Progress Report

I love the Anima Tactics range, that is a certainty - it has an aesthetic that appeals to be, and is clearly influenced by console games I enjoyed in the 90's. All good. But like many minis hobbyists I can be obsessive, and after reviewing what I have accumulated since my last update I am determined to paint as many of these minis as I can manage among my other gaming and painting commitments - I aim to paint at least 12 in the next 12 months at least.

To that end I plan periodic updates of what I have painted, but also what I have ...ahem...accumulated...note never 'bought'..., and will offer a painted percentage of the sum total. My plan is that each period (probably each quarter but who knows) I will offer an update of minis painted so far (so should be aiming for at least 3 per quarter if I manage to stay in line with my updates), and a percentage completion. The idea being that as well as seeing the painted count rise, hopefully the painted percentage will rise, meaning I am not buying...ahem accumulating...beyond a realistic rate of completion.

So far:

Painted: 3
Painted Percentage: 4.9%

Painted

• Dereck Shezzard
• Hiro
• Kingsley Warlock

Under-coated or base-coated I have ready:

• Grey
• Clover
• Akio Kageshima
• Dark Cheshire
• Bael
• Genma
• Shinobi

Prepped but awaiting under-coat and in some cases a little green-stuffing:

• Al-Djinn
• Ahriman, Lord of Darkness
• Covel
• Ignis, Fire Demon
• Bella
• Aqua
• *Deimon
• *Juliette Kaim

In the pile of stuff in boxes and blisters:

• Legacy of Solomon
• Romeo Exxet
• Faust Orbatos
• Arkham
• Type 005 (blister)
• Type 005 (Black Sun starter)
• Alius, Holy Soldier (x2)
• Khaine D'Lacreu
• Khaine D'Lacreu LE
• Li Long
• Sophia Ilmora
• Kairos
• Saint Evangeline
• Kronen Roxxon
• Promethea
• Styx
• Tsubasa Kurokami
• Ophiel
• (another) Akio Kageshima
• *Arias Vayu
• *Elhaym
• *Tiamat
• *Lostaroth Marchosias
• *Wrath of Nature
• *Xavier
• *Saint Elienai
• *Grimorium
• *Hel
• *Kudoi
• *Kyler
• *Harod
• *Kirsten
• *Gemini – Zack & Zafini
• *Nahimana
• *Drake
• *Yuki
• *Sarah Reindhold
• *Adolf Brunner
• *Type 20: Verrier
• Samael Agent (F)
• Samael Agent (M)
• Church Agent (M)
• Wissenschaft Agent (M)

* indicates 'accumulated' since the last list...

Hiro

Go Avenger Ranger, go!

Hiro's background posits him as a boy reborn after an accident and rebuilt as the hero of his wildest dreams. He sees himself as an 'Avenger Ranger', a hero of justice, something he sees in the other Crows of Wissenschaft.

I love this nod to the Tokusatsu shows known to most of us in the west through Power Rangers, Masked Rider and V.R. Troopers. The rules of this guy emulate my memories of those shows, as perfectly demonstrated by his Posing rule; when Hiro defeats an enemy he has to expend an Action Point (or suffer Slow Level 1).

I have yet to play Anima Tactics, so I do not have a clue how he plays in the game, but I can guarantee that even when I have a few minis ready for my first games, I wholly expect Hiro to get a few outings!

I am pretty happy with how Hiro turned out, although I may do a little more on a couple of the areas of 'metal' on the model.

Hiro was started before Dereck Shezard, but it took until I felt I had enough focus and motivation to finish him off (if indeed he is finished) in a few stints.

I am pleased with how the figure looks in the pictures, and it probably photographs a little better than it looks in hand to be honest. That said, I definitely need to add some 'lighter' palette minis in my Anima Tactics selection I reckon; there is a lot of 'dark' going on so far. Well across the three minis if that counts as a 'lot'.

On my Anima Tactics painting slate now: Shinobi; Clover; Grey; Genma. 

Other minis that are base-coated include: Akio Kageshima; Bael; Dark Cheshire. 

I have a few other minis based and ready, but no under-coating: Covel; Deimon; Juliette Kaim; Bella and Aqua; Ingnis, Fire Demon.

Not sure which of these will be finished next, or whether something else will jump the queue - so stay tuned to find out!

Kingsley Warlock

Two Anima Tactics minis finished in 8 days? I am on a roll now - expect it to come crashing to an ignominious halt very soon no doubt!

Kingsley Warlock was started way before Dereck Shezard, but I stalled, mainly as I was struggling with the sword. NMM is still beyond me, but I like the final effect, and prefer it to regular metallics since I am not a fan of metallic paints. I find the changing of water and brushes etc too much of a chore.

As I say, I started this one quite a way back but stalled on the sword, which meant stalling on a few other bits as well, but once I repainted the sword, the remaining parts came together.

I really like the Kingsley Warlock mini; from the style (from the suit and long-coat matched with funky belt and shoes to the freaking huge sword).

For those that do not know Anima Tactics, all models have a class or role; well Kingsley Warlock occupies several of those (Controller - relates to Undead; Mystic; Warrior), meaning he is probably less effective than many mono-class counterparts. That said, I have yet to play the game so who knows! But what I do know is I need to get some of my other Black Sun Undead models painted soon. Being all of those classes opens up many, many choices in Advantage cards, since a lot are tied to classes. I am sure I will blog a bit about Advanatge cards at some point in the future.

Kingsley Warlock is Dark Faction too, and that means he can be played with other Dark and/or Neutral models outside of an Organization (Black Sun) list.

I have noticed that I go through phases in terms of the colour palette I use for minis, and the last two are no exception, with their dark hues. In the Anima Tactics minis pipeline I have Hiro (some commonalities with the palette of the first two, with added purple flourish); Genma (dark green and pale grey as key colours); Grey (who will be mainly, well, grey, with white contrast); and a Shinobi (dark palette again, dark blue as the main colour base).

Dereck Shezard

Click to embiggen

Wow. That took longer than I thought, or ever anticipated - finishing and posting my first Anima Tactics mini that is.

I only started Dereck Shezard very recently, despite having a couple of other minis in an almost completed state, but he got painted pretty quickly and I am glad I have finished one of these at last.

I love the visual ethos of the Anima Tactics range, and as a fan of games like Final Fantasy VII, FF VIII, Wild ARMS and others from the 90's, it is a game that pushes so many of the right buttons for me. I wish more of the minis were single piece casting like this one, but alas that is not the case. It won't stop me painting my way through this line, but it will slow me down, and as an admittedly very slow painter already, that is surely a funny notion.

I want to get playing this game sometime early next year, which means I reckon I will need around 6-12 minis at minimum to get started. And while I have plenty of the Anima Tactics line to do that with, my painting inertia will be the biggest hurdle without doubt.

Anyway, I am fairly pleased with this one; not my best paining ever, but some touches I am rather happy with. Hopefully Hiro and Kingsley Warlock will move into the 'finished' pile sooner than later. Watch this space.

Game-wise I have no idea yet! But his nickname is 'Godkiller' and he is one of he higher Level models in the game, and he is not a Leader which seems to bump the value of some characters up a little in comparative terms, so in all I expect he can kick some bottom when needed to do so.

Until Some (AT) Painting Gets Finished...

...I have been trying to immerse myself in the Anima setting to an extent that fits with my general current gaming focus.

Newcomers to the Anima collection of games like myself may be unfamiliar with how the range is set-up, but in a nushell there is Anima: Tactics (Tabletop skirmish game), Anima: Shadow of Omega and its expansions (a non-collectible card game) and Anima: Beyond Fantasy (the RPG game). While I guess the latter will have tons of depth and breadth in terms of setting material, it quite frankly isn't on my radar of interest due to other game commitments. That leaves Anima: Tactics of course, and the card-based games. Since my Thursday night gaming group diverts into different board and card games every so often, then the card game is a perfect fit.

I received the core box today and it is a nice little package (and may see some play on the way to Salute on Saturday!). Produced by FFG, the production values are up to the standards I have come to expect from that company. The card art is varied but nice, and the text on each is clear (whether it is 'gaming-clear' will be seen!). And just in putting some into sleeves I noticed the odd tip of the hat to Final Fantasy VII (certainly an obvious influence on Anima), with a Zeppelin Voyage card (a tip of the hat to the High Wind from FF VII) as just one example. It is a compact box with plenty of cards, some basic tokens and a few dice; nicely sized for travelling with and even with expansions should be eminently portable.

I will post more about the game when I have a game or two under my belt.