At the start of last year I finally had the chance to try Anima Tactics, picking up the two starters. I then used some FFG credit to get a few more minis. When I had all those painted, I placed an order for another bunch.
And got downsized that day, leading me to cancel the order.
As a result of lack of funds, I've been playing with the same eight minis for the last year, so I've been getting to know them really well. Thought I'd share their win/loss records for anyone who's curious.
Alis Testerossa: 11 wins, 5 losses.
Alis had a long winning streak; her combination of hard hitting speedy power and her ability to hit and run makes her capable of really taking out foes fast. She's especially hand when supported by Evangeline; being able to heal and get armored up helps her a lot. She started being on the losing side more as we got the hang of really pounding on her at the first opportunity to deny her the chance to use her brutal charges more than once.
Evangeline: 9 wins, 9 losses
With useful support abilities, Evangeline depends very much on who she's supporting. She needs to be kept well protected, but her armor and healing can be a huge benefit to her side.
Kronnen: 15 wins, 6 losses
The hardest lesson to learn with Kronnen was the opposite of the lesson to learn for everyone else. Don't defend! He's got the armor and life points to take it, and he needs to make all the attacks he can to get a chance to connect, since he does immense damage if he does hit.
Kirsten: 8 wins, 10 losses
Kirsten is tricky; her attacks don't do a lot of damage, so you really need to use her special abilities to make several opponent's burn actions. I almost never manage to use her "attack everyone in range" power.
Takanosuke: 5 wins, 5 losses. With Dark Glyph: 2 wins, 3 losses
I'm still not sure how to best use Takanosuke. I think he does a lot better keeping at range (and hidden). Dark Takanosuke's Berserk can be...interesting. He spent one whole game standing around berserking behind a rock since he didn't have LOS to anyone! (and yet his team won...)
Bael: 8 wins, 11 losses
Bael suffered from a long running rules misunderstanding; we though you resisted by rolling equal to or greater than the effect, which costs her nasty effects a 10% chance of success. She's a bit of a wildcard; a single paralysis or berserk that gets through can really devastate the enemy, but if she gets resisted, she's ineffective. Getting the actions to use her paralyze and not die is quite tricky, and learning to not let her is essential to fighting her.
Dark Cheshire: 8 wins, 11 losses
I'm baffled at why Cheshire doesn't win more - his Summon attack is devastating! It was, I think, an early lesson to keep pressure on him to make it hard for him to use it.
Samiel: 5 wins, 11 losses
I'm surprised by Samiel as well. He's incredibly durable with his undying ability, and I know his sword has caused some major anguish (at some point he nicked Kronnen for 1 point, and then I failed the Doom roll, losing a nearly full health Kronnen - argh!)
Just thought I'd share the records thus far. My girlfriend got me several new minis for my birthday and Christmas, so I've got a few new characters to add to the mix now!