Strontium Dog - Wulf Sternhammer & Gronk

Johnny Alpha's partner for much of his career, Wulf Sternhammer was a Viking warrior brought to the future during one of Johnny's forays through time to hunt down the outlaw, Max Bubba. Wulf's loyalty to Johnny was unshakeable, as was his fondness for cracking skulls with his favourite weapon - a huge hammer he called "der Happy Stick." Here, I present three versions of Wulf, made by various companies.

At the far left is the Wargames Foundry version of Wulf. This is a cracking good sculpt of Wulf and he is dynamically sculpted in an advancing pose as he swings his hammer. When I reviewed the Stix Brothers and Johnny Alpha in my two previous posts I stated that the Wargames Foundry versions of them were my favourite sculpts of those characters. In this case, whilst I do like this sculpt a lot, I actually prefer the figure in the centre of the group, who was produced for the Indyclix game. It does same that both figures were sculpted by the same person, Shane Hoyle. What I particularly like about this figure is the way his face has been sculpted. His stern expression is beautifully realised.

At the far right is the official Wulf figure produced for Warlord Games' Strontium Dog game. Reading comments about this particular figure there has been a lot of negativity regarding the sculpting of him. The posing of his right arm is what displeases most critics, and having seen the figure in the flesh, I have to agree. The way the arm is attached to the body looks wrong. It is such a shame because the rest of him is nicely sculpted, although his hammer is a lot smaller than the Foundry and Indyclix versions. I doubt very much if I'll be using this particular figure in any of my games. He really sucks!

Occasional companion to Johnny and Wulf was the strange alien known as the Gronk. Though prone to fear-induced but non-fatal heart attacks, the meek Gronk nevertheless proved a useful ally. Able to digest metal and lick his way through steel bars, he rescued Johnny and Wulf from tight spots on occasion, but it was his medical skills that saw him become a useful member of Alpha's band of allies.

At the far left is the Wargames Foundry version of the Gronk. He is a lot larger than the Warlord Games version and so I've named him Big Gronk - a relative of my other Gronk. Warlord Games produce two versions of the Gronk, one on foot and one on the back of a skimmer. The one on foot, carrying his medical bag, is my favourite version. The size looks right and having him with his medical bag is an excellent choice. The Gronk is next to useless in combat but his medical skills makes him worthy of inclusion in a game. At the far right is Wulf and Gronk riding on a skimmer. Rather nicely, the Gronk is leaning to one side to see past Wulf. He doesn't look very happy! This skimmer is much longer than the single-seater version that Johnny rides. It is primarily a resin sculpt with a few metal parts - Wulf's upper body, his arms and handlebars and the Gronk's upper body.

Strontium Dog - Johnny Alpha

The Strontium Dogs storyline focuses on Johnny Alpha, whose mutated eyes allow him to see through walls and read minds. He is responsible for such legendary achievements as destroying the Wolrog homeworld, leading the mutant uprising on Earth, and bringing Adolf Hitler to the future to face trial. His legendary career and his assistance to mutants in trouble - such as donating a large sum of money to the Milton Keynes ghetto in "Mutie's Luck" - have made him an icon to Earth's mutants. He is a highly skilled and dangerous fighter.
A dogged bounty hunter, Johnny never gives up in the pursuit of his quarry. While he does work for money, he possesses a conscience and will often take a job, forego payment or sometimes drop a job entirely: in "The Doc Quince Case", he immediately relented and rescued a man he'd hunted down, and in "The Slavers of Drule" he took an assignment to track down a group of slavers because he felt it was the right thing to do. He also can be extremely vengeful when angered, as shown by his actions towards Nelson Kreelman and Max Bubba.
He is the son of Nelson Bunker Kreelman, a bigoted politician who drafted the anti-mutant laws and gained power on the back of bigotry. Despised, abused and hidden away by his father, Johnny escaped at a young age and joined the Mutant Army, becoming one of its key leaders by age 17 and playing a major part in the mutant uprising of 2167. He never revealed the identity of his father, changing his name from Kreelman to Alpha.
In this post I'm taking a look at the six different figures I have of Johnny, produced by various companies.

Starting at the left are two versions of Johnny produced by Wargames Foundry. The figure at the far left was one of the the first figures that Foundry made based on characters from the 2000AD comic, and he is my favourite version of Johnny. The figure second from the left is too tall, too static and the face is off. He's my least favourite version of Johnny. Crouching down is the Indyclix version of Johnny. He is the most chunky of the figures but he is nicely posed and sculpted. I prefer standing figures to crouching or kneeling figures so it is unlikely I'll use this figure very often.

The other three figures were all produced by Warlord Games specifically for their Strontium Dog skirmish game. I do like the version of Johnny holding his pair of pistols a lot, and he's my second favourite sculpt. You'll notice that the Warlord Games figures are slightly smaller in size to the others and are more realistically proportioned. Moving on, is a special edition figure of Johnny with his Electronux and rather unusually, without his helmet. This figure can only be acquired if you buy the Strontium Dog rulebook (priced at £20) or the Strontium Dog Collection 1 bundle for £120. I do like this figure. Finally, is Johnny riding a skimmer (also known as a hover sled or hov-bike). His face is obscured by a pair of goggles and a scarf covering his mouth and nose. This is a wonderful figure made of resin with a few metal parts (upper body and handlebars). I like the dust cloud effect, showing it is moving at speed. I might not use this figure very often but I'm happy to have it in my collection.
Do I really need six versions of Johnny Alpha? Of course not! But I'm such a 2000AD fanboy that I had to have them all, and it's not as if they were all released at the same time. When I use Johnny in a game I'll most likely mix up which figure to take depending upon circumstances but for the most part it'll be a toss up between the original Foundry figure or the two-guns Warlord Games figure.

Strontium Dog - the Stix Brothers

With Warlord Games having just released the new Strontium Dog sci-fi skirmish game last month, I plan on showing you my collection of figures for this game. Obviously, most of them will be the new figures produced by Warlord Games but two other companies made Strontium Dog figures as well and they were the Heroclix Indyclix offshoot and Wargames Foundry. This post will show figures from all three companies so you can compare how they match up. You'd probably expect me to start off with a look at the Johnny Alpha figures. After all, he is the main hero of the Strontium Dog stories but I haven't quite finished painting Johnny on his Gravbike. Instead, I'm showcasing the infamous Stix Brothers - a family of mutant Search/Destroy Agents who were more of a hindrance than a help to Johnny, even though they were all Strontium Dogs, the derogatory term given to all Search/Destroy Agents by pure-strain humans. Bounty hunting was one of the few jobs that were open to mutant-kind following a devastating nuclear war that mutated many humans, thus rendering them as second class citizens, pitied by some but hated by many.

At the far left are a pair of Stix brothers produced by Wargames Foundry. They have quite a chunky feel to them and are about 35mm tall. I really like them, mainly because of their facial expressions which capture the comic book look of them perfectly. Next in line is the one and only Indyclix sculpt of a Stix Brother, and he is such a close match to the two Foundry figures that I suspect the same person might have sculpted all three.

Then we come to the three newest Stix Brothers, who are sold as a set of three by Warlord Games. These are slightly smaller than the other three - about 32mm tall, and are more realistically proportioned. I did find that their facial features were not as well defined as the previous three but other than that I can't really criticise them. Their poses are very static but that kind of reflects their nature. Indeed, in the Strontium Dog rulebook, one of their skills is Purposeful - they cannot choose Charge or Sprint double actions.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Stix Brothers, you may be wondering how many of them are there? The answer is, no one knows. The info given in the rulebook about them reads thus - The Stix Brothers come from an unknown number of apparently identical mutants, all of whom are contracted to the Search/Destroy agency. They are, on the whole, utterly mercenary and without scruples - ice-hearted killers who affect the look of gunfighters from the Old West, with an unflinching and laconic demeanour to match. Nobody is sure how many Stixes there are. There seem to be an endless supply to take up the family feud and cause trouble across the galaxy. On the planet Freedonia there is a town called Stixville full of Stixes, including Stix women and children.
So, if I wanted to, I could field all six of these figures on a side in the Strontium Dog game. In my upcoming batrep I plan on fielding five of them against Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer and Durham Red. It should be fun!
The Stix Brothers boxed set of three figures, 1 character card (they all have identical stats so you only need one card for them, irrespective of how many you plan on using), 2 Armoury cards (Frag Bomb and Gas Bomb) and 1 Chicanery card (Stone Cold) are available for the price of £15.00 from the Warlord Games webstore.

JDMG MC1 Street Judges 02

Here is part two of my review of my collection of Mega City One Street Judges. Most of these are generic Judges who have not been named. Some, however, are named characters from the Judge Dredd comic series. Let's take a closer look at them.

At the far left is a Warlord Games Street Judge who was only available as part of the Chief Judge Cal's Personal Retinue boxed set. He is a well sculpted figure, posed quite dramatically, and I'd certainly consider using him as a player character Judge.
Next up is AD010 Judge Giant by Wargames Foundry as part of their 2000AD range of figures. In the Judge Dredd comic series there were two Judge Giants. Judge Giant Senior first appeared in Prog#27. He was later killed by Orlok the Assassin at the start of the Block Mania saga published in 1981. Later, it was revealed he had fathered a son, something which was prohibited to Judges. Giant Junior was orphaned after the Apocalypse war in 2104 and inducted into the Academy of Law. Eventually he became the youngest cadet ever to graduate from the Academy, at the age of 15, having been fast-tracked. In a story reminiscent of his father's debut, Giant's Final Assessment was conducted by Judge Dredd, who passed him as fit to become a judge in 2116. Since then he has made numerous appearances, quite often helping Judge Dredd. This slightly over-scale figure befits Giant's tall and muscular stature. However, his eagle shoulder pad is too big. Note that Warlord Games also made a figure of Judge Giant but I painted him as a Caucasian and used the figure to represent Judge Webb in my JDMG campaign (see my previous post).

The two figures at the right are the same figure of Judge Dredd as produced by Warlord Games. They are painted slightly differently because I bought the one second from the right many, many years ago and the one at the far right just a couple of months ago. The reason for their ever so slightly different colour schemes is the older one was painted with Citadel paints and the newer one with Foundry paints. I'm using them as generic Street Judges as neither is good enough to use as Judge Dredd but they make acceptable Street Judges.

These four Street Judges were originally made by Mongoose Publishing for their Gangs of Mega City One skirmish game. This eventually evolved into the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game and Warlord Games also sold these figures to tie in with the new game. These figures were sculpted by Bob Naismith. Whilst I do like the sculpts it irks me slightly that their shoulder pads appear to sit too high on their shoulders. Bob was the first sculptor to arm his Judges with the new Lawgiver Mk.II Pistol, something I very much approved of.
The Street Judge at the far left is nicely sculpted firing his Lawgiver. I do like this figure, despite my misgivings about his shoulder pads.

Next to him is the top half of a Street Judge who was seated on a Lawmaster Bike. The figure originally came in two halves. I used one figure as the rider of his Lawmaster Bike and bought a second one to convert into a standing Judge. I sculpted his lower body. At that time I didn't have many 28mm scale Judges, so he helped to bolster my numbers.
The remaining two figures are once again, the same sculpts but bought many years apart. The one second from the right is the original figure and was painted using Citadel paints. The one at the far right was purchased very recently. I repositioned both arms to make him appear slightly different to the first one and he was painted with my Foundry paints.

Moving on I come to my last batch of Street Judges and this diverse group are all females. The two figures at the far left are meant to be Street Judge Hershey but seeing as she was promoted to Chief Judge I will be using the Warlord Games figure of Chief Judge Hershey to represent her in my JDMG campaign. These two figures will feature as generic unnamed Street Judges. The figure at the far right was produced by Indyclix and is, in my opinion, one of the finest figures I have ever seen. She is certainly one of the most animated figures I own. Originally her left hand was supporting her body on the ground but I thought if I raised it, it would appear she is about to kick someone in the head or upper chest, which had to hurt more than kicking their legs away. I added a small plastic top from a Rotring pen cartridge to her base for her to rest her hand on. I also sculpted on her holstered Lawgiver Pistol. Note that all Judges keep their pistols holstered in their boots. She is just an absolutely superb figure and is easily one of my all-time favourite figures.
The other Judge Hershey figure is produced by Wargames Foundry and is figure AD43 from their 2000AD range. She is in a much more static pose, holding her Lawgiver in one hand and her helmet in the other. She certainly looks like Hershey but is a bit too tall. The one thing I do not like about her is her ridiculously large eagle shoulder pad. It's far too big! This is a common problem with some of the Judges made by Wargames Foundry.

In the centre of this group is what should have been a figure of Street Judge Galen DeMarco by Warlord Games from their Heroes of Mega City One boxed set. However, I had a problem with her because DeMarco left the Justice Department and now works as a private investigator. I have a lovely figure of Galen DeMarco P.I. and because I do not plan on replaying or reinventing stories from the past I saw no need to have a Judge DeMarco in my campaign. Fortunately for me, the figure bears an uncanny resemblance to Judge America Beeny. Judge Beeny has had a very illustrious career in the Justice Department and has quickly risen through the ranks. In 2130 she graduated to full Judge at age 15, after only 11 years in the Academy (the usual time being 15 years) — two years quicker than Dredd himself managed. In fact her graduation had been accelerated on Dredd's recommendation. In late 2137 Beeny and Dredd investigated a Total War terrorist cell which had assassinated a member of the Council of Five. Following the arrest of the perpetrators, Dredd recommended that Beeny be appointed to the vacant Council seat, and Chief Judge Hershey agreed. I am a huge admirer of Judge Beeny and this is a great figure to use for her. This was a lucky find on my part.
The Street Judge second from the right is another one of Bob Naismith's sculpts for the Mongoose GOMC1 game. Once again, a lovely figure is marred by the shoulder pads resting far too high on her shoulders. Other than that one criticism I really do like this figure.
At the far right is the Warlord Games figure of Judge Dekker from their Heroes of Mega City One boxed set. Judge Dekker first appeared in 1984 as a Rookie Judge, being successfully evaluated by Dredd as to her suitability to become a full Judge. She did not reappear in the strip again until 1991, when writer Garth Ennis used her as a recurring secondary character in several 1991 and 1992 strips - most prominently as the investigating Judge against the "Muzak Killer". By this time an experienced Street Judge, she was killed in the 1992 story "Judgement Day" (set in 2114). Upon her death Dredd considered that she was "...the best rookie he'd ever had, bar none." Clearly, I have no use for a dead Judge, so I will use her as a generic Street Judge until I decide on a name for her. She is a nicely sculpted figure and I would like to find a use for her in my campaign.

JDMG MC1 Street Judges 01

As I begin my (many) reviews of my collection of 28mm scale figures for the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game there is only one place I can start at and that is, of course, with Judge Dredd himself. In addition, I'm looking at some of the other Mega City One Street Judges who may appear in my campaign. Some of these Judges are generic unnamed Street Judges, whilst others have been named after my close friends and fellow Bloggers and they will definitely appear in my campaign.
Before I could take any photos of my extensive collection of figures I plan on using in this project I had to create a suitable backdrop to photograph them against. So, using two 6" by 6" ground tiles from the WWG TLX Streets of Titan set and six 6" by 2" wall tiles from the WWG TLX Codename Titan set I came up with a suitable scenery backdrop to represent a street in Mega City One or indeed, any generic sci-fi city.
All four of these figures are meant to represent Judge Dredd but seeing as "Ole Stony Face" is unique I had to choose just one to use as Joseph Dredd in my campaign. The choice was an easy one for me. The figure at the far left of the group is AD68 Judge Dredd 2 with Daystick from the Wargames Foundry 2000AD range and is, in my opinion, the finest sculpt of Judge Dredd ever made. The way the mouth and chin have been sculpted looks like he is based on a Carlos Ezquerra illustration, which is certainly no bad thing. After all, Carlos created the look of Judge Dredd along with writer, John Wagner. To me, he just looks like he means business and he does look as hard as nails and totally ready for action. I can't say enough good things about this figure - he is just perfect!
In the Judge Dredd Miniatures Game, Judge Dredd is a Level 20 Infantry Hero with a value of 625 Credits and very impressive stats. I am not planning on using him in my campaign but that does not mean he definitely won't be making an appearance. Who knows what might happen in the future?
Dredd's background is well known and I'm sure there is no one who is reading this who doesn't know who he is. For over 40 years Judge Joe Dredd has saved Mega City One more times than anyone can remember. He has always said his place is on the streets and has always avoided positions of command. Nevertheless, he is considered the most senior of Street Judges and even Chief Judges pay attention when he speaks. He is the Law, and you better believe it, creep!

The other three figures of Judge Dredd will be used as normal Street Judges. I have yet to name any of them. Second from the left is AD79 Judge Dredd 3 from the Wargames Foundry range of 2000AD figures. To me, he is a very average sculpt and I would never dream of using him as Judge Dredd. As a generic Street Judge he is okay but he is nowhere near as good as the other two Foundry Judge Dredd figures.
Third in line is the Indyclix version of Judge Dredd. Indyclix was a short lived expansion set for Heroclix, which produced superheroes and villains from the big two American comics publishers, DC and Marvel. Indyclix concentrated on characters created by a few independent comic publishers, including 2000AD. I had a number of swaps of this figure, so I removed one from his clicky base and glued him to a normal 25mm diameter slottabase. For a normal Street Judge he is a decent enough sculpt but I feel he lacks the wow factor to be Judge Dredd.
At the far right is my oldest and probably rarest figure of Judge Dredd. Incredibly, he was made by Citadel Miniatures before they became a subsidiary of Games Workshop. Even more unusual, he was sculpted as a 32mm scale figure. Bear in mind this was in the early 1980's when all of the Citadel figures were 25mm scale. At the time, that made him something of an oddity - an over-scale figure. The figure was clearly based on an illustration by Ron Smith, who I must admit was one of my least favourite Judge Dredd artists. Originally, the figure held a Mk.1 Lawgiver pistol in his right hand and a daystick in his left hand. At some point his daystick snapped off and so I re-sculpted his left hand. I also replaced his Mk.1 Lawgiver with a Mk.2 Lawgiver. For many years he was my unique Judge Dredd figure, simply because no one else made any MC1 Judges, never mind a Judge Dredd. He saw quite a lot of action. Now, however, I have relegated him to generic Street Judge status but this figure will always hold special memories for me.

Now I move on to my player characters for my JDMG campaign. All of them are Level 1 Street Judges apart from Judge Nash, who is a Level 1 Med Judge. At the far left is Street Judge Burnett. I decided to make him the team's sniper. As such, he is armed with a Lawrod Rifle, which replaces his Lawgiver Pistol. Both weapons use the same ammo but the Lawrod has a much greater range. His two starting Talents are Accurate (which allows him to re-roll a missed Shoot attack that uses 1 Shooting Dice) and Boom! Head Shot (which causes any critical hit done with a Standard Executioner round single shot to do triple damage instead of double damage. Ouch!). Clint is a bit of a loner but he will surely prove his worth at ranged combat. His figure is a Judge with Lawrod Rifle from Warlord Games.
Next up is me. This is Street Judge Scott, the team's leader. As such, I decided he would specialise in leadership abilities that prove beneficial to himself and the rest of the team. His two starting talents are Academy Star (which grants him a permanent +1 bonus to his Will stat) and Voice of Command (which grants a +1 bonus to all Will tests to any allies who are within 12" of him). Will is the stat used by Judges to make arrests and by perps to resist arrest. So, Judge Scott will excel at making arrests as well as helping his colleagues improve their chances of making arrests. His figure is AD1 Judge Dredd 1 produced by Wargames Foundry as the first figure they made for their 2000AD range of figures. He is, in my opinion, the second best sculpted figure of Judge Dredd. Seeing as I wanted a really cool figure to use as my alter ego I had no hesitation in choosing this figure.

The figure second from the right is Street Judge Gilbert. Steve works on the principle that if one Lawgiver Pistol is good then two have to be better. His two starting talents are Luck of Grud (which allows him one re-roll per game) and Dual Shooter (which grants him a +1 damage bonus when he fires two pistols simultaneously. However, he only rolls for one pistol and no criticals are allowed). Initially, the Dual Shooter Talent is not that impressive but as he gains more experience at being a Twin Shooter, Judge Gilbert will really shine. Suffice to say, his forte is with the Lawgiver Pistol. His figure is the Warlord Games Judge with Twin Lawgiver Pistols.
At far right is Street Judge Hillers, who in my campaign is not romantically involved with Judge Gilbert. This is not the case in real life! Hilary wanted to be called Judge Hillers instead of Judge Hilary or Judge Gilbert. She is good at both Ranged combat and Melee combat but she prefers to bring her victims in alive instead of dead. As such, her two starting Talents are Skilled and Deadly (which allows her to re-roll one Melee die) and Leg Shot (which uses a single Lawgiver Standard Executioner round. If hit, the target loses no Hits but can't Move or Melee until the next Phase). Judge Hillers represents the conscience of the team and will be the least likely to demand excessive force. However, anyone who thinks she is too soft will quickly come to regret it. You underestimate her at your peril. Her figure is a Female Street Judge from Warlord Games.

Here are another four of my player character Judges starting at the far left with Street Judge Moore. A veteran of many fire fights, Simon knows how to handle a gun. His two starting Talents are Accurate (which allows him to re-roll a missed Shoot attack with any firearm that uses one Shooting Dice) and Close Combat Shooter (which allows him to fire his pistol even if an enemy is in base to base contact with him). Judge Moore is a specialist in the use of the Lawgiver Pistol. His figure is based on one of the Warlord Games versions of Judge Dredd from the Heroes of Mega City One boxed set.
Next in line is Street Judge Webb who is the team's stealth and agility expert. His two starting talents are Stealthy (Until the start of his next Phase, enemies within 20" of him must make an opposed Will test to take any action against him. Enemies further than 20" away cannot see him) and Agile (which allows him to re-roll any non-combat Agility test). Roger will hone these Talents further as he gains more experience. His figure is based on the Warlord Games version of Judge Giant, who also appeared in the Heroes of Mega City One boxed set.

Second from the right is Street Judge Crowe. Jez wanted him to be called Judge Crowe instead of Judge Winstanley and I was only too happy to oblige. He is the team's Melee Combat expert. His two starting talents are Martial Artist (which means he loses the Weak rule from any Fists and Feet attacks he makes) and Skilled and Deadly (which allows him to re-roll any one of his Melee Dice). Jez likes to get up close and personal with perps. As such, I chose the figure of a Warlord Games Street Judge with Daystick to portray him.
Finally is Med Judge Nash. Tasked with keeping Mega City One safe from virulent diseases and plagues, Med Judges can also be found on the frontline of the streets, ensuring the safety of other Judges when under fire. Seeing as Andy is a paramedic in real life, it was an obvious choice to make him a Med Judge. His two starting Talents are appropriately enough, Medic (which allows him to heal one injury after a game) and First Aid (which allows him to automatically restore 1 lost Hit to an ally in base contact with him. He can also heal himself of 1 Hit if he passes a Will test). JDMG is above all a skirmish game with the emphasis firmly on combat. As such, it should prove highly beneficial for my team to have their own medic close by. Andy's figure is based on the Warlord Games figure of Med Judge 1.
I hope my fellow Bloggers are satisfied with how I have portrayed them for my campaign. If not, I can certainly change them. If you have the JDMG rulebook, just let me know what changes you'd like me to make. If you don't have the rulebook but would like to know more about the game you can download a PDF copy for free from the Warlord Games webstore. See here https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/judge-dredd/products/ebook-judge-dredd-rulebook
More Street Judges next time, folks. If you have any questions you want to ask about the game or my campaign please don't hesitate to contact me via the comments section or by e-mail.