Thursday 26 January 2017

JDMG MC1 Allies 02

In this post I'm going to look at two of Judge Dredd's allies who accompanied him in his epic mission in The Cursed Earth Saga - Tweak and Spikes Harvey Rotten. This story appeared long ago in Progs 61 to 85 and saw Judge Dredd leading a small group of Judges on an arduous journey across the Cursed Earth, transporting the vaccine for the deadly 2T-FRU-T virus that was devastating Mega City Two.
After humans arrived on his home planet, Tweak arranged for his people to go into hiding underground until he could gather more information about them. After utilising the power of mind probes he was able to determine that human history was littered with violence, exploitation and hatred - so, as President of his world, he decided that no contact should be made with the humans at all. After his children were captured, Tweak decided to let himself be captured and posed as a "dumb alien" rather than risk the humans exploiting the vast mineral resources of his planet - which Tweak's people ate - and leaving Tweak's race to starve. Convincing the humans he was unintelligent, Tweak and his family were sold into slavery in the Cursed Earth, although he was separated from them. After escaping and finding his family dead Tweak was recaptured but escaped again, thus the Slay-Riders were employed to kill him. Judge Dredd stepped in to save the alien, upon which Tweak helped him to deliver the 2T-FRU-T virus antidote to Mega City Two. After the mission, Dredd arranged for Tweak to be returned to his home planet. Dredd insisted the planet was of no value, and Tweak's people were left in peace.
This resin cast figure of Tweak was sculpted by Dave Stone of Wargames Terrain Workshop. He very kindly sent me one as a Christmas present last year. He also gifted copies to Andy/Da Gobbo and Simon/Blaxkleric. These figures are not available for sale so I felt very honoured and privileged to receive mine. Dave, Andy, Simon and I have decided to have a small painting contest, just for fun, to paint our Tweak figures. More on this later. Not surprising, there are no stats for Tweak in JDMG but I came up with these stats for him. Type: Level:3 Alien Infantry Hero. Stats - Psi:7, Move 5", Agility +0, Shoot -1, Melee +2, Melee Dice 3D, Will +1, Armour +0, Hits 4. Weapon - Crushing Claws with Damage 2 and AP-2. Talents - Concentrated Mind, Mind Shield, Skilled and Deadly and Stealthy. If hired as a mercenary, Tweak costs 155 Credits.
Spikes Harvey Rotten was a biker and a criminal. Dredd had him paroled from custody to accompany him on his perilous mission across the Cursed Earth desert, as he was familiar with the territory from his days smuggling guns there. When all of the Judges who accompanied Dredd were killed along the way, Spikes still fought by Dredd's side. He was killed only a short distance from Mega City Two.

The figure of Spikes riding a Lawmaster Bike was produced by Warlord Games for JDMG. Classed as a mercenary, he may be used by either the Justice Department or a street gang. If used by a street gang, he rides an Otomo K-9000 Street Bike instead of the Lawmaster and his Credit score drops by 50 Credits. He is a Level:3 Punk Infantry Hero armed with a Stump Gun and possibly, a Hand Bomb, which he sometimes wears as an earring. His Talents are Brave, Drive-by Boot, Hunker Down and Luck of Grud. He costs 220 Credits if hired by the Justice Department or 170 Credits if hired by a street gang.
THE TWEAK OFF
It was Dave's suggestion to name this friendly painting contest the "Tweak Off".  
This is Dave's entry. Seeing as Dave does not have a blog I offered to showcase his entry on my blog for him. Dave has also gone for black fur but his snout is more pronounced than my version with a much sharper contrast between the flesh and the fur. I should point out that the figure is a one-piece casting with its integral base. Dave's version is the one most closest to my own.
Here is Andy's entry. He has gone for a dark brown fur colour and his Tweak has a similar snout to Dave's Tweak figure. I have only included one photo of Tweak that Andy sent me. You can read a lot more about Andy's entry on his blog and see more photos here -
http://dagobbosgrotto.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/tweak-off.html
This is just a work in progress view of Simon's version of Tweak. Like Andy, he has gone for the dark brown fur look. The snout, hands and feet are distinctly lighter (as they should be) but are in stark contrast to his body fur. I opted for a smoother transition on my figure. You can read more about Simon's entry on his blog here - http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/tweak.html

It is interesting to see how all four of us have approached this task and come up with four different versions of the same figure. As I said, this contest was done purely for fun. There are no prizes to be awarded or votes required for whose version you think is the best. I enjoyed taking part and once again, I'd like to thank Dave for kindly sending me such a wonderful figure of a character I always liked and felt great sympathy for. You can't help but feel sympathy for Tweak when Dredd discovers what happened to Tweak's wife and children.

33 comments:

  1. Very nice Bryan. I've never gotten into Judge Dredd, but you are kinda making me want too. ;)

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    1. Thanks, Tom. The trouble with getting into Dredd now is there is so much backstory to catch up on. That said, a good rulebook, like the current "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" will cover all the basics for you. Plus, Warlord Games have attained the licence to produce figures for all 2000AD stories, including Judge Dredd, so they will be available for general purchase later on. Plus, you can pick up a lot from eBay. I'm extremely fortunate in that I have been collecting Judge Dredd figures since 1985.

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  2. Great background for anyone who doesn't know the characters, love your rendition of Spikes and Tweak.
    In my defence for calling it Tweak off had been a long day and was in extreme pain and forgot to get the wife to filter what I wrought !
    Looking forward to seeing Simon's finished, was a fun project and I actually found time for hobby painting not work painting

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    1. Very much appreciated, Dave. Hey, I have no problem with the contest being called the Tweak Off. It was always meant as a fun project and the name reflects that.

      I'm also looking forward to seeing Simon's finished entry and hearing more about Andy's entry. When I received my figure of Tweak, he jumped straight to the head of my figure painting queue, which tells you just how keen I was to paint him. I'm very grateful to you for making all this possible.

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    2. No problem Bryan, always enjoy seeing people enjoying painting models I've built. Have to come up with another this Xmas

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    3. Oh, I very much hope you do, Dave.

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  3. My post will be published tomorrow Bryan, Tweak is such a lovely figure and I'm grateful to Dave for casting him up for us.

    Spikes looks the business doesn't he!

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    1. Oh good! I very much look forward to seeing your post, Andy. I agree about being very grateful to Dave. He's a cool dude!

      Spikes has turned out rather well and it seemed very appropriate to feature him alongside Tweak.

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  4. I was never a fan of Tweak. Despite that I must say he has painted incredibly well.

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  5. Wonderful stuff Byran, and I think your Tweak has come out magnificently. I really like the way your black colour scheme has turned out, and the yellowing of the claws. I do hope at some point "Warlord Games" do a foot version of Spikes Harvey Rotten. That's a great bike-riding variant, but I'd like him on foot :-)

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    1. Greatly appreciated, Simon. I dry-brushed Tweak with Foundry Granite, which is a greyish brown colour making is progressively lighter around his snout, hands and feet and adding just a hint of flesh around his nose. His claws were painted with the Foundry Bone triad.

      Much as I like the mounted version of Spikes, I also hope that Warlord Games produces a foot version of him in the future.

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    2. Hopefully mine will be up and posted for Sunday. Perhaps we should do this with a few more minis from time to time :-)

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    3. Got an idea for the next one if your game

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    4. Because of Andy's busy schedule he has at the moment, I think the one he has a head start on would be suitable. Just need to get your copy to you Bryan

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    5. Yeah, I'm glad I don't have to sit exams ever again. Still it'll be worth it for Andy once he gets through them. Much appreciated, Dave.

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    6. Oh dear... What have I started ;-)

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    7. You've started a real fun project, Simon. Be proud, my friend!

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  6. I think I like the Tweak character. I'd never read about him but he sounds like a stark contrast to most of the characters I can recall. An alien fish out of water; More "human" than the humans. A nice looking and special addition to your collection Bryan.

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    1. Thanks, HP. You are right about Tweak in all respects.

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  7. Nicely done Bryan. As I've mentioned on Simon's blog regarding his own version of Tweak, he's a character I always liked.

    Mr Rotten looks quote out of place on that bike, yet, daring and rather cool.

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    1. Thanks, Dai. I've always liked Tweak. I agree that it does look odd with a perp riding a Lawmaster bike but yes, he does look cool, doesn't he?

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  8. Nice work on Tweak seems like a fun and interesting character for Dredd to help out. Not heard of him before either so thanks to you both for enlightening me of his history.

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    1. Thanks, Simon. Tweak appeared in 2000AD well over 35 years ago, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of him.

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  9. Briliant project Bryan! I loved Tweak in the comics too. Loveable and very "human" regarding emotions.

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    1. Absolutely spot on, Johnny. Thanks for commenting.

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