Azur Agent (male)

After turning around Akio Kageshima within a week, this mini has been finished in a slightly quicker period of time. I was painting something for a different game when it occurred to me that the other model had a very similar colour palette to what I would use for an Azur Agent, so while waiting for parts of that much bigger mini to dry, I started in on this. The Azur Agent was under-coated black, which means it has been waiting painting for quite some time, and of course I decided to use my regular Azur colour scheme, with the added accents of the white cuffs. It has surprised me just how many Azur units I have painted this year, especially as I have not finished at least one I thought would be done by now!

In the game background, the Azur Alliance is a rival power to the Empire of Abel, and the Azur Agents are the private army of the Supreme Archon.

In game terms an Azur Agent can be fielded multiple times depending on game size, and are customisable. Agents cannot really be min-maxed to match equivalent named units, but they can have a role in a Party. Of course they can simply be used as Al-Djinn Ash Slaves, but used in an Azur force something to consider is fielding them in the same Party as Kerberos who gives them a bonus to their Attack value. Even then though, there are simply more efficient options available since most Azur Prowlers are in the 35-45 Levels range, and the Azur Agents simply cannot match their capabilities, so I am not too sure I really see the game 'value' in them right now. Even worse, they kind of compete against Shinobi in terms of how they can be built, and comparing typical builds for both working off Stealth-based Attacks, the Shinobi will have a cheaper AP Action and be harder hitting, but the Azur would probably be built to be faster. So right now in the game it is hard to see that they can be used to their fullest potential. Hopefully that may change in the future.

On the Anima Tactics painting project front, I have several minis that could be finished quite quickly If I can muster the focus, so hopefully the last few weeks of this year will prove fruitful.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 164 (added: another Grimorium; still no sign of that pre-order from months ago...)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 67 (63 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 40.9% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 discrete units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he still is due for presumably 'imminent' release, and has been for a long time)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 41.4%
Year to Date Target: 26 of 33 units (3 per month target; 79%)

Akio Kageshima

Akio Kageshima is described as a powerful wizard from Lannet, who is seeking to expand his mystical skill.

He is also one of the older models in the range as far as I can tell, and so is one of the few not sculpted by Juan Navarro Perez. It is also a mini that I have been putting off painting for quite some time until biting the bullet while still gripped by recent painting momentum. In the end the colour scheme is one I am happy with and something I hope that contrasts nicely with my Organization colour combos. I am also hoping this is the start of a small surge in AT painting for me until the end of the year. I am way behind where I wanted to be, but getting more done each week, even if there are not necessarily the finished models to show for it yet.

Akio is a Wanderer, and a pretty inexpensive one at that at 35 Levels. He offers a couple of Ranged Attack options, as well as a Special Dodge. It is one of his Attack options that really interests me most. Soul Storm has Range 16 inches, and is  6 Attack, 10 Damage. It uses all of Akio's AP to unleash the Attack, meaning that you need to position him in advance. It is a big threat and Akio is pretty weak otherwise with 8 Defense and 10 LP with low 2 AP recovery; so getting the best out of the shot is key. Now, I wouldn't build a list around such a fragile although potentially hard-hitting character, but there are some options that come to mind to help get the best out of him.

Nullum Lusec is a useful Advantage Card option. At 35 Levels Akio could be targeted against a higher cost character quite freely; Nullum Lusec is a one-shot +2 Attack boost, so improves likelihood of success and fits the idea of using him in a 'cheap sniper' capacity. Characters that also offer Attack buffs include: Juliette Kaim, Sophia Ilmore and Saint Evangeline are all useful options. Finally, a unit such as Luzbell can be used to transport Akio to the perfect vantage point to make his Soul Storm Attack.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 163 (added: nothing, but I *still* have two minis on pre-order <sigh>)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 66 (62 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 40.5% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he still is due for presumably imminent release, and has been for a long time)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 40.8%
Year to Date Target: 25 of 33 units (3 per month target; 76%)

Units In The Concept Queue?

This is definitely something to categorize under 'Upcoming'; it seems there are a number of units not yet revealed as models but which have had rules written.

From a design aspect, getting a sculpt completed is often quicker than designing a new unit for a game, something I can vouch for, trust me.

That is not to overlook the importance of sculpting, far from it - arguably sculpting is what ultimately sells the whole package (design/concept, rules, sculpt, studio paint-work) of a skirmish minis game model really. But the rules-design phase is especially and unpredictably time-consuming, so it is no surprise that Anima Tactics has a number of units that have been outlined in terms of rules for quite some time, although these do go back some distance in some instances. - as far as 2011!

Of these units that have yet to appear, a number have been discussed on the Cipher Studios Anima Tactics Forum.

Units that have been outlined but are unreleased:

• Fate (2011): German card; Light, Mystic, Level 40, Wissenschaft
• Crimson Death (2013): English card; Dark, Warrior, Level 50, Samael
• Alma (2014): English card; Neutral, Warrior, Mystic, Gear, Wissenschaft
• Zenobius (2014): Spanish card; Dark, Prowler, Mystic, Azur Alliance
• Alexias (2014): Spanish card; Dark, Prowler, Warrior, Level 60, Church
• May (2014): Spanish card; Dark, Prowler, Warrior, Level 40, Empire - forms a Team with October and September (no, I don't understand the choice of months either....)
• Sharsha 'Friedgunde' (2014): Spanish card; Dark, Warrior, Level 50, Wanderer who may not be used in a Black Sun Party - her art has a sort of female Frankenstein vibe.
• Kaori (2014): Spanish card; Dark, Mystic, Level 35, Samael, sort of Anima Tactics witch on broomstick!

Add in that September has not yet been given a release date, and the possible alternative Celia (shown in this post), then it is almost like a small stockpile of concepts is building up - 8 by my count that are 'known'. It is easy to speculate on the reasons for that, but if an Anima Tactics Kickstarter were a possibility, I for one would be backing it in a heartbeat. Now that is pure speculation, but I can only hope the game gets some renewed momentum. 

Samael Agent (male)

Forming a shadowy network of operatives, Samael Agents are tasked to unleash chaos and confusion across all of Gaia in the name of the Fallen Angels of Samael.

With this mini, I have been painting it bit by bit through the week, desperately clinging on to my often fleeting motivation! I wanted a quite muted palette, to create a sort of 'fantasy ranger' look to him; green, grey and brown as the main colour blocks all fit that kind of vision I think, with some contrasting brightness from the stave and magical effect. When I finished Dagger, this Samael Agent was only under-coated, so it has quickly leap frogged a number of part-done minis, which is okay - at least something has been finished! It may be a bit rough in places, but I can live with it. The most important thing for me is getting another mini done, and it has also been a useful exercise in  working with the green colour I used here and which I am using for another non-Anima Tactics project.

Until I get a more substantial Samael force together, I think this Agent is most likely to  be used in games as created by an Al-Djinn as an Ash Slave. Samael Agents belong to either Light, Dark or Neutral Faction depending on the abilities. This can have slight impact of things like choosing Advantage cards, as well as how a few units do or do not get bonuses against specific Factions.

Running Totals
Anima Tactics Units: 163 (added: nothing, but I *still* have two minis on pre-order <sigh>)
Anima Tactics Units Painted: 65 (61 different units)
Painted Units Percentage: 39.9% (percentage of AT minis owned and painted)
Anima Tactics Range: 152 units (including 2 LE minis; including September as he still is due for presumably imminent release, and has been for a long time)
Percentage of Whole Range Painted: 40.1%
Year to Date Target: 24 of 30 units (3 per month target; 80%)

Unit Types

For interested readers who are not too familiar with the Anima Tactics game but would like to learn a little more, I have written a series of posts under the tag 'Abilities & Rules'. This is another in that series, this time looking at categories and other labels that are applied to units and discussing and describing them a little.

Categories
Many categories do not have a specific rule associated with them (although some like Agent, Summoner, Summon, and Undead do), but they do indicate the type of unit that a model is.

• Mystic: The Magic users; they don't have the durability of Warriors, but many offer Ranged Attacks and/or buffs or debuffs.
• Prowler: The sneaky guys; often fairly low level cost, and many have the Stealth ability. Many use Subterfuge as the basis for their Actions, which means that unless they are equal or higher level they cannot affect Intangible targets.
• Warrior: The Party's fighters, either at range or close up.Some of them are the 'tanks' of the force, able to soak up Attacks. Their Actions are often Ki based, which has an effect when it comes to targeting Intangible Units.
• Leader: Usually combined with other categories; Parties are limited to 1 Leader per 250 Levels. Leaders are typically powerful units, often with Party-buffs or other unique abilities beyond the scope of most other Units. Some Leaders are Optional Leaders, who have the choice of being fielded as a Leader or non-Leader Unit (costing more and with better abilities as a Leader).

Other Categories
These are categories of classifiers/descriptors that are in addition to the main categories above.

• Agent: The foot soldiers of the various Organizations, Agents can usually only be fielded in Organization Parties, and not Faction Parties (Light or Dark), except for Shinobi which can be used in either. Agents have customisable ability options and each Agent can be taken more than once per Party depending on game size.
• Arbiter: Characters able to influence their subordinates more than most Leaders. They have free extra Actions for their Party to benefit from.
• Controller: Characters able to guide and enhance Undead and stop them going out of control.
• Summoner: Mystics able to Summon otherworldly beings to the mortal world.
• Gear: Gears are either Technomagical Powered Armour or Technomagical Golems primarily used by Wissenschaft. They offer decent Armor and Life Points, but offset durability by being fairly easy to hit, and they usually cannot have Advantage Cards.
• Summon: Supernatural creatures only able to manifest in the physical world when invoked by a Summoner. They can be powerful and offer unusual abilities, but their tether to the material world is limited.
• Undead: Necrotechnological constructs; Undead are not able to have Advantage Cards and are subject to certain special rules. Undead units are a mix of cheap troops and more expensive specialists. Non-unique Undead may be taken multiple times relative to game size, but unlike Agents are not limited to Organization (usually Black Sun) Parties.

In the picture:

• Gear Mk. Trithemius: Mystic; Gear
• Sarah Reindhold: Mystic; Summoner (Light)
• XII: Leader; Warrior
• The Colonel: Warrior; Arbiter (if part of Team Les Jaeger)
• Kingsley Warlock: Warrior; Mystic; Warrior; Controller
• Hamadria: Mystic; Summon (Light)
• Empire Agent: Warrior; Agent
• Styx: Prowler; Undead
• Kagemaru: Mystic; Prowler; Optional Leader; Summoner (Dark)