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June 24th, 2010
Preview - Judge Dredd Miniatures Game  I am the Law! Not so convincing eh? Okay so my chin doesn't stick out far enough, and I can't quite make that face, no matter how hard I try. At least I don't sound like Stallone when I say it. Well, I want to be the Law, and now I, and everyone else can be, thanks again to Mongoose Publishing. Grab your Lawgiver, and hop on your Lawmaster, it's time to head back into Mega-City One! Recently Mongoose Publishing posted a set of rules for an all new Judge Dredd Miniatures game to play-test. The plan is that the rules for the new Judge Dredd game will always be free, and once the final version is ready they plan to offer printer friendly, and not-so-printer friendly versions both for download for free. They plan to make their money off producing miniatures for the game. They've worked with Rebellion to obtain the license for 2000AD in general, so don't be surprised if they eventually end up offering a few other 2000AD regulars at some point. Some years back Mongoose offered a miniatures game called Judge Dredd: Gangs of Mega-City One. Therefore this isn't their first Judge Dredd game with miniatures. They did say that many of the miniatures they're releasing now will include many of the previous Mega-City One releases, mixed in with all new sculpts as they produce them. I'm told that they are having new figures sculpted as we speak too, but many of the old favorites from the previous game will be available to be purchased as they release them in waves via their webstore.    Street Judges. With some color on them, no washes or highlights yet. Work In Progress I've posted a few pictures of the preview sample pieces they sent me, which include three street judges, a cursed earth desperado w/dual weapons, a mutant w/double barreled stump gun and some other little wacko wearing a pot for a helmet. All of the castings look nice, and I didn't have any issues with them, and from what I understand, these are the old sculpts from the previous game. Some players of the older Mega-City One game had issue with some of the old castings in terms of quality, but Mongoose has stated, that “We are doing our own casting, but we have a new facility and new procedures - you'll have your good casts.” That is good to know, nothing is worse than getting a miscast, and it's nice to see they've made it clear that won't be an issue this time out. The existing sculpts are rather nice, and it's said that the original range was sculpted by Bobby Jackson, who is a favorite sculptor of many, myself included. There's also another line of 2000AD 28mm scale figures available from Wargames Foundry, and these are really nice too, but the majority of those figures are in the $5-$6+ USD range per figure. The good news is that the Mongoose Judge Dredd figures are in the $3 USD range per figure, not a penny more. All of the currently available models can be found at the Mongoose Publishing online store listed at just 2 GBP per figure, which converted into USD equals a hair under $3 USD each. They even come with a 25mm round slotted base at that price. I guess they have their sights set on being the more affordable option. Although nothing says you can't use the Wargame Foundry minis if you already have them, it's just clear that Mongoose is aiming to make their line the more attractive option, and I can't blame them. Just last week they posted the first batch of figures to their webstore. Be sure to check them out. My only complaint is, where is Judge Dredd? Come on guys, how can you release figures, without any of the man himself? From the look of things they're going all out too, with Apes, Kleggs, various Perps, some old and new Sky Surfers, etc. I haven't had to time to tinker with the play-test rules yet, but I plan to this weekend now that I have some Judges and Perps to play with. When I initially inquired about the game itself Matthew Sprange from Mongoose shared with me that... "It can handle any sized game from single figures to a veritable block war and, once people get into the game, they will find the campaign system plays very quickly and is somewhat addictive!" The future is definitely looking bright for some hardcore skirmish action in Mega-City One, now that Mongoose Publishing has stepped up to the plate again with a Judge Dredd game. Click the link below to visit the Mongoose Publishing website to download the playtest pack, and check it out for yourself first-hand. Watch for more on the new Judge Dredd Game from Mongoose Publishing in the coming weeks from WarGameGuru. |
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