Wanderers

Wanderers offer an interesting and useful array of options when building a Party.

For those unfamiliar with the game, there are two ways to build a Party: either by following a Faction (Light or Dark - all units mus be of the same Faction, but may include Neutral units also; or by opting to make an Organization Party. The latter option gives extra bonuses at the cost of greater restriction of units to select from, especially as each Organization tends to specialize, therefore certain deficits exist for each Organization.

When making an Organization Party you are entitled to include a single Wanderer (or Wanderer Team) and still benefit from Organizational Advantages. Therefore Wanderers allow specific deficits to be mitigated to some extent; a Party lacking high Armour might benefit from including Faust Orbatos; a force needing some hard-hitting power may find it useful to include Dereck Shezard; a Party wanting increased utility options might want to take Bella and Aqua. There are a number of Wanderers, and each tends to offer some unique options that may not be replicated in Organization units.

Prior to the Anima Tactics Update 2013 posted by Anima Studios/Cipher Studios (see post here), I had an array of options to fill gaps at 45, 55, 60, 65, and 95 Levels, and had a whole paragraph written about it (hey, it is almost like this blogging malarkey is planned!). After the update, I have a smaller array of slots my Wanderers allow me to fill with 40,45,60 and 90 Levels, so some flexibility has been compromised. For those unfamiliar with the game, a Team such as Team The Condemned Lovers (Drake and Cenette) or Team Bella and Aqua counts as a single 'slot'.

Maximo Ligori

I do rather like this mini; well I like the range immensely. but this one really appeals to me. There is a lyric from a Cult song that goes something like "He's a real heavy dude, in a killing mood" which to me sums up Ligori very well. I think the imagery is just right (sharp edges, asymmetrical armour, brutal looking weapon, chains etc.), and the name is just perfect in my humble opinion. In other words he looks like a 'bad mutha'.

This was a fairly quick paint-job, although broken up into sessions of downtime from some course-work I am doing. The only real tie-in to my planned Azur colour-scheme is the dark/black cloth, but I hope he will still fit in nonetheless. However Azur are definitely down the pecking order of my painting right now, so it will be a while before more are done. At least I think so...

On his Actions and Abilities is where Maximo Ligori gets very interesting if you ask me. This unit is now a few years old, but still fits a useful niche. All his Actions and Abilities are geared to him getting stuck into close combat. One of the key interactions is his Raxxor Slayer Action, which doubles Damage on a Critical Hit; combined with Critical Mastery and a decent base Damage value, and use of Gnosis means he has something like a 36% chance of doing double Damage if I have worked out the probability correctly. Line him up against targets with no significant Armor and less than 16 LP and he has a good chance of taking them out in a single attack unless they Dodge.

The downside for Ligori is that to function optimally he needs to take Damage in close combat, and although he has good LP, his Armor value is not huge. So keeping him alive is important. That makes me think that taking Raphael's Gift or Heart of Gold as Advantage Card would perhaps be the best option. Alternatively good old Elemental Weapon or Primal adds to the one-shot kill capability he can muster.

Not sure when Maximo Ligori will actually get a run out, but I look forwards to it when he finally does.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Minis: 147 (added: continues to be nothing!)
Anima Tactics Minis Painted: 36
Painted Minis Percentage: 24.5% (percentage of minis owned and painted)

Some Thoughts On The Impact Of The Anima Tactics Update 2013

Looking at the full list of the Update Level revisions (discussed briefly here), I noticed some Organizations see a big change in cost, as do many Wanderers and Summons. I thought I would look how it would affect the costs of eight Parties we have played with and that have been mentioned on the blog.

First Games (click for link)
100 Levels; won by Dark, suggesting they had an 'edge' maybe? The Light units together are now cheaper.
Dark: Azriel and Kingsley Warlock (now 95 Levels)
Light: Lorenzo Cortes and Drake (now 90 Levels)

200 Levels; Azriel was a star performer in consecutive games, so a good thing he has not been made cheaper perhaps?
Church: Azriel; Lostaroth Marchosias; Grey; and Drake (now 190 Levels)
Wissenschaft: Lorenzo Cortes; Hiro; Wissenschaft Agent (35 Levels); and Dereck Shezzard (now 190 Levels)

300 Levels; Wissenschaft had won, and had the least cost reduction, so does that bear out the relative costs of those units? Possibly, but more widely Wissenschaft have seen quite a few cost reductions (just not in many units I have painted, LOL!).
Church: Azriel; Lostaroth Marchosias (as Optional Leader); Grey; Sarah Reindhold; Elhaym, Maiden of Light (Level 50 Summon); and Dereck Shezzard (now 285 Levels)
Wissenschaft: Lorenzo Cortes; Hiro; Valis Ul Del Vilfain (as Optional Leader); Wrath of Nature; (Level 50 Summon); Wissenschaft Agent (35 Levels); and Drake (now 290 Levels)

Battle Report (click for link)
300 Levels; the Party with the higher cost under the revisions won, perhaps supporting the need from the game's creators to do so.
Wissenschaft: Valis Ul Del Vilfain (Optional Leader); Hiro; Lorenzo Cortes; Wissenschaft Agent; Drake; and Wrath of Nature (now 290 Levels)
Church: Lostaroth Marchosias; Grey; Luzbell; Sarah Rheindhold; Azriel; Bella; Aqua; and Hamadria (still 300 Levels)

So four games reviewed and in three of those four games the more expensive Party under the new costings won. Not very scientific, but it does lend a little support to the need to redress the costs!

Anima Tactics Update

Cipher Studios have posted up an update to Level costs/values for all the units so far as the Anima Tactics: Saga III & IV 2013 Update (click for link).

Note that this updates the value of units from all 'Sagas', not just Saga III & IV. Many units have seen cost reductions (such as my main gaming buddy Rob's seeming favourite-to-use unit Lorenzo Cortes), while some have seen increased costs (such as Aqua; which seems fair enough - it was a dirt cheap option previously. Not every unit has changed, but a sizable number have, including many Wanderers and a fair few Summons.

I am still a fairly new player, but it is immediately obvious that some go-to Party lists will be changed, and maybe some units that were previously thought less-than-effective may need to be reevaluated.

I plan to update the Level cost for the units I have painted so far on pages and posts over the next couple of days.

The units I have painted that have changed value are as follows:

Dereck Shezzard: Level 60 (-5 Levels)
Kingsley Warlock: Level 45 (-5 Levels)
Hiro: Level 50 (no change)
Clover: Level 70 (no change)
Grey: Level 40 (no change)
Wissenschaft Agent (M): Level 20-40 (no change)
Lorenzo Cortes: Level 45 (-5 Levels)
Lostaroth Marchosias: Level 55 (-5 Levels)
Bella: Level 45 (no change)
Aqua: Level 15 (+5 Levels)
Drake: Level 45 (-5 Levels)
Sarah Reindhold: Level 30 (no change)
Wrath of Nature: Level 35/50 (no change)
Azriel: Level 50 (no change)
Styx: Level 25 (no change)
Valis Ul Del Vilfain: Level 55/60 (no change)
Elhaym, Maiden Of Light: Level 35/45 (-5 Levels)
Janus Faith: Level 40 (-5 Levels)
Yuki: Level 35 (no change)
Juliette Kaim: Level 25 (no change)
Odin Goldsmith: Level 50 (no change)
Luzbell: Level 40 (no change)
Hamadria: Level 15/25 (no change)
Erika: Level 40 (no change)
Alessa Raincross: Level 40 (-5 Levels)
Empire Agent (F): Level 20-40 (no change)
Saint Aestrega: Level 40 (no change)
Type-004:Hellhound/ Hellhound*: Level 25 Black Sun (no change) or Level 15 Summon (no change)
Damaris: Level 35 (no change)
Cenette: Level 40 (-5 Levels)
Type-005: Level 20-30 (no change)
Type-005: Level 20-30 (no change)
Type-009: Level 25-35 (no change)
Type-005: Level 20-30 (no change)
Faust Orbatos: Level 60 (no change)

Progress Report Update 2013

Back in December 2012, I posted a 'Progress Report' for my Anima Tactics painting. At that time I was struggling for momentum, and needed the post to help me focus a little.

In that post, I set out the grand expectation of painting twelve Anima Tactics minis in the following twelve months, averaging around one mini per month, and expecting to do a quarterly update. Well, regular readers know that I update my running total with each new mini, and as for that target; well, I have now painted thirty two minis in less than eleven months!

On another note; in March 2012 I showed off my first nine prepped Anima Tactics minis. Of those nine funnily enough, only four have been painted! So I have managed to be distracted on at least thirty occasions!

Going forward, if I can average 3-4 minis per month it will take me around 3 years to paint everything I have, plus stuff I still want to pick up, as well as hypothetical new releases. In the past eleven months I have had a couple of fallow months, which have been compensated by much more productive months, so I hope that I can sustain the current overall momentum. Stay tuned to see how I do!