Monday 7 November 2016

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These four Street Judges were originally made by Mongoose Publishing for their Gangs of Mega City One skirmish game.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.

24 comments:

  1. Love them all! I agree with you on the Indyclix Hershey, she is amazing and I love what you've done with her! Thanks for adding her to my prize as I'm going to shamelessly steal this conversion for my version, although I'm terrible at sculpting so won't be sculpting the lawgiver.

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    1. That Indyclix Judge Hershey figure is an absolute cracker. For converting her, any small bottle top or toothpaste top would suffice. I think she looks a lot better being raised from the ground.

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  2. I am inclined to think there are enough street judges now. Brilliant job mate.

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    1. You could be right, Clint, but... these are just my Street Judges on foot. I have even more on Lawmaster Bikes. And of course, the Justice Department is far more then just Street Judges, even though they are the most numerous and most visible. I still have loads more Judges to show!

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    2. I have little doubt of that! There are a whole plethora of different judge types. Psi, Admin, street, riot, wally squad, med,... the list goes on and I am sure you have at least one of each! *Snigger* Most likely a dozen of each.

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    3. Well, definitely one of each, and quite often more than one but nowhere near a dozen of each. I can only dream of such numbers!

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  3. Which Judge is me?

    I really like the Clix one you converted. But then again they all look so nice.

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    1. I showed Judge Gilbert last post. You're the Judge with two Lawgiver Pistols, Steve. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Halt, creep! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

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    2. Okay, that it. I got a letter yesterday reminding me of my annual check up at Specsavers... I obviously really need my eyes tested hahaha. WOW I have no idea how I missed that, and I read it at the time as well DUH!!!!

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  4. Where`s Judge Hillers?

    *giggles*

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    1. Once again, you should look at my previous post. Judge Hillers is standing next to Judge Gilbert... obviously! :-)

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  5. OMGGGGGGG I need to go back and check now.. immediately. How COULD I have missed that. I`ll tell Stevie the second he gets back from the shops.

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    1. HAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHA oh how apt (and you had no idea when you wrote that hahahaha).

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    2. I'm tempted to say, "Should have gone to Specsavers!" but that's too obvious and too cruel. Please do check my previous post. You're in the third and fourth photos.

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  6. I thought that after the last post, we'd be moving on to the perps, not realising that your Justice Department was so well-manned! And there's more to come? My word. I have a feeling that this is going to be epic.
    And whilst I don't have any Judges, I am tempted to paint up the sole remaining Adeptus Arbites figure I do own, who has a massive pump-action shotgun, using this colour scheme. Or possibly as a BritCit Judge, as I think the colour scheme might suit him better. And now I want some BritCit Judges...*sigh* Curse you, Bryan!

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    1. QUOTE: "I thought that after the last post, we'd be moving on to the perps, not realising that your Justice Department was so well-manned! And there's more to come? My word. I have a feeling that this is going to be epic."

      Jez, you really have no idea just how big my Justice Department collection is! I'll be showcasing it all over the coming weeks. As for perps, I have so many sourced from lots of different places, including a fair number that are now OOP.

      The Adeptus Arbites would make great proxy Judges. Good choice, Jez.

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  7. A corking selection from the Justice Department, Bryan, and from such a range of manufacturers too. As has already been said, your "Indyclix" conversion is the best of the bunch, but nice work on America Beeny too :-) I think your consistently strong paint-jobs really bring all these models together, despite their different origins. And a nice tit-bit about Bob Naismith's time sculpting some of these minis that I didn't know.

    Btw Dave Stone of "Wargames Terrain Workshop" has been in touch and highlighted to me that they do a range of bikers which were originally sculpted for "Mongoose Publishing" Judge Dredd until they joined forces with "Warlord Games" - this includes the Zombie Mistress on a bone-bike!! Thought you might be interested as I'll be getting some ;-)

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. I too, love my Indyclix conversion and I was pleased that my Judge Beeny required nothing more than a new paint-job.

      You had my intrigued about your news about the WTW biker figures. I've checked them out and I have already placed an order for them. That Zombie Mistress on Bone Bike is superb! The fact that she looks so much like my Zombie Mistress on foot is a bonus. Thanks for letting me know about these figures. There you go - you've got me spending money now. That must be a nice feeling!

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    2. No worries at all Bryan. I've found Dave & WTW to be extremely good people to do business with, and immediately thought of you as soon as he directed my attention to the bike riders - I'll be going for the robots myself!! First up I have a few more pieces of scenery for "Frostgrave", "Bushido" and "Doctor Who & The Seeds Of Doom". But just as soon as that is all done, I'll be ordering more from them :-)

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    3. I've ordered the Zombie Mistress and one of each of the Ape Gang. Having just ordered the four new Ape Gang Bikers from Warlord Games, these new ones will fit in perfectly to give me a good sized Ape Biker Gang. I'll probably get the human bikers and robot bikers later. I look forward to seeing what you do with your robot bikers and those scenery items you mentioned have me very intrigued as well.

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  8. They all look cracking Bryan. Going to need a lot of perps to go up against these my favourite has to be the female judge kicking someone to the face!

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    1. Thanks, Simon. As it happens I do have loads of perps to put up against them. I totally agree with you about the kicking female Judge. She's my favourite, too.

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