Judgement Has Come

Judge Dredd – I was able to have a few more test games with my group to teach everyone the rules and quirks of the system prior to starting our campaign. I've found that doing a few dry run games will answer most questions that can pop up during a game as well as identify anything that could pose a problem during a campaign. Luckily we didn't identify any major issues so the campaign will kick off in the next few weeks and I'll try to take better notes  and photos for these battle reports.

Game One:

I played the Justice Department (3 models), Drew and Ben each played a Lone Vigilante, Derrick proxied the Ape Gang (5 models) and Nick jumped in with a Demonic Cabal (7 models) midway through the game.

Round One:

I had some terrible rolling and put the Judges in the open far to quickly. They attempted to arrest some of the chimps and failed miserably. Ben and Drew each took to the rooftops with their jetpacks and unloaded a few pot shots at the Judges. The apes ran from the shipping yard to the club and were confused by the lack of alternate exit points.

Round Two:

The Demon worshipers enter the board and unload with their zip guns on the Judges. After some terrible rolls I'm down to a single Psi-Judge cowering behind a car. Drew moves his Vigilante to the edge of the roof and glowers menacingly at the cult. Ben used his jet pack to swoop down towards the cult. The apes continue to wander the club.

Round Three:

Drew is able to throw some fire bombs into the cult and take out two grunts. In retaliation he falls to a hail of zip guns fire from the cult and is eliminated. My Psi-Judge is able to dodge a few shots sent her way but two bad rolls and she is taken out of action. Ben charges into the cultists and does nothing. The apes find the door and make their way around the club closing in on the action.

Round Four:

Ben is able to best the Leader of the Cult in melee causing the mob of minions to take a break test; half fail and Nick loses a huge chunk of his force to some bad rolls (Making up for the ridiculously good rolls earlier in the game). The apes pick off a few of the remaining cultists ans set their sites on the remaining vigalante.

Round Five:

Ben takes out the Orangutan, but is subsequently mauled by the gorilla. His alien armour allows him to live through. 

Round Six:

Things go poorly for the apes as the Vigilantes mad Katanna skils carve them up. 

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Game Two:

We had the same set-up with the exception of the cultists and Drew's vigilante making some modifications to their gang roster after learning how the game works. We switched around the board a bit to see how that will affect the way the game plays out.

I didn't keep great notes on this play through as we were trying to see how quickly we could play through once everyone had a grasp of the rules.

In the first several turns Drew's vigilante infiltrated onto the rooftop and picked off some cultists with his long rifle. Ben's Vigilante unloaded on the Judges failing to take them out and losing several wounds in the return fire. The apes knocked down fences and made a bee line for Ben's Vigilante, eager for revenge from the last game. The cultists sat in a corner trying to summon a demon.

Things got messy quickly with the Judges able to arrest a single chimp before being forced to retreat to the apartment building. The vigilantes and the ape fought it out with Drew wining the contest and taking the fight to the rooftop. Eventually the Judge and vigilante had a shoot out on the top floor with the vigilante narrowly taking out the last Judge after ignoring the Judges attempt to arrest him.

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The Judge Dredd system is really fast and fun. Combined with the fairly open ended gang creation options you are able to build pretty much anything you want. Both vigilantes were very different characters even though the shared some of the same basic traits (Essentially you have to take rich as a trait and the alien armour otherwise you don't tend to last long against mobs of models). I was less impressed with the Judges this time around, having to attempt to arrest models unless they shoot at you first is a big handicap, granted they have some major bonuses as well it just doesn't seem as great in a multiplayer game. I'm going to try out a mobster list for the campaign and use the judges if I have to retire the mobsters.

I'm not sure about the size of the table we're using it sems to get everyon into the action quickly however with a larger multiplayer game I think I migh need to expand the table.