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[Raith]

THE END OF THE WORLD
Arcanacon XXX demonstrations
Thursday 26th till Sunday 29th January 2011

ANIMA: Tactics will be again making an appearance at the 30th ARCANACON. For all those who don't know Arcanacon is, it is one of Melbourne's largest RP and Wargaming conventions and is held over 4 days in January from Thursday the 26th until Sunday the 29th at the Collingwoord Education Center..

If you would like to see some information on the con visit http://www.arcanacon.org/

From 12 noon until 5pm each day I will be running demonstrations and hosting games any of those attending the Con are welcome to come on over and have a go at the game either during one of the scheduled gaming breaks or during any time you might not have other events scheduled.  

A demonstration of Anima takes about 30 minutes so its a good activity to trial while waiting for something to start or to relax as the rules are easy to grasp.

Where we will be setup this time I'm unsure but have a hunt round and you'll find a mass of mini's on display as a guide.

So if you're in Melbourne around Australia Day take this chance to come and play a game or two and have some fun.

- Raith
Free Agent 005

[Raith]

THE END OF THE WORLD
Arcanacon XXX demonstrations
DAY 1

*****

The first day of Arcanacon has ended, a bit later for me than I expected, but with the day getting off to a delayed start that's fair enough.

I arrived at the venue just after Midday and found out things were running a bit behind schedule so I killed an hour before completing rego and getting my kit set out in the main registration room.

The horde begins

The day saw lots of foot traffic even during the times people were suppose to be off playing games.  I spoke to a few people who stopped to admire my figures especially the newly painted Morrigan and others who stopped by to check out the spoilers for a few (very awesome) future mini's and also I ran a fair comprehensive sit down demo as well as explaining all about the games factions and organizations a number of times.

Beside me was a friend selling a slew of hand-made soft toys and SteamPunk paraphernalia which was good company and we sent parts of the day painting figures or in my case, retouching Ligori who was showing a lot of wear and recolouring Morrigan who had previously suffered an unfortunate varnishing accident

Her sexy face apparently...

It was busy well into the evening and pushing on for 8 o'clock before I really realized the time so I packed up and called Day 1 a success.  Tomorrow I expect a slower day until the evening followed by a busy Sat and Sunday when I relocate to a different area when the bulk of the traders all turn up.

A shot of my setup late in the day... gotta remember to take some additions tomorrow

- Raith
Free Agent 005

[Raith]

THE END OF THE WORLD
Arcanacon XXX demonstrations
DAY 2

*****

Another day of Arcanacon has ended and am I glad to be home, the temperature is going up and so is the humidity, hopefully the change in location tomorrow will make things a bit cooler as the rego area where my table will be at will move downstairs.

Today was a vastly different experience than the day before and even the last year, rather than suffer through bouts of waiting for sessions to end followed by massed teaching for clusters of people I was instead kept at a constant pace all day.

First up I gave a demo to someone with experience from Malifauz and 40k which was cool to hear them working everything out by comparing it to those games.

Getting ready for some cleric on witch action.

Following that game I laid out the game design and basic rules for some passerby before an old friend turned up and after selecting Brunner and his Girls, challenged me to put a team together to handle them.

Up stepped Kronen, Odin and Samiel, the trio kept a tight formation while Frey and Freya tried to flank.  Some quick spotting by Samiel had Freya in Kronens sights, though Frey soon engaged Samiel and while he was a step away from needing to rely on his immortality Odin continued to close in before repeatedly smashing his way through the opposition.

Kronen charges Frey(a?)(I forget which one that is really).

On the heels of the last match I ran another Demo, taking the same Empire team but verses Cordellia, Alessa and Hiro, while it had a steep learning curve for my opponent he kept firing at Samiel reducing him to his undying state and then getting him into a position where all he could do was stand around and wait for the end.  In turn Cordellia was covering in the shadow of Odin while Kronen hunted for a hidden Alessa.

My opponent working out just how much damage Cordelia delivers when she rolls 10 and Samiel rolls a 1.

Before we could conclude the match time was up and more roleplaying events started.  For the next hour I chatted with passerby before shutting up shop a little early to head on out for a break.

Tomorrow promises to be a big day.

- Raith
Free Agent 005

[Raith]

THE END OF THE WORLD
Arcanacon XXX demonstrations
DAY 3

*****

Day 3 is over and there is just one day to go.

As I was told today we setup in the same area as the year before, though t was a different position for my stand this year over the other side of the room.

While I thought would have been nice and cool but instead became quite humid when the crowd of wargamer's passed through.

Overall I had a busy day running a handful of demonstrations and talking about the game with anyone who stopped by and there were more than a few, hopefully some of those who said they will be back will make it tomorrow.

The days demonstrations included a father/son pair who after looking over my figures and sorting out which they like were talking about getting more of there family involved.  They enjoyed the game so much that later on in the day they stopped by to show off the copy of the Rulebook they bought from one of the vendors.

James (Left) and Dr. Carl (Right)

Throughout the day I had the people from Realm of Legends stop by to chat and found out they have had someone running demo's of the game out at there store which is great to hear and I'm looking forward to putting something together with them in the future.

Late in the day I traded off with some friends to watch my spot for a while as I nicked around to check out the 40k tournament and whatever else I could see.  Even though when I got there it was a lull between matches the chatter sounded like everyone was having fun and by the time I got back to my setup it was into a final long chat with a roleplayer about Anima in general and the ins and outs of the RPG.

The aftermath in the 41st Millenium

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as busy.

- Raith
Free Agent 005

[Raith]

THE END OF THE WORLD
Arcanacon XXX demonstrations
DAY 4

*****

Day 4 passed at a much quieter pace than the previous three day, either it was too hot or everyone was exhausted but it turned out to be a quiet morning and I didn't do much until after lunch.  Instead I quietly worked on getting some colours blocked out on Nahimana and answered the odd passerby's questions about the game.

Perhaps the highlight of the day came from one of the store keepers across from me who was dressed as a burlesque dancer and I was treated to a show late in the afternoon.

Lounging around

I ran a couple of people through the in's and out's of Anima in the afternoon and concluded the day with a small 140pt match between team Bishojo (LE Celia, Shinigami Ayl and Hel) and team Bishonen (Claude, Janus and Drake)

My final opponent for the con

It was a pretty fierce fight, Celia moved forward and Drae called upon his connection to his patron, flying forward the warriors clashed with Celia putting up her defenses but soon being brought low as Claude moved to back up drake.

Thankfully Ayl was close at hand and as Claude cut down Celia he in turn sprouted a massive wound.  Hel entered the fray and blows were traded back and forth with little effect until Claude landed a savage strike that almost cut Hel in two.

While Ayl uses here Mimic Damage, Janus gets ready to strike.

Again the power of the Shinigami inflicted the blow back on Claude who dropped unconscious.  Having finally gotten into a good position Janus moved in but Hel focused on Drake and took him out.  Her victory was costly as she fell to Janus but the Shinigami had the final say charging when the knights back was turned and smashing past his defenses with her scythe to win the match.

All up it was a very strange fight, no one rolled anything particularly significant but the defensive rolls were so low it didn't matter.

After a final chat about the factions it was time for me to pack up my table and call Arcanacon XXX complete.

- Raith
Free Agent 005