Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

 CAMPAIGN UPDATE

*****

The five great pillars of black shivered in uniform and great arcs of eldritch lightning leapt across the interminable distances between them over and over. The abominations that had become associated with the mysterious objects continued to pour forth to harass those trying to seek some answer to their quest...

Over this past weekend and in a special “By-Popular-Demand” day the previous Sunday, the campaign for Dark is the Fallen Sky continued with great enthusiasm. So much so that it looks like the campaign will now be moving into the final stretch with a number of people seemingly intent upon completing their missions! It’s taken a bit longer than I thought but the campaign has shaped up nicely.

*****

Sunday, May 1st

Match 1: 300 Levels (Jordan v Isaac)
The Azur Alliance verses Samael
Special Battle: Unholy Atmosphere

Azur Forces: High Arbiter Arkeid, Maximo Ligori and Les Jaeger
Samael Forces: Konosuke, Fallen Angel Dinah, Nahimana, Dark Cheshire, Janiel and Momiji

Once again the Azur Alliance made use of its past explorations to locate information relating to the Dark Pillars, alas the information they possessed seemed only to lead the Alliance into a fight with Samael where the odds where completely against them and the agents of Gaul fell back in a complete rout.

 

Azur Score: 0
Samael Score: 210

Match 2: 300 levels (Mecha v Ayo)
Wissenscraft verses The Church
Special Battle: The Lightless Halls

Wissenscraft Forces: Sophia Ilmora, Cordelia Roselind, Hiro, Rayne, Lorenzo Cortez, XII
Church Forces: Justina, Damien, MArchosias, Saint Hazael, Holy Soldier Alius (35), 2x Samael Agents (30ea.)

This battle was a decisive victory for Wissenscraft and garnered them much knowledge for their quests as they swiftly took control of the ancient ruins and plundered it for all its worth despite the valiant Church counter attack headed by an enraged Marchosias

 

Wissenscraft Score: 1295
Church Score: 0

Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th

Match 3: 300 Levels (Jordan v Mecha)
The Azur Alliance verses Wissenscraft
Special Battle: Stronghold

Azur Forces: High Arbiter Arkeid, The Condemned Lovers, The Colonel, Kirsten, Kyler
Wissenscraft Forces: Goethia (With Mauser), Feng Yi, Sophia Ilmora, Rayne, Lorenzo Cortez, XII

Lucanor’s agents, having cooly analyzed the task before them had determined that to achieve complete control of the Pillars would require the acquisition of a base from which to launch repeated operations. Gathering a strike force XII set out to lay claim to a set of ruins located upon the side of a mountain. Learning of this action the spies of the Alliance informed Arkeid who attempted to deny Wissenscraft’s action and take the stronghold for her master.

The battle was fierce and the Azur forces soon found themselves overstretched and unable to dislodge the Crows who gained the high ground, soon they capitulated the stronghold though ultimately casualties where light on both sides.

 

Azur Score: 25
Wissenscraft Score: 95

Match 4: 200 Levels (Ayo v Sen)
The Church verses Samael
Special Scenario: The Dark Forest

Church Forces: Marchosias, Damien, Saint Hazael, Holy Soldier Alius (35)
Samael Forces: Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Dark Cheshire, Momiji

Amid ruins buried in the heart of a dank forest the forces of the Church crossed blades with Samael. In a mighty conflict the Executioner tried to exterminate the abominable supernatural life before him but his victory was cut short with the forces of Samael holding out over their opponents in a swirling melee atop a small hillock.

 

Church Score: 125
Samael Score: 195

In the aftermath the forces of Samael tapped into the dark energies of the forest an unleashed a curse upon a most hated foe named thusly as Reinhold

Match 5: 150 Levels (Ayo v Mecha)
The Church verses Wissenscraft

Church Forces: Saint Hazael, Holy Soldier Alius (35), Justina
Wissenscraft Forces: Celia, Lorenzo Cortez, Hiro

Beneath a broken wall a small scouting force from the Church clashed with skirmishers from Wissenscraft. While each side tested the defenses of the other, the day swung to Wissenscraft.

 

Church Score: 50
Wissenscraft Score: 75

Match 6: 300 Levels (Jordan v Sen)
The Azur Alliance verses Samael

Azur Forces: High Arbiter Arkeid, Elhaim, The Colonel, Kirsten, Kyler, Maximo Ligori
Samael Forces: Dark Cheshire, Konosuke, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Momiji, Janiel

With the repeated failure of the Azur forces hunting after answers gaul ordered a swift reorganization of his dedicated forces. The change was immediate as the Alliances next conflict with Samael was a clear victory.

Azur Score: 295
Samael Score: 210

Match 7: 250 Levels (Kyris v Sen)
The Sacred Holy Empire of Abel verses Samael
Special Scenario: Destined Conflict

Empire Forces: Yuri Garvis Olsen, Samiel, Daniella Meris, Vayl, Lilian Virgil
Samael Forces: Bael, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Janiel, Ignis (20)

Destiny is a strange mistress, on this day the forces of the Empire and samael found themselves exploring a wooded ruin but rather than face each other in conflict they kept to their separate searches without a single incident

 

(This match was hilarious, both teams simply ignored the other and raced to the opposite sides with victory going to the initiative winner in the fourth turn)

Empire Score: 235
Samael Score: 215

Match 8: 300 Levels (Isaac v Sen)
Samael verses Neo-Abomination
Special Scenario: Neo-Abomination

Samael Forces: Nahimana, Konosuke, Dark Cheshire, Bael, Momiji, Fallen Angel Dinah
Neo-Abomination: Fallen Angel Ophiel

Yet another abomination stumbled into the world and the forces of Samael marched forth to meet it. Nahimana was the first to step into combat in an effort to shield Bael from the creature. While Nahimana fell, Dark Cheshire stepped forward and took revenge unleashing a devastating barrage of attacks thanks to Summun and destroyed the creature in short order.

 

Samael Score: Special Victory

*****

Each player in the campaign selects a force of 400 levels, while they do not have to fully their roster at the beginning of the campaign once a purchase is made it is fixed unless a reward from a match allows a change. These 400 levels allow for an additional 40points of Advantage Cards, 1 Leader class unit and 2 Organizational advantages. The following information is the various Teams so far participating in the Campaign.

The Teams:

Mecha – Wissenscraft

Character Pool: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Alessa Raincross, Goethia (Pilot: Mauser), Hiro, Sophia Ilmora, Khaine D’Lacreu
Organizational Advantages: The Process, Lost Loggia
Advantage Cards: Nullem Lusec, Ord of Power, Fate Clock, Greater Life Potion, Aura, Raphael’s Gift, After Image, Dragons Blood, Supernatural Traps, Supernatural Weapon.
Team Cards: Assault Team

Accumulated Exploration Points: 2505
Spent Exploration Points: 900
Influence Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used) x2

Jordan – Azur Alliance

Character Pool: High Arbiter Arkeid, Reinhold, The Colonel, Kyler, Kirsten, Claude Valmore, Cenette, Elhaim (50)
Organizational Advantages: Shadow Lords, Organization
Advantage Cards: Dragons Blood, Tactical Advantage, Covert Operations, Nue, Piercing Weapon, Clock of Kronos
Team Cards: Les Jaeger

Accumulated Exploration Points: 3150
Spent Exploration Points: 2400
Exploration Rewards: Mark of Gabriel (Used) x3, Seek New Horizons (Used) x2, Change of Orders (Used, Elhaim)
Influence Rewards: Command Presence (Used)

Fallecs – Church

Character Pool: Romeo, Evangeline, Saint Astreaga, Damien, Aliss Testarossa, Nero (50 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Unshakable Faith, Exterminators
Advantage Cards: Raphael’s Gift, Supernatural Weapon, Combined Combat, Tempus Fugit (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: Saint Council

Accumulated Exploration Points: 105
Spent Exploration Points: 0

Isaac - Samael

Character Pool: Fallen Angel Dinah, Bael, Momiji, Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Konosuke, Janiel, Cheshire (5 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Mystic
Advantage Cards: Protective Shield, Supernatural Weapon, Control Bound, Combined Combat, Nephiros (15 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 2020
Spent Exploration Points: 1200
Rewards Bought: Seek New Horizons (Used) x2

Andrew - Empire

Character Pool: Daniella, Erika, Claire, Lilian (225 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Combat Mastery, Imperial Armour
Advantage Cards: 2x Supernatural Weapon, Gabriel’s Gift, Pool of Life, Mikael’s Tears
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 390
Spent Exploration Points: 0
Influence Rewards: Exodus, Illusion of the Mirror

Sen - Samael

Character Pool: Cheshire, Momiji, Bael, Konosuke, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Janiel, Fire Demon (45 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Supernatural Mastery, Mystic
Advantage Cards: Dawn of the Dark, Life Potion, Aberration, Nephiros, Raphael’s Gift (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 3380
Spent Exploration Points: 2100
Influence Rewards: Protection, Beyond Reality, Curse (Used)

Kyris - Empire

Character Pool: Samiel, Kronen, Daniella, Iosara (215 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Empresses Chosen, Critical Mastery
Advantage Cards: Life Potion, Logistics, Tactics (20 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 960
Spent Exploration Points: 0

Ayo - Church

Character Pool: Damien, Justina, Xavier, Marchosias, Saint Hazael, Church Agent (30), Church Agent (30), Alius (40), Alius (35) (0 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Divine Mediation, Unshakable Faith
Advantage Cards: Elemental Weapons, After Image, Energy Orb, Power Source (0 points unspent)
Team Cards: Damien and Justina

Accumulated Exploration Points: 200
Spent Exploration Points: 0

- Raith

[New to Tactics]

The downloadable rules work fine on thier own but there are newer rules that deal with specific characters and abilities that they don't include.  You can find most of those rules lying around the main Anima Forum.  Having the big book just gives you everything in one neat reference.

However if your just looking to learn the basics the PDF is great, all the other rules can pretty much be picked up by playing against those who have access to the other book.

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

CAMPAIGN WEEKEND #12

Saturday and Sunday May 7th and 8th

This coming Saturday and Sunday, May 7th and 8th, Mind Games (City Store) will be hosting the next Campaign Weekend for Dark is the Fallen Sky. This is outside of the usual schedule for this Campaign and for the moment the weekends will occur when I have the opportunity to supervise the events.

Newcomers to the campaign are very welcome to join us. While it might seem like the campaign is well established the outcome is still within reach of anyone to claim, veteran or otherwise.

In addition to these days being used by the Campaigners they are also a good time to come and learn about Anima Tactics in general, play a game, have a demonstration, talk about the mini's and how you go about painting/assembling them.

Location:
Mind Games, Melbourne,. 244 Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD, Victoria, Australia.

Time:
12:30pm till 5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday, the 7th and 8th of May

For specific information post questions here or email: freeagent005@gmail.com

- Raith

[Advice on the proper care and feeding of a fire demon?]

The best thing with the Fire Demon is to think of it as a Missile or a Doorstop.

Doorstop technique:

With this tactic the Fire Demon is there to hold another character in place.  Target someone who is out of AP, you then summon the Demon the requisite 2" away and then have it free move into base contact where it makes its basic attack and now the pair are locked in combat, while the Demon might die pretty quickly it will cost the opponent some AP to kill it before they can move on.

MIssile Technique.

Summon your Demon within a few inches of your summoners front arc, somewhere back from combat a little and let it cross over a turn so it has 4 AP then send it charging in to an opponent where it gets out a single attack before the following round it starts making stability checks.  IF your summoner can hold 2 or more summons each turn have it pull out another Demon so it can fling them across the board turn after turn gaining bonus to hit and extra dice from the charge action to overcome its low attack score.

The Genma Factor

If you can take Genma with Fire Demons, she has the ability to add Bind Points so they can stick around longer.  On top of that she has a nice magic missile attack for some light damage.  Genma really helps with the Doorstop technique to keep things around and she can potentially deploy two Missile attacks in a turn.

The Sophia Initiative.

This goes for anything really, I wouldn't waste her bonus to hit on Summons but you can include Sophia in any team so she can buff a characters attack value.  It turns the low characteristic figures into larger threats.

Advantage Cards

Unfortunately you can't attatch Advantage Cards to a Summon so theirs no hope coming for them from here.

- Raith

[Balance issues]

For my players the Azur Alliance is probably the hardest team to beat with a number of tournaments and events I have organised over the last three years going down to Azur forces.  Its really all about team selection and tactics when you ask questions like this you might want to post what sort of force you field as pretty much any Anima Organization has a couple of differing methods of use.

There are basically two Azur methods, sneak attacks and overwhelming actions.

With Sneak Attacks you prime your Azur force to include a lot of assassin characters like Harod, Jerome and Kyler, in a large force you can even include several Agents.  The idea is to deploy as much of your force as allowed via infiltration and advanced deployment, then have any left start hidden.  You need a few eavy hitters to be able to wade in while you send in your fast moving back-stabbers to target your evemies models in small group gaining massive damage before falling away and hiding once more before  repeating.  I find the Lords of the Abyss a great core to build around for this tactic as Deadmoon and Hel can benefit from Dark of the Moon and so your opponent can't target them while they move acros the board and into position, it also breaks Line of Sight for Jerome if he needs to recloak.

In an Overwhelming Actions team your looking at the Arbiters, these characters can get your other team members to perform actions without having to spend any of thier own AP, this means you have the ability to dodge and attack more often than your opponent and the more attacks your opponent must defend against the less AP he has to use for his own plan.  Even though a free attack might only be a basic attack you chip away at a persons LP and they will die.  Free Movement is also a handy thing to have.  For this tactic the best core force is Les Jaeger in a smaller fight as the Colonel counts as an Arbiter for his team while in a larger fight Arkeid is probably the most tactically flexible Arbiter.

Now there is a third option and thats to combine the two above methods, take a mostly sneak team and put an arbitrator in and you can have some truely devastating combinations.

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

 Hmm, I must have recorded the points down properly... oh well i'll alter them after the next Campaign Day.

And yes Unsummoned Summons still count for Victory Points, look at the summoner card and they have a + sign after thier level cost, basically the summon is added onto their points.

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

*****

A wind unlike any other whirled forth through broken stone ruins of a once great city. The bones and dust of the long dead quivered with a brief flicker of life as the skies darkened. Across the world Crows and Ravens cried out and soothsayers divined their meaning, the Apocalypse was immanent and would drive those in its presences to the darkest of deeds...

While not as scheduled as I would normally like, this weekend witnessed another Campaign and Demonstration event. After briefly visiting Supanova (a local pop culture con) I rocked on up to my usual haunt and was quickly swamped not only by my regular players but the last groups of onlookers checking out my assembled collection and the games being played.

Over the course of the weekend four Campaign matches were played as well as a friendly and a couple of Demonstrations, the last of which was for some visitors from Canada who I hope will get into the game once they return home.

*****

Match 1: 300 Levels (Jordan v Sen)
The Azur Alliance verses Samael
Special Battle: Unholy Atmosphere

Azur Forces: High Arbiter Arkeid, Maximo Ligori and Les Jaeger
Samael Forces: Konosuke, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Shinigami Ayl, Dark Cheshire, Janiel and Momiji

Jordan started off the campaigning by using his accumulated knowledge to force Sen into a confrontation on his own terms. After learning of the Scenario Sen gambled on including Janiel in his team and managed to avoid loosing her to the oppressive darkness of the battlefield, unfortunately Konosuke was not so lucky as the Daemon-creatures power and unholy life was ripped from it on the very first turn of the game.

The loss of Konosuke was followed by a steady stream of Samael characters from more mundane means until time ran out.

Azur Score: 260
Samael Score: 70

Match 2: 150 levels (Ayo v Sen)
The Church Verses Samael
Special Battle: Ruins of Americh

Church Forces: Marchosis, Saint Hazael, Alius (35)
Samael Forces: Nahimana, Cheshire, Momiji

Making his debut is Ayo fielding a Church team. To get his game rolling Ayo fought Sen in a small but vicious 150 point game.

Like most matches this size the melee was joined quickly and Marchosis began to dominate at an early stage, his ability to gain strength from his opponents defeat saw Sen taken down in short order.

Church Score: 95
Samael Score: 0

Match 3: 300 levels (Sen v Kyris)
Samael Verses The Sacred Holy Empire of Abel
Special Battle: Come the Apocalypse

Samael Forces: Nahimana, Dark Cheshire, Momiji, Konosuke, Janiel, Fallen Angel Ophiel
Empire Forces: Yuri Garvis Olsen, Daniella Meris, Vayl, Samiel, Iosara, Lilian Virgil

As can be expected of a Control Match the heaviest fighting was around the central objective, in this case a proverbial Sword of Damocles. Which Samael forces poured into the immediate area the Empire held back a little and the first few turns passed with both sides chipping away with ranged attacks before making an attempt to get stuck into things.

By the time the game ended only two Empire warriors had taken and significant damage but the game was carried by Samael with neither side choosing to unleash the powers of rage and slaughter possessed by the weapon.

Samael Score: 140 (Special Reward – Protection)
Empire Score: 0

Match 4: 300 levels (Sen v Jordan)
Samael Verses The Azur Alliance
Special Battle: Neo-Abomination

Samael Forces: Nahimana, Dark Cheshire, Janiel, Konosuke, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel
Abomination: Neo-Ligori

In a mirror of the match that began the weekend it was concluded by Sen who used his accumulated experience as Jordan had earlier to hunt down and attack one of the twisted entities spawned by the Dark Pillars.

While this match was being fought and resolved in record time in the background I ran the Canadian visitors through a three player Demo.

Samael Score: 0 (Special Reward – Beyond Reality)
Azur Score: 75

*****

Each player in the campaign selects a force of 400 levels, while they do not have to fully their roster at the beginning of the campaign once a purchase is made it is fixed unless a reward from a match allows a change. These 400 levels allow for an additional 40points of Advantage Cards, 1 Leader class unit and 2 Organizational advantages. The following information is the various Teams so far participating in the Campaign.
The Teams:

Mecha – Wissenscraft

Character Pool: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Alessa Raincross, Goethia (Pilot: Mauser), Hiro, Sophia Ilmora, Khaine D’Lacreu
Organizational Advantages: The Process, Lost Loggia
Advantage Cards: Nullem Lusec, Ord of Power, Fate Clock, Greater Life Potion, Aura, Raphael’s Gift, After Image, Dragons Blood, Supernatural Traps, Supernatural Weapon.
Team Cards: Assault Team

Accumulated Exploration Points: 890
Spent Exploration Points: 600
Influence Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used)

Jordan – Azur Alliance

Character Pool: High Arbiter Arkeid, Reinhold, The Colonel, Kyler, Kirsten, Claude Valmore, Drake, Cenette
Organizational Advantages: Shadow Lords, Organization
Advantage Cards: Dragons Blood, Tactical Advantage, Covert Operations, Nue, Piercing Weapon, Clock of Kronos
Team Cards: Les Jaeger, Condemned Lovers

Accumulated Exploration Points: 2730
Spent Exploration Points: 2100
Reserved Exploration Reward: Mark of Gabriel
Influence Rewards: Command Presence (Used)

Fallecs – Church

Character Pool: Romeo, Evangeline, Saint Astreaga, Damien, Aliss Testarossa, Nero (50 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Unshakable Faith, Exterminators
Advantage Cards: Raphael’s Gift, Supernatural Weapon, Combined Combat, Tempus Fugit (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: Saint Council

Accumulated Exploration Points: 105
Spent Exploration Points: 0

Isaac - Samael

Character Pool: Fallen Angel Dinah, Bael, Momiji, Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Konosuke, Janiel, Cheshire (5 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Mystic
Advantage Cards: Protective Shield, Supernatural Weapon, Control Bound, Combined Combat, Nephiros (15 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 1710
Spent Exploration Points: 600
Rewards Bought: Seek New Horizons (Used)

Andrew - Empire

Character Pool: Daniella, Erika, Claire, Lilian (225 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Combat Mastery, Imperial Armour
Advantage Cards: 2x Supernatural Weapon, Gabriel’s Gift, Pool of Life, Mikael’s Tears
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 390
Spent Exploration Points: 0
Influence Rewards: Exodus, Illusion of the Mirror

Sen - Samael

Character Pool: Cheshire, Momiji, Bael, Konosuke, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Janiel, Fire Demon (45 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Supernatural Mastery, Mystic
Advantage Cards: Dawn of the Dark, Life Potion, Aberration, Nephiros, Raphael’s Gift (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 2665
Spent Exploration Points: 2100
Influence Rewards: Protection, Beyond Reality

Kyris - Empire

Character Pool: Samiel, Kronen, Daniella, Iosara (215 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Empresses Chosen, Critical Mastery
Advantage Cards: Life Potion, Logistics, Tactics (20 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 625
Spent Exploration Points: 0

Ayo - Church

Character Pool: Damien, Justina, Xavier, Marchosias, Saint Hazael, Church Agent (30), Church Agent (30), Alius (40), Alius (35) (0 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Divine Mediation, Unshakable Faith
Advantage Cards: Elemental Weapons, After Image, Energy Orb, Power Source (0 points unspent)
Team Cards: Damien and Justina

Accumulated Exploration Points: 95
Spent Exploration Points: 0

- Raith
 

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

CAMPAIGN WEEKEND #11

Saturday and Sunday April 9 and 10

Hello again one and all, this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 9th and 10th, Mind Games (City Store) will be hosting the next Campaign Weekend for Dark is the Fallen Sky. This is outside of the usual schedule for this Campaign and for the moment the weekends will occur when I have the opportunity to supervise the events.

Newcomers to the campaign are very welcome to join us. While it might seem like the campaign is well established the outcome is still within reach of anyone to claim, veteran or otherwise.

In addition to these days being used by the Campaigners they are also a good time to come and learn about Anima Tactics in general, play a game, have a demonstration, talk about the mini's and how you go about painting/assembling them.

Location:
Mind Games, Melbourne,. 244 Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD, Victoria, Australia.

Time:
12:30pm till 5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday, the 9th and 10th of April

For specific information post questions here or email: freeagent005@gmail.com

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

Update: Here are some of the images I snapped from the previous weekend, my apologies for the lack of commentary, it was a busy day with a series of games both Campaign and Friendly

A Battle Between the Black Sun and the Azur Alliance

 

Both fields in use...

A Happy Demoee

Wissenscraft verses the Azur Alliance

 

Wissenscraft verses the Samael

Some Careful consideration of distance

An mistaken ambush by Empire Troopers against some of the Empresses own.

 

- Raith

 

[Campaign Diary: The best laid plans of Xenos and Men (Session 31 + 32 [Update Dec 20]) - Campaign Complete]

  "For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falk

Hi all, on March 3 my family was struck with a tragedy, my Mum passed away in an accident.

Since then I have moved home to help take care of things, unfortunately my home is quite a hike from my regular haunt and as a result it will be some time before I will be back to running any games for the next portion of this campaign "Wrath begins in madness and ends in retribution." or my others.

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with these Diaries, I hope to get back to them someday.

- Raith

[Campaign Diary: The search for victory [New Entry: May 28, 2013]]

 "For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falk

Hi all, on March 3 my family was struck with a tragedy, my Mum passed away in an accident.

Since then I have moved home to help take care of things, unfortunately my home is quite a hike from my regular haunt and as a result it will be some time before I will be back to running any games for this campaign or my others.

Thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with these Diaries, I hope to get back to them someday.

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

 "For all those who came in late..." - Lee Falk

Hi all, on March 3 my family was struck with a tragedy, my Mum passed away in an accident.

Since then I have moved home to help take care of things, unfortunately my home is quite a hike from my regular haunt and as a result it will be some time before I will be back to running games of Anima be it for demonstrations or as a part of my ongoing campaign.

Hopefully I will return at some point and kick things off again but for now I can only make this brief report.

After Action Report

Over the weekend of February 26 and 27 We kicked off the years Anima gaming with a full weekend of Campaign fun. IT was a good turn out and we saw most of the regular crew put in an appearance across the two days. Several Campaign matches were fought, including a special event where a group of Imperial Lancers mistook a band of allied Empire troops as bandits, while Iosara managed to avoid the surprise attack the rest of the force was swiftly taken captive and then released with much apologising.

The weekend also saw a couple of demonstration games and a number of onlookers who promised to return at a later date to join in on the fun.

- Raith

[More about the story...]

Hmm, there's nothing official that I can think of.

You could take a look at the Cipher Studios forums someone might have described them in brief over there

cipher-studios.com/AnimaBB/index.php

Your best bet might be to see if there is a Free Agent operating in your Area, then attend a demonstration day and they will be able to explain the factions in detail

Anyways I have put together something, its not much, really summarizes a lot and for those with more knowledge reading this, yes I have glossed over somethings and have really only scratched the surface about the organizations, if I didn't these wouldn't be summaries and I would be typing for a really long time...

The Sacred Holy Empire of Abel: Established to rule the word the Empire has recently suffered a civil war that saw the death of the last Emperor and the promotion of his daughter the Child-Empress Elizabetta into power.  The Empress while blessed by the powers that be is not considered fit to rule by everyone and while she has proven herself capable her Empire is much divided.  The Empire is Guarded by an Organisation called the Knights of Heaven which has various tiers, the highest tiers the Knights of the 7th Heaven are her personal bodyguards, each is a warrior of nigh unsurpassed skill and are both terrors on the battlefield and capable commanders.

The Azur alliance is a breakaway group of principalities from the Holy Empire.  Lead by MAthew Gaul they have formed an alliance obstensibly under the mission to protect themselves and thier ways of life from the Empire but also to gain more power for themselves.  Gaul who controls the Alliance almost completely wishes to use his newly gathered power to put himself as the ruler of a new Empire.  To this end he has selected unique people with the power to manipulate reality, the so called Arbiters.  Each Arbiter hides thier true face behind a helm, each is dedicated to Gaul and are his generals in the field using thier powers to sway battles in thier favour.

The Church is at once a part of the Holy Empire and a separate entity, in fact they consider the Empire to be a part of the church.  The Church try to stay outside of the politics sweeping the world entering into it when they feel they will ultimately gain an increase in support.  It is the responsibility of the Church to spread faith to the world but also to protect it from the dark creatures that lurk in the shadows.  To this end they have two organizations, the Inquisition who hunt down and destroy any supernatural entities and powers they encounter and NAthaniel who are dedicated to the study of supernatural events and determining if the occurrence is a sign from god.

Hidden away from the world is Samael, an organisation dedicated to protecting the remnants of the supernatural races that still exists.  Ruling over Samael is an organization called the Fallen Angels, this organisation control a loose cell based system that tries to protect Samaels members as best they can.  Samael is everywhere, its people operating in all the major cities and out in the countryside using potent enchantments to hide its members true nature.  But not all is benevolent about Samael, many of the Fallen Angels do not want to remain hidden or simply live alongside mankind, there is a faction that wishes for the Supernatural world to reclaim its lost glory and rule over the world or eliminate mankind (and maybe everything else) entierly.

Founded by the outcast heir of the Empire's original bloodline is Wissenschaft (Meaning Science) a secret organization built by Lucanor for an important purpose.  What that purpose is even Lucanor may not know but for now Wissenschaft concentrates on rebuilding the lost sciences and combining them with magical methods, the results are amazing, guns, holographic cloaking fields and Giant Robots are just some of the technology this organization has access to.  The Crows and Deva's of Wissenschraft are highly trained and equipped men and women dedicated to thier prince, they use this rediscovered technology on the quiet battlefields of the world.  Each of these agents has undergone a special right called the Process were thier blood is replaced with a black liquid and a psychic crystal is implanted in their brain, this Process allows normal people to achieve feats of Inhumanity.

Finally there is the Black Sun.  On the surface it is the worlds first Mega-Corporation a massive trading conglomerate spread across the world.  It is their illegitimate dealings that have won them great power.  Black Sun trades in forbidden magical items and spells selling these esoteric secrets around the world, during an expedition to find new artifacts they discovered the Book of the Dead.  Rather than sell the object on they have learned from its pages and created a strange hybrid of magic and metal creating powerful undead abominations under their control, perhaps they originally planned to simply make new weapons of war to sell on but now that the experiments have proven how potent these creatures are they now turn thier eyes to more lucrative outcomes.

- Raith

 

[More about the story...]

The main rulebook for Anima: Tactics contains information on the world, information on the organisations and a background for 70-odd characters.

Its a good place to start, then if you want to get further into the backstory its time to look at the RPG books such as Gaia Volume 1 which contains information on the Old Continent in a great amount of detail.

- Raith

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

CAMPAIGN WEEKEND #10

Saturday and Sunday February 26 and 27

 

Well its been a little time since my last entry here, due to the end of the year and family issues the campaign has been on hold but will now return to its regularly scheduled events.

 

This coming Saturday and Sunday, February 26th and 27th, Mind Games (City Store) will be hosting the next Campaign Weekend for Dark is the Fallen Sky.

Newcomers to the campaign are very welcome, while it has seen some action in the past the event is still open for anyone to win.

In addition to these days being used by the Campaigners they are also a good time to come and learn about Anima Tactics in general, play a game, have a demonstration, talk about the mini's and how you go about painting/assembling them.

Location:
Mind Games, Melbourne,. 244 Swanston Street in the heart of the CBD, Victoria, Australia.

Time:
12:00noon till 5:30pm, Saturday and Sunday, the 23rd and 24th of October

For specific information post questions here or email: freeagent005@gmail.com

- Raith

[Red Theurgia go... Ho to use it...]

Theurgia is an upcoming miniature.

When it is released you will be able to use Hiro's special card.  Until that time the Power Ranger will have to go on without his Giant Robo.

There is currently no indication of when Theurgia will be out.

- Raith

[Looking to start]

There is a basic cheat card included in the Starter sets but the best reference is in the last few pages of the main rules.  There is a summary page.

- Raith

[Looking to start]

Hey

1: Yes Anima Tactics is still very much active, now more than ever in my region.  Most of the forum talk for Anima occurs over @ www.cipher-studios.com/AnimaBB/ the Cipher website and facebook page show mini's that are coming soon spoiler wise.

2: Anima has a high replay factor due to it being a Skirmish game.  A game of 3 mini's is the smallest sized game possible and is more of a stepping stone to a bigger more complex 300 level (approx. 8 figures( battle which is far more complex with a decent amount of tactical skill involved in winning.  Most of the players I knowcollect at least two teams and some a lot more which further increases the replayaility as their group changes with each battle.  The game is less expensive than others and with the rather loos organisation rules for what can work in a team its possible to pick up spare figures without spending a fortune to by an entirely new army 

- Raith

[Anima: Tactics @ ARCANACON XXIX (Con: Report)]

Arcanacon XXIX

After Action Report

Day 1 - Thursday

Much like the previous year Arc got off to a good start, I rolled up at 11am and got set up, the doors to the Con didnt open till after midday and where even a bit late due to some technical difficulties but that just gave me a chance to sit down and relax for a bit.  Once the gamers where let in the place soon got busy with people calling past the table (Conveniently located near to the main entrance)

After an hour or so of people milling about I got stuck into my first demonstration.  During that a few more people rolled over to check out my display and after that first event I had another Demo supplicant waiting.

The matches for the day went one to the demoer and one to myself alternating between Light and Dark starters which became a theme for the rest of the convention.  Sometime around 8pm I began to pack up following the beginning of the last roleplaying session block and I actually managed to get home for plenty of sleep.

I think this was my second demoee for the day, he laid the smack down on Bael after two unsuccessful Mark of Jedah attempts.

A win for dark in the third demonstration around mid-afternoon.

Day 2 - Friday

Wow this day was completely different from the previous day or any from other years.  For the vast majority of the day the main hall was empty, few people wandered through to look and there were no demonstrations though I got to talk shop about painting and at lunch had to apologize to a bunch of D&D players who were hoping that the figures were pre-painted or simply for sale.

As Friday was neither the opening registration day nor a holiday I had expected the crowds to be thin but it seemed like the only people about where really dedicated gamers roving from one gaming session to the next, barely stopping to have a break.

Day 3 - Saturday

Saturday picked up again from the previous day.  Really picked up.  With the major War Gaming events taking place in different parts of the con I was busy for most of the day showing off my figures, answering questions, explaining and running demos.  I was somewhat glad by the end of the third day that I had, had a quiet friday as my voice certainly got overworked.

After the first two demonstrations for Saturday I lost track of which demo teams won each round though the streak seemed to favour light more than Dark with Kronnen managing to continually avoid being paralyzed.

I also saw most of my regular crew who dropped by the table to say hi and ask when things are getting underway on the normal schedule.

Another satisfied customer (even though he lost the demo), this guys had spent a bit of time over the previous two days admiring my collection before I got him to give the game a go.

Towards the end of the day I showed this guy the ropes, he had previous wargaming experience so the demo was pretty fast paced and hopefully we'll see him again at my regular events.

Day 4 - Sunday

Sunday was a combination of the previous days, it started out very slow with some tired people making their way between games with a few newcomers.  I alternated between being busy showing off the game and chatting with people I knew from previous events.

I managed to get a couple most demonstrations in and explain the rules but sent the late afternoon being shuffled around by the Convention staff in to run an Auction.  Right at the very end before I left I took a quick lap around the con, past the 40 or so tables of Warhammer 40k still being battled out for a winner, round past the traders and back again.

Just after 5 o'clock I packed up my gear the con was winding down and the last scheduled event was the Arcanacon Prize awarding so I hustle on out before they took up too much space.

Here is my last demo for the con with one player and an onlooker, the guy I was playing against kept telling me to be as savage as I could in the demo, apparently he didn't want to be coddled.  After arguing with my own morals about beating down a potential recruit I gave in and wrapped the match up pretty quickly despite Baels continued lack of success.

Here is one of the many match outcomes from across the weekend.

The closing hours of Arc 2011

*****

All up the con was less busy that I had thought it would be but I had a pretty good time and will most likely be going back next year.

- Raith

 

 

 

[Anima: Tactics @ ARCANACON XXIX (Con: Report)]

This is just a little reminder that Arcanacon starts this thursday. I will be running demonstrations and hosting matches throughout the four days. On thursday things will get under way around 11am.

- Raith

[Campaign Journal: The Vermilion Codex]

Nice work on the campaign, seems like an excellent setup, lively NPCs and PCs and a intricate plot.

I would suggest though that when you post the summaries make sure every paragraph is slightly seperate from the next.  A few times reading those updates was just a wall of text which is hard to read.

Im looking forward to the next updates.

- Raith

[Campaign Diary: The search for victory [New Entry: May 28, 2013]]

“For all those who came in late...” - Lee Falk

This report will be my final update to this thread for 2010, I am on holidays for a while but new entries
should start appearing by February. Anyway on with the show...

THE SEARCH FOR VICTORY
Session 31: Calixis Sector, The Wrap, en-route to Malfi onboard the Blessed Remembrance
177.799.M41

A young bursar by the name of Leonard guided the Acolytes to their mid-decks quarters. After their
search of the Goldenhand for transport they had met with a factor from the Merseack-Combine.

Following some swift negotiations Ashram had used his families influence with the Combine to secure
passage for the next vessel heading for Malfi. Two days later and after a deposit of several hundred
Thrones the group was steaming out of Scintilla’s orbit and heading for the jump point into the empyrean
beyond the gravity well of the system.

The journey to Malfi was slated to take three weeks, a week each climbing out of Scintilla and in to Malfi
with a week in transit, the forecasts from the Combines navigators reporting the route to Malfi stable and
free from any immaterial-storms.

The trip away from Scintilla introduced the Acolytes to a number of other passengers, they were given
the run of several mid decks ranging from deck 10 to deck 15 with those above and below out of bounds
and any other places where guards where on post such an Engineerium and the lateral cargo holds.

Within those bounds were housed the higher class of passengers, minor nobles, important factotums
and other members of the Imperium’s wealthy elite who could not afford to simply commandeer a vessel
in its entirety or simple use a personal transport.

A day after translation into the warp Sister Bles wandered the corridors following one of the scheduled
meal times, there was little to do aboard the Blessed Remembrance and while prayer and fasting would
normally fill the sisters time she found simply walking to be more restive. Sister Bles was about to begin
another circuit of the hallways surrounding the Acolytes rooms when a door opened and a man and a
woman fairly fell into the corridor.

Both where clearly some people of import given the quality of their clothing, the woman had her temper
up lecturing the man at finger point. Bles quickly saw to the center of the argument, apparently one of
the couples servants had vanished and the woman expected the girl was involved with the man. Before
Sister Bles could intervene as a moderator the woman landed a hefty slap against the man and stalked
off.

Half way through their trip Gaius found himself wandering the groups assigned decks when a sudden
scream of terror echoed down the ships passageways. Setting off at a sprint the Arbitrator quickly
arrived at the source of the shrill cry to see a noblewoman sitting pressed up against a wall pointing
fearfully at a short corridor branching off to the side.

Gaius raced forward and looked where the woman pointed, the corridor was barely 10 meters long and
dead-ended at a sealed Bulkhead. Moving carefully the Enforcer searched the area, wishing that the
ships protocol had not called for all passengers to turn over their weapons for the duration of the
voyage. The area revealed nothing and the Arbitrator returned his attention to the screaming woman
who resisted his efforts to calm. It didn't take long for a small crowd to gather and for several members
of the ships security complement to arrive and perform a quick assessment of the scene before calling
for some trauma specialists to take the woman to Sick-bay.

Though Sister Bles had been content to simply walk the hallways SIster Narla had enjoyed a more
productive time during the voyage. After consulting with their steward the Sister was allowed to look in
on the medicae staff of the ship, hoping to offer her meagre talents as aide and in turn to broaden her
knowledge of medicines and chymystry.

Narla was on duty when the hysterical lady was brought into the medicae facility. One of the facilities
attendants quickly ordered a servitor to administer a does of sedatives and the woman's raving quickly
subsided. For several minutes ships security tried to question the woman but all she could say was
something had sprang out of the dark corridor and seized her husband dragging him away suddenly.

The following day another incident occurred as Nari-ann wandered about the guardswoman had been ill
at ease without her weaponry and had taken to fashioning a crude shiv out of a dinner utensil. Finally
feeling a little less unarmed the woman found herself on the edge of a small gathering. A little way
ahead a trio of security personal stood keeping the onlookers back while a pair of medics tended to a
barely conscious man. Above the group a portion of the ceiling hung open where an access panel to a
service conduit was positioned. After a quick word with some of the onlookers Nari-ann learned that the
man had apparently been seen in the company of a young woman at dinner who now seemed to have
vanished.

Something was clearly happening on board the Blessed Remembrance and the Acolytes soon found
themselves asking questions. It quickly became apparent that all three incidents had occurred within
the lowest of the decks they had access to and all within a hundred meters of one of the guarded
access-ways to the low-berths where the vessel housed thousands of pilgrims.

While the group had previously been informed that they were not allowed access to the low-berths
Novice Arn was able to talk his was through the restriction. If the faithful of the God-Emperor were
traveling the paths of Saint Drusus then as a priest of the ecclesiarchy it was within his right to tend to
the needful flock.

The ploy seemed to work and soon the group were asking question amid the thronging horde of
penitents, postulants and pilgrims. The mysteries of the mid-decks were not unique to that area, in fact
they seemed even more prevalent, many people had been reported missing almost one an hour,
enough to cause many to become suspicious.

Trailing after rumor and half glimpsed activities the acolytes found themselves in the lowest decks of the
star ship where the well maintained hallways and holds for the pilgrims turned into waste-recyc and
infrastructure areas. Amid a towering stack of water renewal systems the group made a grisly
discovery.

The tattooed elder screamed furious hate at those before his ramshackle tabernacle, several dozen
men stood in rapt attention. Off to the side of the congregation five men with lasguns stood over almost
fifty men and women, most wearing homespun robes while a few where clearly nobility dressed in the
latest Scintillan fashions.

As the acolytes watched a pair of men turned away from the screaming preacher and grabbed a woman
from the covering mass, despite her struggles they dragged the girl over to a massive series of gears
turning one of the massive water aerators. With a callous disregard the pair threw the woman onto the
giant gears where she was dragged screaming into their crushing motions lubricating them with her
blood.

Both Arn and Hack were enraged by the corruption of their respective faiths and the group retreated to
plan. If some form of cult was sacrificing people to the machine they needed to be put down, but that
would require either help from the shipboard security forces or access to the acolytes own weapons.
The group quickly decided that they would be far better off dealing with the threat themselves rather
than trust others who might be in on the activities.

To accomplish their plan the group first approached their bursar Leonard and after an unsuccessful
attempt to convince the young man that the Acolytes where better equipped to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately the steward was loathe to let armed guests and promised to have some of the ships
personnel look into the matter and to even take it up with the First Officer after the Acolytes tried to
impress upon the young man the heresy of the situation.

With their first attempt to gain aide a failure the group moved to plan be. Nari-ann moved as a
distraction making a brush-by pass on one of the guards stationed near the arms locker holding the
groups equipment. The man screamed out as the guardswoman’s make-shift shiv sliced into his leg, his
agonized scream drawing off the other men-at-arms attention long enough for Hack to get past them
and disable the lockers security-protocol retrieving some of the groups armaments.

Feeling more relaxed once in the possession of their equipment the group bullied their way back down
to the lower decks with Arn leading holy-warhammer at the ready. From a small walkway less than five
meters above the deck the Acolytes could see that the heretical slaughter had not abated. With
righteous anger Arn hurled a catechism of hate down on those gathered below while his companions
spread out around the room selecting targets of opportunity.

The righteous cry from Arn drew the attention of the men below who turned to gaze at the intruder.
Arn’s heretical compatriot screamed a hysterical order to his men who raised their weapons and
sprayed fire in the priests direction. Despite the fuselage of las fire Arn stood unharmed and with a
wave from his hammer his companions began their slaughter.

All told the battle was one sided, the Acolytes held superior positions with Arl, Nari-ann, Hack and
Trauma Bles firing down from on high while Narla and Gaius moved to close range where they made
good use of their shotguns. Finally Arn leapt of his perch and charged into the enemies line slaying the
leader and crushing the heretics morale.

Two days later the Blessed Remembrance broke the warp and steamed for the orbit of Malfi, there was
no sign of any further cult activity aboard the vessel and the news of the Acolytes rescue had spread far
enough through the trip to attract some attention from the vessels command staff though the group tried
their best to continue maintaining as low a profile as possible.

- Raith

[Campaign Diary: The best laid plans of Xenos and Men (Session 31 + 32 [Update Dec 20]) - Campaign Complete]

Greetings and Salutations faithful of the God-Emperor once again we have come of an ending, in this
case another year of Dark Heresy is over and here are the summaries of the last two sessions. While
the acolytes of Inquisitor Thrakis where only involved in two missions this time both accomplished a
great deal and my campaign is quickly ramping up. For those of my longest players they are now within
sight of Ascension others are not too far behind them and i expect most to have reached that
benchmark next year. Speaking of next year I suppose I should announce the next installments
name...Wrath begins in madness and ends in repentance. This will continue Act 3 for a little while and
then move into act 4. For those keeping track of things it should now be clear that my acolytes have not
been pursuing several different investigations but one giant conspiracy involving a strange Xenos Bug,
Technological creations and people willing to manufacture a dangerous drug to manipulate others.
Where it will all lead? More will be revealled next time...

Act 3: Unseen
Session 31 & 32: Calixis Sector, Adrantis Sub, Baraspine (Orbital Dock: Aboard the Abandoned)
to Scintilla Sub, Scintilla, Hive Sebillus (Tricorn Palace), 130.816.M41 to 162.816.M41

“Six” sprinted down the docking umbilical utilising what little cover the massive docking-arm could offer,
behind him shouts of anger and alarm echoed. A quick glance over his shoulder showed the profile of a
overweight man yelling for the nearby security guards and waving them in pursuit. Picking up the pace
Six swept into the void-lock of The Abandoned, the cavernous system was large enough for a pair of
Cargo-haulers to comfortably fit end to end. At the far end of the void-lock stood a pair of figures, neither
seemed to have noticed the assassin’s rapid approach or his pursuers, thier attention directed into the
ship beyond.

The Moritat slid to a halt beside a air-extraction port and quickly worked to loosen the grating covering
the opening, he then ripped a strip of cloth from his “borrowed” merchants outfit, leaving the piece
slightly visible pinned by the grating before hurrying to the next opening and slipping quietly inside.

Less than a minute behind the Assassin his pursuers arrived, spotting the man in black his robed
companion they stopped swiftly and began sweeping the void-lock for their prey. The sergeant in charge
of the detail approached Rubel who turned to face the men. Despite the open nature of the chamber
there was no sign of the intruder, nor had the facilitator seen anyone move past his position. While the
sergeant returned to leading his troops search Rubel turned to the tall red cloaked figure at his side, at
the little mans quiet instruction shrouded figure shrugged off its robe revealing the sleek metal shape of
a what the Inquisition was now calling a Shade-Reaper.

Four blade-tipped arms flexed as one, two wrapping over the creatures shoulders the other pair flexed
around the floating metal torso beneath the xeno-tech’s smaller more human looking manipulator arms.
It swivelled its long cylindrical head back and forth a moment, its single red lens-eye scanning the cargo
bay before it. Without a sound the Shade-Reaper drifted forward away fro the void-lock and out among
the racks of cargo as it moved light warped around its form until it was cloaked from sight.

Six waited within his hiding place for an opportune moment to leap out and strike but the arms-men who
had chased him were making things difficult as they moved about the chamber carefully checking all
possible hiding places, the assassin expected such a order but was surprised to see how easily the
searched overlooked his carefully crafted false trail until they began physically opening the various
ventilation safety coverings.

With the discovery of the torn cloth the arms-mens sergeant dispatched a pair of his men into the duct in
cautious pursuit while ordering several more to stand at the ready in case it was a trap. With his ever
present smile Rubel agreed pointing directly at Six’s hiding place, the little mans massive augmetic eyes
whirling and clicking as he reported the assassin’s true position.

Across the cargo-bay the rest of the acolytes struggled to extract themselves from the starship. Syrion
and Jalith had again lapsed back into a dream-like state, Atellus was next to useless missing a leg and
Ruby was still unresponsive while Magnus suffered from the trauma he had witnessed. Ketris helped
Atellus and those in less able conditions to hide inside a small niche formed by several stasis-casques,
without any real mobility Atellus was to guard the other acolytes as best he could by shooting anything
that came into the hide that wasn’t clearly identified as a friend.

With his companions secured as best as possible Ketris drew out his Bolt-pistol and Corker readied his
combat-shotgun. The pair formed a simple plan, the way off the starship was blocked by Rubel and one
of the Xeno-tech Reapers, they needed to get past the pair, the safest way being to disable at least one
of them, with the majority of the groups firepower stricken taking on the Reaper seemed like a foolish
endeavour. To that end Corker would do his best to act as a distraction for the Shade-Reaper running
about to draw its attention while Ketris would attempt to flank around the cargo bay and secure the exit
route by removing the little man in the black outfit.

Corker set off at a run flicking off the safety to his weapon and chambering a round, with a scream he
fired yelling out at the top of his lungs as he ran. Ketris moved away as quietly as he could, crossing
between the towering stacks of foodstuffs, miscellaneous items and liquid volatiles carefully secured in
the Abandoned’s hold. The repeated blasts of a shotgun and yelling let the former Legatine know that
his companion was still alive as he moved into position less than fifty meters away from the void-lock
and escape.

Through the sights on his bolt pistol Ketris took careful aim at his intended target, he still did not trust his
psychic abilities having witnessed Syrion’s erratic manifestations during his brief moments of lucidity, the
warp was in turmoil aboard the abandoned, it was as if a of water was consistently falling into a
pond rippling the surface. On top of his earlier sense that something was chittering away at the edge of
hearing the psyker preferred to use more mundane means of execution.

Inside his now exposed hiding space Six cursed Rubel’s cybernetic eyes, barrelling out of the extraction
vent the Moritat hurled a pair of grenades into the void-lock covering his movements with thick clouds of
smoke that spread out to conceal almost half the massive space. In response the gathered guardsmen
fired blindly towards the assassin’s previous location but failed to hit.

At the assassin’s emergence Rubel fell back calmly retreating away from the smoke and letting the
guards to deal with the intruder while the groups sergeant acted as an escort. A black shape dashed
from the concealing cloud towards the men, lumen-light glinted off the long mono-edged blades held by
the assassin. The blare of a shotgun added to the sudden confusion as the sergeant opened fire in
defence but Six ducked without slowing under the attack and was on top of the pair in a second his
swords sweeping out and cutting a shallow wound into Rubel’s arm.

In response the ever-smiling man reached into his over-jacket and drew out a small silver pistol, the
strange weapon was too sleek to be Imperial technology, its glistening sides glowed briefly with a blue
light before the weapon pulsed and a trio of projectiles whipped past the assassin, the low-velocity
munitions emitted an odd burring noise as they zipped past giving the impression that they chewed their
way through the air.

Six recoiled from the shots giving Rubel time to escape from close combat as the sergeant drew a
boarding cutlas and hacked at the Moritat. The pair exchanged blows for a few moments as the little
man in black crossed to a secured hatch leading from the area. Scowling at the back of his retreating
prey Six battered away his opponents attacks and leapt in pursuit as the retort of a bolt round split the
air.

Ketris shifted his aim from Rubel as Six charged into combat. The furious surprise assault by the Moritat
had spoiled the psykers shot for fear of hitting his ally, instead the former Legatine moved to head off the
rest of the arms-men attempting to assist. Striding confidently forward the psyker reached into his
pocket and grasped a small device given to him prior to the mission, with a sweep of his hand Ketris
hauled out a small silver Rosette. The Inquisitorial symbol dangled at the end of a short chain and with a
confident command Ketris identified his allegiance.

The pair of arms-men in front of Ketris froze in their tracks, though they were familiar with the nature of
their employment they had never been confronted so immediately with the consequences of their
employment. For a long moment the pair weighed their options looking nervously at each other before
turning to flee back through the void-lock and down the docking umbilical towards a future as far
removed from any illicit activities as they could think of.

With the first threat resolved Ketris shifted his attention to the duel between Six and the unnamed
sergeant. For a moment the psyker waited observing the match before making his decision, carefully he
focused his mental powers. Almost immediately the scratching within his mind became more
pronounced forming into a droning whisper as Ketris augmented his sight. A second later Six fell back
from combat and Ketris fired.

The bolt round chewed through the sergeant’s arm spinning him about and halting his attack, Six leapt
away and raced off towards the door through which Rubel had vanished the Moritat not willing to give up
his chosen prey especially when the man had such a distinctive trophy to be taken from his corpse.
Behind Six his opponent staggered in pursuit but Ketris fired again finishing him off, before starting after
his companion. Their pursuit faltered as a figure resolved in front of the swordsman.

Light parted around the Shade-reaper like curtains being pushed aside at the entrance of a domicile
revealing the technological construct, it hovered before Six at the access-way into the rest of the
Abandoned, scything its bladed limbs in anticipation. Six increased his speed, the assassins mind
racing, perhaps he could slide beneath the technological-abomination seeing as it lacked any legs and
simply floated in the air.

The Moritat’s eyes looked deep into the single red lens of the Shade-Reapers head and with a mutual
silence the pair collided. Six tumbled forward and the Shade-Reaper swept its blades down. Four blades
sliced up the ground as Six slid to safety through the hatch rolling to his feet and racing away once
more.

As the Shade-reaper turned to give chase Ketris called upon his powers again. Months before while
hunting through the Data-Vaults of Lathe IV the Psyker had been given a clip of special ammunition by
Interrogator Marchosis, each of the rounds contained a specialised Haywire device designed to disrupt
technology. The Bolt rounds cracked out but failed to connect despite his warp-enhanced skills, Ketris’s
eyes widened as the xeno-tech turned and swept towards him.

Corker continued his mad dashing about still screaming and making as much noise as he could hoping
to draw anyones attention, he could feel something hunting him though he couldn’t see his pursuer only
feel its presence as he twisted between stacks of supplies and dashed down long carefully secured
rows. After several more turns the Reclamator spotted an access-way from the cargo hold ahead of him,
as he began to turn down another row he spotted the flywheel on the door spin and the hatch swing
outwards. For a moment Corker was still screaming in aggression and firing his weapon in the air but
then he realised exactly how many men were dashing through the hatch and his angry cry became
panic.

Atellus heard the shots of Corker and the various sounds of violence from his hiding space. Next to him
Jalith was beginning to stir once more as was Syrion. A nearby voice gave the adept a start and he
looked about trying to see where the voice had come from given his limited location, glancing between a
pair of crates Atellus caught sight of a half dozen men dressed in flak armour and carrying lasguns. The
group swept through the cargo bay weapons at the ready, clearly searching their surroundings.

Pressing himself as far back into his hiding place as he could Atellus raised his stub pistol and took aim
down the only way into their hideout, anyone trying to come in would get a bullet to the face. Time
seemed to crawl as the searchers grew closer, when there was a sudden lurch of motion, not from the
new arrivals but from the formally comatose Magnus.

The Redemptionist lurched into a sitting position, eyes wide and unfocused the priest barely recognised
friend from foe. With a feral snarl Magnus snatched up a sword left with Atellus by Ketris and dashed out
from the crates towards the nearest of the searchers. Blood arced through the air as Magnus savagely
hacked at his target, before the man had hit the ground the frenzied priest was moving to his companion
who fired wildly in response.

As the cries for support echoed through the cargo-hold both Jalith and Syrion had managed to regain
their senses shaking off what seemed to be the last of the immediate side effects from Twilight. Jalith
retrieved his Nomad Rifle from Atellus’s care and crawled out of the concealed position before climbing
up one of the massive cargo stacks to gain a better understanding of the surroundings and operate in
support of the rabid Red Redemptionist.

From ten meters up Jalith could see about thirty armed men hurrying towards Magnus. The voidsmen
were armed and armoured but the priest seemed heedless of his own nakedness from his earlier
captivity. Picking a suitably large crate to set up on Jalith prepared himself as best he could lining up on
a target closing on the priests position.

While Jalith sniped away and Magnus dashed about madly inflicting blows on any within reach Syrion
took his time setting himself to rights. In between bouts of delirium the Psyker had shown remarkable
luck using a stub-automatic and so he once again called upon his abilities, hoping to take out one of the
newly arrived guards who stood just outside the entry to the hide-out.

Power swelled in the air before Syrion and Atellus sucked in a breath as he witnessed space distorting
about the psyker for a moment then with a impossibly quiet pop reality seemed to reassert itself. Syrion
squirmed as his abilities backfired before passing out and slumping against a crate.

Blades sang through the air and Ketris twisted left and right madly, managing through sheer luck to
avoid the sweeping strikes of his assailant all the while returning fire with his bolt pistol but without his
warp-blessed perceptions the psyker continued to miss, dying a little inside with the cost of each round
expended. For almost two minutes Ketris managed to hold out even hitting the machine with a bolt,
though it was a standard round rather than one of the specialist shells which Ketris had alternated in the
weapons clip. Dodging another swipe for his head the psykers grin became a frown as a second blade
from the Shade-Reaper plunged into his abdomen.

Blood sprayed everywhere and the guardsmen fell back from their frenzied assailant. Despite their
superior numbers the guards were taking massive damage. Several of their number had fallen from
sniper rounds and others had suffered from shotgun blasts as Corker flanked about. Amid all the
confusion was Magnus, drenched in gore and still possessed of a berserker fury the priest was quickly
shattering the spirit of the new arrivals. It only took a few more suicidal charges for the guardsmen to
break, their morale failing as hasty orders for retreat where called out.

While Magnus pursued the fleeing men, Syrion stirred once more, the psyker studied his surrounding
hoping to spot a target. While none were in range he caught a glimpse of a strange distortion of air
moving past his location. It took a moment for the Diviner to process what his eyes hadn’t quite seen
before he called out a warning to Jalith.

Jalith looked up from his scope at the shrieked warning to see the metallic form of the Shade-Reaper
rise through the air beside his elevated position. The Xeno-tech wasted no time in attacking as the
assassin rolled aside and threw himself to the next crate a few meters away.

Hell broke loose among the battered acolytes as the Shade-Reaper launched its surprise attack. Syrion
stumbled out of the hide and brought his psychic powers to bear blanketing the area with electronic
interference.

The Reaper fell as its gravitic-systems overloaded and cut out, the machine plummeted to the ground
clipping several crates on the way down before slamming into the deck. Atellus moved next, despite the
surge of etheric energies disabling all machinery in the nearby area the Adept quickly had his weapon
working once again and fired off a shot, though the round barely penetrated the xeno-tech’s thick
armour.

Again and again Syrion shut the machine down risking greater and greater incursions of the warp while
Atellus kept his gun functioning to snap off another round. A scream of frustration announced the arrival
of Magnus, the Redemptionist had chased off the guardsmen with his berserker fury and now leapt atop
the disabled Shade-Reaper.

Reversing his grip on his sword the ecclesiarch smashed the blade down again and again, scratching
the machines armour before discarding the useless weapon and simply trying to rip one of its own limbs
off to turn on it in kind. Several times the Xenos machine managed to avoid the effects of Syrion’s
powers but it was pinned in place by Magnus who knelt on its chest and battered away its slicing limbs.
Finally having retrieved his sword the priest found a weak point in the armour and with a grinding crumb
drove the weapon deep into the monstrosities chest.

With the death of the Xeno-tech Magnus seemed to recover his wits, while the acolytes took a few
moments to relax they took stock of their situation. Ruby was still out, Atellus was in need of assistance
with his missing leg, Jalith had been struck unconscious by a glancing strike from the Shade-Reaper
and after a minute Six jogged over to the group holding in his hands the bloodied cybernetic eyes of
Rubel and bearing an unconscious Ketris over a shoulder.

Escape was once again the acolytes collective goal, they retreated through the docking umbilical that
held the Abandoned in place and disappeared into the depths of the space station in orbit above Hive
Baraspine. Behind them amid the towering rows of crates and cargo the remains of the Shade-reaper
twitched, blade limbs and manipulator arms slowly flexed and with a flicker the scarlet glow of life
returned to the machines lens-eye.

For six days the group lurked through the stations bowels avoiding patrols of Sarcosian Dynasty Armsmen
and House Cortez hunters. They stole what clothing and supplies they could but kept a low profile,
with so many injured or unconscious they where in no further shape to do battle.

Despite their precautions the group was contacted by Astropath Ibrahim who relayed a number of
messages to the group. Over the following days they smuggled themselves backdown to the Singing
Depths and the safe-house provided by Inquisitor Thrakis. The news-vids reported a sudden and tragic
assault by hive-gangers in the Aerie that had destroyed several villa’s including the facility belonging to
House Hax-Amus though the gangers had in turn been eliminated by a detachment of Adeptus Arbite
Enforcers.

Luckily Magnus was contacted by Abel who reported his safety along with much of the household.
Abel’s cousin had been well prepared and they had escaped the attack.

Five days later the Cruiser, Lamentation of Women, arrived in system under the command of Thorr
following a hasty astropathic summons ordered by Ketris. Once close enough for real time hololithic
communication Thorr received a brief report on the acolytes activities. Despite the Acolytes botched
mission they had secured some evidence implicating the Sarcosian Dynasty, including a captured
Xenos-bug sample.

In response Thorr deployed a small detachment of Storm Troopers supplemented with Navy personnel
from the Lamentation to sweep up as much of the drug Twilight that they could, relying upon information
gathered by Six on storage locations and distribution point within Don Inotias’s criminal network. The
armed forces also began striking at House Cortez laying siege to their facilities until better equipped
forces could be brought to bear.

*****

...It had been over a month since the acolytes had escaped from the Abandoned, following the early
days of the cleanup operating under the attention of Thorr the group had been shipped back to Scintilla
for a full debrief and extended medical care.

While still not fully recovered from his ordeal Magnus stood in a small but well-appointed room deep
within the Tricorn Palace. The room was a study attached to the suites controlled by Inquisitor Thrakis
for use with his Acolytes and Agents, this room in particular was considered the demesne of Aimee.

The lady in question sat a few feet away from the Redemptionist staring at him with a somewhat bored
expression. Her hair and eyes where a bright silver that seemed almost unnatural, he features and body
could be called instantly attractive though no one who had ever met the woman in person would think
that way, the personality was abrupt and direct, Aimee had little time for anything not related to her
duties. In her lap lay a data-tome the screen scrolling with a torrent of information route from dozens of
spies both mortal and technological across Scintilla. Many where tasked to keep an eye on potential
trouble while still more watched the activities of the other Inquisitors on the world.

“You wished to speak with Lord Thrakis. He is not here, but I am speak your piece.” the woman’s words
were as cold as her silver-eyed gaze.

Magnus straightened himself a little and in as emotionless a voice as he could he addressed his
superior.

“Ma’am, I must regret to inform you that I feel that I am no longer capable of serving Inquisitor Thrakis
as an Acolyte.” Magnus then went on to explain how he had been compromised with an injection of pure
Twilight into his system and the seeming familiarity expressed by those who had captured him in their
efforts to turn him to their side.

Aimee closed her data-tome with a thump and carefully considered the person in front of her. “I see.” the
tone was cold.

No worse than normal thought Magnus who then recalled exactly how this woman might not be as
scholarly as it seemed, after all the Redemptionist had met two other women bearing identical features
working fro Thrakis, they still were unsure if they were different people or simply the same one in
different roles.

A silver chime sounded as Aimee rang a tiny bell sitting on the table next to her. Immediately a door
opened and a pair of hulking servitors lurched into the study, seizing Magnus in their vice like grip
picking him up by his upper arms. Behind the Servitors stood an Adept-Biologis of the Mechanicus.
“You request is denied.” again that cold disinterest. “The Inquisitor has plans involving you that have
finally born fruit.”

The servitors lugged the confused ecclesiarch from the room and away to the research facilities
maintained by the tech-cult beneath the palace.

There they strapped Magnus down securely and connected his veins at the wrists abdomen and ankles
to intravenous tubes. Flashbacks threatened to seize the priest as a tech-adept loomed before him and
began explaining that after Magnus’s first contact with the drug Twilight the Inquisition had taken the
precaution of removing his blood, replacing it with a mechanicus infused vitae capable of detecting any
new presence of Twilight and filtering it from his system before it had a chance to become entwined with
his biology. While the Inquisition had access to samples of un-injected Twilight it seemed that most were
carefully diluted, Thrakis had reasoned that given the interest in Magnus it would only be a matter of
patient waiting before they tried to co-opt him with as pure a serum as they could manufacture.

Fluids pumped into the Redemptionist taking away his ability to speak and thrash about, as
consciousness slowly fled Magnus saw the Adept-Biologis cut into his flesh with a laser-scalple before
reaching into the would and extracting a small black spheres less than an inch in diameter from his
body.

The tech-priests voice drifted to Magnus’s ears “Excellent the blessed nano-machines have done their
work. Proceed with next extraction...”

- Raith

[2010 Aussie Anima Demo's - [2010 Schedule Concluded - Dec 11]]

DEMONSTRATION EVENT #29!
Saturday December 11th
After Action Report

My final demonstration day for the year was a blast a LOT of people turned up to play, try out the game or look an the miniatures on display.

On top of my regular crowd I ran a demonstration for this guy Ivan “The Terrible”

Who I cleaned up in a stunning display of critical’s with Kronnen.

I also met Shiro, who had come up from Hobart to see a concert.

And as the day drew to a close Sen fought a almost identical Church versus Church fight against Ayo from my previous weekends demonstrations. Unfortunately for Ayo he only managed to keep his Samael Agent alive who was unable to effect an Intangible Damien.

While this concludes my Demonstrations for this year Anima has certainly picked up over the course of the year, my won little group has doubled and im hoping it will continue to grow in 2011

- Raith
 

[Dark is the Fallen Sky - Campaign Complete (Final Report)]

CAMPAIGN UPDATE

*****

The creature clawed its way free of its shallow grave its body wracked by spasms of eldritch power, the ancient armour it wore twisted and disfigured as the bulk of its body reformed sealing horrific wounds and building new muscle. The creature could feel the power of the Dark Pillars in the distance calling it forward time and again from beyond death to bring destruction, pain and misery...

This past Saturday was a pretty busy day, with demonstrations visitors and a few campaign matches thrown in. So lets get straight into the Campaign Update…

*****

Match 1: 200 Levels (Andrew v Sen)
The Sacred Holy Empire verses Samael

Empire Forces: Lilian Virgil, Claire, Erika, Daniella
Samael Forces: Dark Cheshire, Janiel, Shinigami Ayl, Nahimana

The forces of Samael and the Empire took a direct approach to their meeting, the wide open field left little cover for the teams ranged specialists but they made use of what they could with Janiel stalking through a small corpse of trees while Daniella set up overwatching from a ruined wall.

 

Almost beneath Daniella’s feet a horrific battle raged with both sides suffering several casualties quickly until the forces of Samael were able to bring about a small victory.

Samael Score: 110
Empire Score: 75

Match 2: 300 Levels (Sen v Andrew)
Samael verses The Azur Alliance
Special Battle: Neo-Abomination

Samael Forces: Fallen Angel Ophield, Janiel, Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Konosuke, Bael
Azur Forces: Neo-Abomination (Arkeid)

Having tracked down a creature infused with the might of one of the Dark Pillars the forces of Samael set to capturing their target. The Fallen Angel lead the way hoping to eliminate his opponent quickly but the abomination was swift to retaliate. As the desisive blow against their leader was struck Ayl stepped forth calling upon her Shinigami powers to return the favour mirroring the injuries inflicted on their source.

 

In the end it was the destruction of Konosuke who won the battle as the demon exploded in a blast of agony. Though the samael forces found themselves in a wretched state.

Samael Score: Special
Azur Score: 210

Match 3: 300 Levels (Mecha v Jordan)
Wissenschaft verses The Azur Alliance
Special Battle: Neo-Abomination

Wissenschaft Forces: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Cordellia, Khaine, Hiro
Azur Forces: Neo-Abomination (Arkeid)

The creature previously defeated by Samael seemed to be indestructible rising from the grave to confron the forces of Wissenscraft. The enhanced men and women of Lucanor’s secret army took a different approach to Samael holding back from battle and using their superior speed and ranged firepower.

 

The Wissenschaft forces fully commited to the conflict once they where appropriately deployed and though Hiro fell, Lorenzo in turn was able to strike several blows agains the abomination helping to assure victory for his team.

 

Wissenschaft Score: Special
Azur Score: 75

*****

Each player in the campaign selects a force of 400 levels, while they do not have to fully their roster at the beginning of the campaign once a purchase is made it is fixed unless a reward from a match allows a change. These 400 levels allow for an additional 40points of Advantage Cards, 1 Leader class unit and 2 Organizational advantages. The following information is the various Teams so far participating in the Campaign.

The Teams:

Mecha – Wissenscraft

Character Pool: XII, Lorenzo, Rayne, Alessa Raincross, Goethia (Pilot: Mauser), Hiro, Sophia Ilmora, Khaine D’Lacreu
Organizational Advantages: The Process, Lost Loggia
Advantage Cards: Nullem Lusec, Ord of Power, Fate Clock, Greater Life Potion, Aura, Raphael’s Gift, After Image, Dragons Blood, Supernatural Traps, Supernatural Weapon.
Team Cards: Assault Team

Accumulated Exploration Points: 890
Spent Exploration Points: 600
Influence Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used)

Jordan – Azur Alliance

Character Pool: High Arbiter Arkeid, Reinhold, The Colonel, Kyler, Kirsten, Claude Valmore, Drake, Cenette
Organizational Advantages: Shadow Lords, Organization
Advantage Cards: Dragons Blood, Tactical Advantage, Covert Operations, Nue, Piercing Weapon, Clock of Kronos
Team Cards: Les Jaeger, Condemned Lovers

Accumulated Exploration Points: 2655
Spent Exploration Points: 1200
Reserved Exploration Reward: Mark of Gabriel
Influence Rewards: Command Presence (Used)

Fallecs – Church

Character Pool: Romeo, Evangeline, Saint Astreaga, Damien, Aliss Testarossa, Nero (50 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Unshakable Faith, Exterminators
Advantage Cards: Raphael’s Gift, Supernatural Weapon, Combined Combat, Tempus Fugit (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: Saint Council

Accumulated Exploration Points: 105
Spent Exploration Points: 0

Isaac - Samael

Character Pool: Fallen Angel Dinah, Bael, Momiji, Nahimana, Shinigami Ayl, Konosuke, Janiel, Cheshire (5 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Mystic
Advantage Cards: Protective Shield, Supernatural Weapon, Control Bound, Combined Combat, Nephiros (15 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 1710
Spent Exploration Points: 600
Rewards Bought: Seek New Horizons (Used)

Andrew - Empire

Character Pool: Daniella, Erika, Claire, Lilian (225 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Combat Mastery, Imperial Armour
Advantage Cards: 2x Supernatural Weapon, Gabriel’s Gift, Pool of Life, Mikael’s Tears
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 390
Spent Exploration Points: 0
Influence Rewards: Exodus, Illusion of the Mirror

Sen - Samael

Character Pool: Cheshire, Momiji, Bael, Konosuke, Shinigami Ayl, Fallen Angel Ophiel, Nahimana, Janiel (70 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Supernatural Mastery, Mystic
Advantage Cards: Dawn of the Dark, Life Potion, Aberration, Nephiros, Raphael’s Gift (10 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 1455
Spent Exploration Points: 1500
Influence Rewards: Seek New Horizons (Used)

Kyris - Empire

Character Pool: Samiel, Kronen, Daniella, Iosara (215 points unspent)
Organizational Advantages: Empresses Chosen, Critical Mastery (1 Unchosen)
Advantage Cards: Life Potion, Logistics, Tactics (20 points unspent)
Team Cards: None

Accumulated Exploration Points: 625
Spent Exploration Points: 0

- Raith