I'm putting together an Empire party for a league that's starting up at my FLGS. We're starting at 200 points because there are -so- many new people there who are just getting into it and don't have 250 point armies yet. I was hoping for some input on my army choice as it stands so far, since there are probably plenty of more experienced players here than at my game shop.

Samiel, the Black Lion of Abel, lvl50

• Orb of Power, lvl5

Daniella Meris, lvl45

• Life Potion, lvl5

Kronen Roxxon, lvl40

• Greater Life Potion, lvl15

Odin Goldsmith, lvl50

• Elemental Weapon, lvl5

Logistics plot card, lvl5

This gives me a total of 185 spent on characters and 35 points spent on equipment and plots. I know that 35 is a little over what is supposed to be allowed to be spent on equip cards, but I saw an example in the rulebook where points not spent on characters were used for equipment instead. So I assumed that was allowed in the rules.

My general tactics with this group is to advance deploy Daniella into some kind of good position, where she has good cover but can also shoot out at any enemies that come into range. Samiel immediately begins to move as quickly as he can into the battle to support Daniella, while on the first turn Kronen and Odin walk to build up four action points, then begin to run so they can get in close.

When I get the points I need to move up to 250 matches, however, I can't decide which leader I want to go for. Yuri Olson would be useful for his team buffing abilities, but he can only use them once per game and they only last the round he uses them. He's a decent fighter on his own though. Griever, on the other hand, would nicely complement my bruiser-heavy team on the front line, but he'd be a third unit who is very slow and might have trouble catching up to faster enemies. Also, I would have to replace one of my other units with an Empire agent in order to make room for him in the character points.

I'm eager to hear -any- input or suggestions you guys might have.

I probably wouldn't put both Odin and Kronnen in the same team without a Supernatural Weapon attatched to one of them as they serve the same purpose.

When you deploy Daniella don't deploy her to far in advance of the rest of your group as they have low movements it can leave her out alone against more mobile enemies.

I would possibly take Janos rather than Kronnen for a bit more attack ability or someone who moves faster to support Daniella.

As for a Leader, in most cases a single round is all that is needed to win a match of Anima so the abilities provided by Yuri are fine, I would take him over Griever because you already have the destructive might thing down and while Yuri might not be as good as Griever at killing he certainly can fight.

35 points is not that many points on Advantage cards, with that number you can use some of the bigger ones. You are still limited to a max number of advantage cards equal to your characters so with the basic team of 4 you need to look at the costlier ones or just not use all the points.

- Raith

I'd second the idea of dropping Kronen, Maybe replace him with Lilian Virgil to add some healing back in, her plus 1 to resistances isn't to be overlooked, and she's fast enough to get out to support Daniella.

Switch Elemental weapon for Supernatural weapon if you can; attack matters far more than damage.

As is you're going to get chewed up by someone fielding a Samael team; unfortunately, it's pretty difficult to avoid that when you're Empire.

The Pool of Life plot card could turn you into a nasty king of the hill champion if you can AD Daniella to the hill if it's near your side.

The advice so far is really helpful. I hadn't really considered too much replacing Kronen, though the thought is -slightly- upsetting since replacing him will basically mean I bought the starter kit for nothing (not for nothing, I know, it DID get me into the game, but still...)

I'll have to think about wether to think about picking up Janus or Lilian to replace him, though I wonder if I shouldn't go for Lilian simply for the fact that she's faster... Janus is much stronger in a stand up fight obviously, and with his upkeep ability he can sit at a cool 6 armor almost the whole game... but he's still slow. Good for sticking with Odin though and forming what I affectionately have dubbed the bruiser squad. Lilian would be very useful for the healing and her ability to seal annoying enemies, on top of being faster, -and- inspiration could make for a devastating turn full of charges.

Equipment wise, I'll take the advice here and pick up Supernatural Weapon, since even with 5 extra character points spent on Lilian or Janus, that still leaves 30 to play with. I kind of wonder if it wouldn't be effective to keep Kronen and slap him with supernatural weapons as well though, bring his massive 8 damage to bear a little more often...

Tactics wise I try to be careful not to stick Daniella too far when there are particularly fast units on the field. Against 8/12 units, Samiel can usually get in close to support her at about the same time as enemy units are threatening to close in with her.

Obviously I've still got some stuff to learn and figure out about putting together an effective army on my own, but we all start somewhere, right?

Kronen + Supernatural Weapon is a great combo, removing him was just because with Odin you have way to much, Slow Moving HEavy Armour Kinda Not Hit Often But Deal Huge Damage guys... If you were playing in a Capture the Node game having Odin and Kronen is great for seizing objectives its just too much for 200 points.

- Raith

Pretty much the same reason to go with Yuri over Griever? The latter being another big, slow bruiser (albeit one who can hit a bit more consistently and has some awesome abilities to help him #*&! things up?

And if I ask a lot of dumb questions I apologize. I just figure if I learn the reasoning behind the advice I receive, I'll be able to make my own judgements later on. And what better way to learn the reasoning than to ask about it?

Yep, Griever is nice but just more of the same.

An all Bruiser team can work but you need to have a preference for it and be willing to let youor enemy come to you.

- Raith

Griever is a monster and I wouldn't be quick to dismiss him but at 70 points, if you take him when your group starts 250 armies you'll need to change your 200 line-up anyway so I just won't worry about it for the time being. I'd honestly consider changing Odin for Griever when you hit that point but that's a lot of money to continue to on minis. Once you invest in someone as expensive as Odin you'll want to table him as much as you can. That's a pretty solid reason that I'd pick Yuri over Griever, but maybe you're richer than me.

Tactically, the problem with "let the bout come to you" is that when it does come it will be on the other persons terms. As I field Samael I can tell you those terms would be me on hills as close to 16 inches away as I can make it. One thing that helps me when making a list is to think "How will I move these guys?" If your plan is to sit in one spot and hope to duck ranged attacks... well, let's just say they aren't called sitting ducks for nothing.

Pg 12 of the Rule book (hardcover book) states "Advantage cards, can be bought both with the same levels that are used to choose character or with additional advantage points that players recieve when the encounter level is choosen."

Alpha : 100 / 10

Beta: 200 / 20

Gamma: 300 / 30

Sigma: 450 / 40

Omega: 600+ / 60+ (advantages are in increments of 10 rounded down. so 650 will still be 60. but 700 will be 70 etc.. etc..)

also you cant exceed the number of characters you have in your party. meaning a 10 char team can only have max 10 advantage / equipment / plot

BattleFerret said:

evangeline (sorry if i mess that up) is an awesome support......btw...