I met Lockon at the train station close to my school. Since it was a day off at the university, there was plenty of open space for a game. We commandeered a 90x90cm table and made it the field of battle. Naturally, we didn't have terrain available so the ribbon box that I carried my cards in (originally Alastor's box) became a structure. The calculator on the table became a structure as well. This improvised terrain was actually what made the tides of the game go in the direction they did and gave a certain model (in my mind) the game's MVP.
Taking what we had available at the time, Lockon went for an Azur party using Alastor, Les Jaeger, and Faust. He took the Absolute Control advantage and it served him well. Choosing from what was left, I made a Light/Neutral using Arkeid, Claude, Lorenzo, Yuki, Luzbell and Odin.
Round one: Pretty standard round. Moving forward. Kyler started the game in stealth and was able to run right behind the ribbon box. I personally could barely even see his mini from where I was sitting so I was constantly reminding myself he was there. I knew if I forgot that I would lose someone quickly. Alastor and Faust moved up pretty quickly as well. Faust was in a good position to prevent my forces from getting to Alastor. Luzbell used her Mirror Jump ability to relocate Claude forward enough that he was in range to charge Faust and hold him in place. Kirsten earned her keep by firing off a couple shots and was able to poison Odin. I kept forgetting to use the Serum that I had equipped on Arkeid to unpoison him so he was using the Motum order and 2 inch free move for a couple rounds.
Next Round: Lorenzo gets a charge in on The Colonel and used an energy token to do some good damage and get the throw. I was lined up perfectly to throw Wilhelm into Reinhold but he sacrificed his movement to dodge the crash. Claude took a heavy hit from Faust but luckily Cross Counter works even if you don't successfully dodge so he returned the favor. I don't exactly remember how, but Claude ends up not surviving this round. Alastor moves in on Lorenzo and Reinhold cuts off Luzbell and Arkeid from interfering by moving the ribbon box (which he does a couple times in the game which is why I consider him the game's MVP) completely cutting off my reinforcements. Yuki uses her teleport to go on top of the box where she will shoot ice splinters for the next few turns. Luzbell comes around the corner and performs a seek and discovers Kyler (a huge turn of events in my favor). Kyler attempts some Dancing Mad attacks but is unsuccessful except for one that didn't do much damage. Arkeid moves in to back up Luzbell. Odin moves in to position to help out Lorenzo in the next turn (after his poison will wear off).
Next Round:
Arkeid finishes off Kyler by ordering Luzbell to attack (trying to wear out his AP by making him dodge) and then ultimately ends up destroying him with her Dynasty of Light attack. I think this is where Yuki gets a good shot off against Kirsten. Alastor spends his AP taking out Lorenzo and uses a Motum order to get Faust in range to intercept the obvious incoming charge from Odin. Odin chooses to walk up to Alastor instead of charging to avoid being intercepted. Odin uses Magnum and lands a critical hit, thus allowing him a second attack which I spend a Gnosis on and also gives a critical hit, and though I did not get a critical on the third attack, it was enough to kill Alastor. For my army, Odin earned an honorary MVP title. Kirsten takes a shot at Yuki and Luzbell. I can't remember if Yuki dodged or took a hit. However, Luzbell reflected it right back at Kirsten which damaged her pretty well and was awesome! I think The Colonel then avenged my insult to Kirsten and Reinhold moved the box in Arkeid's way (again >_<).
And so on: Arkeid, sick of having this damn box in her face decided to climb on top of it (hooray for having the rulebook handy!). She stood beside Yuki ready to make their final stand together. I believe Yuki was able to get a final shot to take out Kirsten at some point.
Finally: Both The Colonel and Faust climbed on the box to make short work of Yuki and then start fighting Arkeid together. Meanwhile Reinhold was using his automatic damage attacks but both Yuki and Arkeid have really strong resistance scores. Faust ultimately sealed Arkeid's fate when she failed a resistance check against his ability Scorpion Grip to put her in L2 Slow. She did her best to make dodges and resistance checks but eventually she was overwhelmed. Lockon emerged victorious from the first Anima game in Japan.
I'm pretty sure that's how it went. I've been studying for finals so there could be some things missing or confused. Still, I have to give Reinhold the MVP for keeping my forces separated (especially Arkeid). Odin gets an honorable mention for tearing Alastor apart. Luzbell gets a "That was awesome" moment for reflecting one of Kirsten's daggers right back at her. We forgot to make Kirsten roll resistance against poison (because it retains all the attributes of the original attack) but it was awesome as it was. It turns out I misinterpreted the rule so its also only fair. I saw "retains the attributes of the original attack" and thought it meant the actual attack roll as well. I just saw now that she is supposed to make a new attack roll. This was completely my mistake.
*edit* I just reduced the image sizes...they were huge!!!!
Anima - Tactics
