Monday 20 February 2017

JDMG MC1 Mercenaries 03

I continue my reviews of Mercenaries who can be used in the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game. Of the three that I am showing here, only Rico Dredd has appeared in the Judge Dredd stories in 2000AD comic. The other two are characters I have created to use in my current campaign. All three were produced by Warlord Games.
At the far left is Rico Dredd, the clone brother of Judge Joseph Dredd, which is to say they were both cloned from the same genetic source, in their case Chief Judge Fargo. Rico was a superb Judge - he came top of his class in 2079, narrowly beating Joe, who came second. However, Rico had a bad streak in him that caused him to fall  from grace. He got involved in criminal activities, including extortion, assault and racketeering. When Joe witnessed Rico murder an innocent cafe owner who had refused to pay him protection money, Joe arrested him. Rico resisted arrest by opening fire, but the shots went wide. Given Rico's skill with a firearm, Joe would later posit the theory that Rico was trying to commit suicide by cop out of a deep disgust at what he had become, rather than trying to kill him. Whatever his motive, Rico was sentenced to twenty years hard labour on the prison colony of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, where he grew to hate his brother. He was particularly angry that Joe didn't testify in his favour. After serving his time on Titan, Rico returned to Mega City One seeking revenge on Joe. Confronting him at his home, Rico challenged him to a duel to settle their differences, knowing that with his superior skills he could always outdraw his brother. However he had grown used to the weaker gravity of Titan after his twenty years there. This slowed him down by a split second and allowed Joe to shoot him dead. Carrying his brother's lifeless body out into the street, Joe declined a paramedic's offer of assistance, allowing the writer, Pat Mills, to conclude the story with a line from the Hollies song, "he ain't heavy - he's my brother!" Long after Rico's death, Joe would be haunted by his memory and Rico appeared to him in a number of flashbacks.
In JDMG, Rico is a powerful Level:9 Infantry Hero equipped with Bionic Lungs and armed with a Cursed Earth Eagle Pistol. His following 10 Talents are - Academy Star, Accurate, Close Combat Shooter, Crackshot, Crippling Fire, Dirty Fighting, Leg Shot, Pistol Whip, Rapid Fire and Situational Awareness. He costs 345 Credits. It is unlikely that I will use Rico in my campaign but I may well use the figure as another former Titan inmate with the same stats.
In the centre of this group is Willi Braun, aka the Sector 13 Slasher. Warlord Games sold him as a Juve with Club, but I decided to upgrade him to a Punk and make him a named character. Braun is a psychopath who murders his victims with a Las-Knife. He is a loner, but as a Punk Mercenary, he could be hired by a number of forces. I made him a Level:3 Punk Infantry Hero. His only weapon is his Las-Knife and he carries no other equipment or armour. His four Talents are - Skilled and Deadly, Smack-down, Stealthy and This is my Las-Knife. He costs 125 Credits. I thought the figure was far too good to relegate to generic Juve status, even though that is what Warlord Games marketed him as.
At the far right is Oleg "Ollie" Zhirkov, an East Meg Agent and Spy. East Meg Agents are highly motivated individuals, exceptionally well-trained, who will stop at nothing to complete their assigned missions. Be it assassination, sabotage or espionage, there is no one better than a good agent. Ollie is a Level:3 Illegal Infantry Hero, armed with a Knife and Handgun Pistol. I gave him the following four Talents - Accurate, Silent Action, Silent Killer and Stealthy. He also has the following Special Rule - Super Secret Agent Man, which grants him the Infiltrator Talent for free. He costs 145 Credits. One thing that bothers me about this figure is the waistcoat he is wearing has the hammer and sickle logo of Russia on its back. Would an East Meg Spy really wear that if working undercover? Or perhaps it is a double bluff?

27 comments:

  1. Nice additions Bryan, like the character you've created for the middle one, as for the hammer and sickle logo would seem a bit of an over statement, but does make it easy to spot on the tabletop. Having used infiltrators in other games that blended into their environment so well I completely forgot about them I can see the advantage

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    1. Thanks, Dave. Yes, it is true that the hammer and sickle logo does make him easy to spot on the tabletop. I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

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  2. The only decent star of the awful Stallone film was Armand Assante and his sinister portrayal of Rico. Lovely figures Bryan

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    1. Nice to hear from you again, Andy. Sadly, I must disagree with you about Armand Assante's Rico Dredd in the terrible Stallone film. I thought he was pants! Once again, a character in the film bore no resemblance to the character he was named after from the comics. I'm trying to erase that film from my memory... along with "World War Z" just in case Simon reads this! :-)

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    2. Sorry Andy, got to go with Bryan on this, Though Hershey was cute in the movie she was to wishy-washy compared to the comic version, no the only decent thing in the movie was......the ABC warrior (who should have had about 90% of all the screen time!

      Cheers Roger.

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    3. I have to agree with you, Roger, the ABC Warrior was very cool but had far too little screen time.

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    4. World war Z is a classic Bryan, classic

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    5. LOL! Don't you start, Andy! It's bad enough having to put up with Simon's deluded rants about how great "world War Z" is. It isn't and it never will be. End of story!

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    6. I must say Bryan, that I'd have been tempted to delete Roger's movie opinion immediately, as the man doesn't even rate "Mad Max: Fury Road" ;-)

      I'd also champion Andy "great taste in films" Grotto with his insightful knowledge of all things Silver Screen. I too thoroughly enjoy "Judge Dredd" and watch it regularly, as I do with the outstanding "World War Z". Perhaps a couple of DVDs in the post will help you amend your ways ;-)

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    7. Oh, Simon, how can you harbour such delusions? Perhaps a spell in the psych cubes may cure you. Mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha!

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  3. Love all three figures but especially Ollie. Great work as usual.

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  4. Nice work Bryan. I really like the Sov agent hmm might have to pick him up for 7TV

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    1. I have to agree with you, Simon, the Sov Agent would fit in well in 7TV.

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  5. I have no issue with the East Meg sov agent and what he wears. Of the three he is my fave but all three are jolly good.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. Ollie is proving very popular.

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  6. I have to agree on Ollie with a lot of the other posters Bryan. Even if he is a super secret agent man everything about his appearance and demeanor suggests he embraces his role to a campy levels. It's really an excellent figure and painting him in red and black makes for a very striking miniature. The hammer and sickle logo is overkill but if the sketchy pose and eyepatch didn't give it away you really don't deserve the microfilm anyways.

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    1. Very well said, HP. I'm actually smiling as I type this.

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  7. Very nice additions Bryan, I actually like the hammer and sickle motif on your perp, his face seems to remind me of Robert Englund (of Freddie Kruger fame) though in his part in "1000 Maniacs" (he had a patch in that).

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks, Roger. Yes, now you mention it I can see the similarity with Robert Englund, although the film you are referring to was called "2001 Maniacs" which was an updated remake of a film called "2000 Maniacs". You are right about him wearing an eye patch in the film.

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    2. Oh well only "1" out, not bad.

      Cheers Roger.

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    3. ooops I mean "1001" perhaps not so close after all.

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    4. Don't worry about it, Roger. I get what you mean. :-)

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  8. Another great "Judge Dredd" posting Bryan, and what a wonderfully diverse (and colourful) trio you've presented. I am especially impressed with all the thought which seems to go into the skill stats you give the characters, clearly a labour of love. I do wish we lived somewhat closer as I think a game of this would not only be a thoroughly enjoyable experience, but the amount of knowledge Ref Judge Dredd and his perps I'd come away with, thanks to your historical knowledge, is mind-blowing :-)

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    1. What a lovely comment, Simon. It does sadden me that many of my best friends live so far away. I'd like nothing better than to either run or participate in numerous games with you, Andy, Clint, Dave and Roger, to name but a few.
      Coming up with the stats for my JD characters is something I very much enjoy. It also helps having a near encyclopedic knowledge of all things Judge Dredd, which I'm only too happy to share.

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  9. That sounds like an invite to a gaming day at Bryan's, sign me up for that

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