"Is anyone playing Judge Dredd?" Topic

I'm thinking of starting a new Judge Dredd project. However, information and game reports seem quite thin on the ground. I keep on turning up the same couple of reviews of the box set and not much else.

The new supplement that came out last week seems interesting and I guess it wouldn't have been produced if the game didn't have a following. Not that I'm wanting another debate about if a certain game is 'dead' or not, but I'd have thought I'd have found more than I did when I searched.

So is anyone on TMP playing this?

I played it way way back when mongoose first put it out.

It's a pretty basic game, basic resolution system. The build up over time and Dredd setting are the main features going for it.

Gameplay is simple roll single d6, beat target number. No real big twists on that. In fact, it's probably close to Necromunda, except simpler.

I didn't like that simplicity, very random at times.

It gets some more depth in the setting and RPG growth aspects, but again, pretty much the same as Necromunda in depth.

The main thing different was that, back when I played, if your opponent had a certain lead against you, you could call the judges on them, instead of fighting with your own gang.

Now, the last time I played was many years ago, so some of that may have changed.

The game is good if you want a basic Necromunda style skirmish with a good integration of the Dredd license, but nothing that stands out beyond that.

I tend to use the figures for 5150 or Pulp Alley.

I tend to LARP JD around here. At my house "I am the Law"

Hope I didn't type that too loudly in case SWMBO overheard me

We've played quite a few games and really enjoyed it , currently in a campaign which has slowed down of late .I don't know if its the norm but the campaign build seems to be overly complicated , it was very hard to work out the upkeep of my gang.
Having said that we have really enjoyed the JD themed games and has been allot of fun seeing some of my old favourites from 2000AD comics. BTW we didn't use any of their figures, we proxied our own gangers and I even made my own Judges from VOID and GW figures , and it all worked out just as good. The rules would work well for any kind of gang themed games. I have pictures and AARs up on a forum but I don't know how to post a link for you I'm sorry . cheers Tom

I've been a Judge Dredd fan for a long time. First started reading the comics in about 1980, and retrospectively acquired a full set of the first 1,000 issues of 2000AD (boy, does that take up some room). I've bought many of the Dredd-related games over the years, and although I missed out on the KickStarter, I bought these latest rules and more than a few of the miniatures (although I also own many of the Foundry sculpts).

Just one problem – it's a cr*p game.

Not completely so, as it's easy to play and relatively intuitive, and many of the rules are quite neat. but it is also riddled with inconsistencies and omissions, has a badly thought-through points system and is saddled with a bloated, tedious skills matrix. The rulebook is all over the place, and there is no QRF. It was clearly not thoroughly play-tested either, as skills and models range from the absolutely pointless to rolled-gold game winners. Many of the earlier sculpts are absolutely atrocious as well (not to mention expensive), and I'm guessing that it was only the intervention of Warlord Games that raised the quality of the miniatures out of the gutter.

I am fully aware of how hard it is to thoroughly play test and proof read rules sets, having done it myself a few times. But Mongoose's lack of attention to detail borders on negligence. Given their previous offences in this field, this should be no surprise. But it is very disappointing.

Unless you are a welded-on Dredd fan, this game has pretty much nothing to recommend it to you, and as such, it will probably slowly wither and die. But the real tragedy is that it could have been so much better – smarter, slicker and more fun. I will continue to play it – though increasingly with some of my own house rules – and probably buy some more products, thus rewarding Mongoose for their negligence. There should be a law against it.

Thanks very much for your replies, everyone. To give some responses:

Turtle: from your description of calling in the judges, it sounds like you are talking about Gangs of Mega City One, which from what I can make out looks like a different system to the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game". I've found a PDF of the first edition of the JDMG and it is also d10 based, not d6. So I guess I can outright avoid GMC1 then! : )

There is a 'Rules Primer' for the latest rules available from Warlord here: PDF link

Tom: I think I might have come across one of your 'proxy' games on the net. It looked pretty cool!

Craig: Wow, some pretty strong feeling there! Thanks for taking the time to post. From what I can make out, the latest edition made a strong effort to revise some of the flaws from the early one. But it sounds like that is the version you are using… What do you find wrong with the skills system? From a quick read all I can gather is it is an RPG-like tree system, which seems like a pretty cool idea to me. ( PS: Nice 2000AD collection! I'm working through the Complete Case Files collections of Dredd stories. And loving them! )

The skills matrix is a good idea, but it so large and complex it is almost beyond manageable. It is also very hard to keep track of what skills mean what. Try playing with one of the 'big' characters (such as Dredd) and you will realise that checking through the special rules for 15 or so skills, each time you want to do something is very annoying. They could have literally halved the number of matrices, and the skills in each, to get a better, tighter system.
Many of the skills are pointless as well, and some of the skills lower down the tree are utterly pointless, but you have to pick them to get some of the more useful ones. And of course, Mongoose break their own rules by just randomly handing out skills to the model profiles, different to if you decide to use the overly complicated campaign rules.
Here's another dumb omission I picked up the other night – Psi Judges have no Psi Skills listed. So how many do you get?
Try playing with Mean Machine Angel if you want to see overpowered – put him up to 4 and let him go. And why are Kleggs much, much better at shooting than hand-to-hand? And you can't lose with Judge Death if your opponent doesn't have a psyker. I could go on…

Hi Craig.

Thanks for the additional info. I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough as I've just won a copy of the latest rules and a decent price. I'll have to see if I can get to the bottom of any of your questions!

I don't know of balance will be much of an issue for the types of game I'll be playing, but it is disappointing to hear I'll have to rule out playing work more 'competitive' types!

Thanks again
Chris

I've played it several times and enjoy it thoroughly! Much better than GoMC-1 and many games have come down right to the wire.

Hi Doug

Thanks for that. My copy arrived a few days ago and I've been happily reading through it. It looks pretty good and I definitley like the huge variety of gang types. Can't wait to play.

PS: Craig: I looked up the bit about Psi Talents that you mentioned. From what I can make out they are selected like any other talent, but only accessible to characters with a psi rating.

Those looks good…

link

link

Amicalement
Armand