So on Tuesday I got to play a couple of games of Judge Dredd. I sporadically attend the local games club that meets in Mongoose Towers, and when I heard through the grapevine (OK, the group forum) that there would be Dredd demos to be had, I made a point of coming down to see what all the fuss is about 
Mongoose Andy summarised the rules thusly: "Brutal." He wasn't wrong. The rules do a great job of capturing the atmos of the comics - guns hurt and people are scared! There's also a good contrast between the fragility of the likes of the Juve gang (my first team) and the Judges themselves - though they're by no means immortal.
There is a certain playstyle where players grind through the sums to determine their tactics. I've heard it called Math-hammer. I do not subscribe to this playstyle, generally preferring to do whatever would be cool if it was a movie / book / comic - which often results, in other games, in getting my backside handed to me by someone who has arranged their troops with numeric flair. Makes me feel kind of penalised for boldness.
I'm happy to report that this wasn't the case here. On Mongoose advice I made heavy use of cover, but otherwise bold/stupid moves tended to be rewarded often enough to try them again. I think the brutality of the damage system helps here, with fights tending to resolve themselves within a turn or two, freeing up survivors for another encounter - there's no tarpits that tie-up some of your tactical options. However it happens, I like it!
Highlights for me included: making half of Ash's Ape gang run away on the first turn by clipping the back of his leader's head with a laser rifle; Ash's revenge as most of my gang was wiped out in close combat (though not before his close combat specialist Gorilla Hero finally succumbed to the sheer weight of lead being poured into him); over the other side of the table, the Judges being pursued by a giant hammer-wielding robot that was on fire. Then in the second game, when I took the Ape gang, the sniper v sniper fight between the leader ape and the same laser-rifle wielder that, under my control, took him out in the first game (and did so again sadly!); the oh-so-close attack of my weedy club-wielding chimp on a Judge, which *almost* took him out; and of course, waiting until the Judges, Sov Judges and Juves had nearly wiped each other out before descending from on high and winning the game with flying two-fisted simian action worthy of Clint and Clyde from Every Which Way But Loose
I enjoyed playing as both the juves and the apes, and I want to play again. Going to buy an Ape Gang box set and hopefully I remember how to paint...
Thanks go to Mongoose staffers and fellow players for a fun evening. Now I apparently have to think of a terrible joke name for my gang. Is 'Gorillas In Your Midst' taken?
Mongoose Andy summarised the rules thusly: "Brutal." He wasn't wrong. The rules do a great job of capturing the atmos of the comics - guns hurt and people are scared! There's also a good contrast between the fragility of the likes of the Juve gang (my first team) and the Judges themselves - though they're by no means immortal.
There is a certain playstyle where players grind through the sums to determine their tactics. I've heard it called Math-hammer. I do not subscribe to this playstyle, generally preferring to do whatever would be cool if it was a movie / book / comic - which often results, in other games, in getting my backside handed to me by someone who has arranged their troops with numeric flair. Makes me feel kind of penalised for boldness.
I'm happy to report that this wasn't the case here. On Mongoose advice I made heavy use of cover, but otherwise bold/stupid moves tended to be rewarded often enough to try them again. I think the brutality of the damage system helps here, with fights tending to resolve themselves within a turn or two, freeing up survivors for another encounter - there's no tarpits that tie-up some of your tactical options. However it happens, I like it!
Highlights for me included: making half of Ash's Ape gang run away on the first turn by clipping the back of his leader's head with a laser rifle; Ash's revenge as most of my gang was wiped out in close combat (though not before his close combat specialist Gorilla Hero finally succumbed to the sheer weight of lead being poured into him); over the other side of the table, the Judges being pursued by a giant hammer-wielding robot that was on fire. Then in the second game, when I took the Ape gang, the sniper v sniper fight between the leader ape and the same laser-rifle wielder that, under my control, took him out in the first game (and did so again sadly!); the oh-so-close attack of my weedy club-wielding chimp on a Judge, which *almost* took him out; and of course, waiting until the Judges, Sov Judges and Juves had nearly wiped each other out before descending from on high and winning the game with flying two-fisted simian action worthy of Clint and Clyde from Every Which Way But Loose
I enjoyed playing as both the juves and the apes, and I want to play again. Going to buy an Ape Gang box set and hopefully I remember how to paint...
Thanks go to Mongoose staffers and fellow players for a fun evening. Now I apparently have to think of a terrible joke name for my gang. Is 'Gorillas In Your Midst' taken?
