016, possibly including Anima Tactics. Add to that, there are rumours of a return of Anima Tactics in 2016 via a new edition, possibly under a new name, but what that means for the existing sculpts and their use in the rumoured new game is really unclear as yet.

Onward and upward.