Saturday 20 July 2019

"Warlord Games" Open Day - Part One: "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" Preview

"For Dredd there is only one thing in his life - the law."
This past Saturday 20th July 2019 saw what is fast becoming a regular pilgrimage up to the "Warlord Games" Head Office site at the Lenton Business Centre, Nottingham, for the company's annual Open Day event. Advertised as a rare opportunity to "come and play-test our new games Black Seas, Judge Dredd and a few top secret projects presented by our Studio Team", the highlight for me was undoubtedly the chance to both have a look at the new range of miniatures coming to the streets of Mega-City One, and their fast-developing battlefield based upon the futuristic metropolis itself.

Particularly impressive are the Judges themselves, which have been sculpted in a variety of poses, carrying an assortment of weapons, such as the Lawgiver, Daystick and what potentially looks like either an Arbitrator pump-action shotgun or a Widowmaker 2000. In addition, there will clearly be the opportunity for some of the Judges to ride some fantastic-looking Lawmasters, one of which was on display flaunting a mouth-wateringly impressive paint-job by Kirsten Williams.
"Only dead men walk of doors, lawbreaker - smart ones use the window!"
Of course, my eyes were also very quickly drawn to some of Joseph Dredd's most iconic adversaries, especially when the models were placed alongside figures of Cassandra Anderson and Old Stony Face himself. The sculpt of Judge Death was absolutely jaw-dropping, but I was a little disconcerted by the undead law enforcer from the alternate dimension of Deadworld being so intrinsically fashioned around Dredd's body.

Death's spectral form flows all around his nemesis' legs and has his right hand hovering over the Judge's Lawgiver, so it was almost as if the pair were a small vignette rather than a wargaming figure. I suppose quite possibly the piece could be a special limited edition miniature, similar to the bareheaded Johnny Alpha with Electronux which accompanies just the "Strontium Dog" rule book...? Mean Machine Angel and Oola Blint however are clearly designed to operate as standalone characters, and both looked suitably menacing.
"Mega-City One... 800 million people and every one of them a potential criminal."
Enjoyably, a few of the residents of Mega-City One were also on show, in the significantly rotund shape of a Fattie and extremely-elegant Bat-glider. In addition, I was allowed to have a sneak peek at the ongoing paint-job upon Judge Grice in his chief judge's uniform, and at the massive MDF tabletop which "Warlord Games" are currently assembling in order to showcase the "Judge Dredd Miniatures Game" upon its release in November 2019.

Interestingly, the wooden walkways and habitation modules look set to be adorned by a number of pieces taken from "Mantic Games" Terrain Crate range of Starship Scenery and Starship Doors, as a few presumably empty boxes were lying amidst the partially-assembled buildings and plastic pieces dotted throughout the streets. The terrain boards would also appear to be utilising the multi-use interlocking tile system recently announced by "Sarissa Precision Limited", an intriguing series of different-sized edged MDF tiles which can be repeatedly reconfigured and looked rather useful for rule-sets such as "Zombicide" by "Guillotine Games".

20 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for taking these pictures. Wow. Wow. What great minis. I think these are the best Judge Dredd minis I have seen. No complaints about anything. Roll on November as I think I may have to get these. Great post Sir!

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    1. Many thanks indeed, Undercoat, and my pleasure. I'll definitely be in the queue to pick this game up upon its release in November 2019. Hopefully, you'll enjoy the subsequent installments of this series, with the next one focusing upon the future "Doctor Who" releases.

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    2. On you tease. Can't wait!

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    3. Oh indeed. There were tonnes of new minis/games on show, so it'd be nice to let people know about a few of them. Plus "North Star Miitary Figures" had an open morning too, and I'm hoping to post about some of the Loot I bought there too.

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  2. Oh, my God! These are absolutely jaw-droppingly gorgeous! I agree with Undercoat - these are the best JD miniatures I've seen. The Lawmaster bike is truly impressive. I'd heard rumours that Judge Dredd was going to be the follow up project to Strontium Dogs, so it is really great to have it confirmed... and in such spectacular fashion. What a fantastic post, Simon, and thank you so much for sharing the good news. Roll on November!

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    1. Cheers Bryan, glad you like the pics as the models are indeed, imho, the best JD sculpts I've seen. It certainly seems that the "2000 A.D." licence is in good hands :-)

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  3. Thanks Simon. Those are very tantalising!

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  4. Look what you've done to Bryan, he'll be buying the biggest box set when they are released. Mind you they are rather shiny !!!

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  5. All looks wonderful Simon, you had better start saving! ;)

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    1. If the initial release schedule is anything like their "Strontium Dog" one, Michael, then saving will be an understatement, as they'll be so many new shines to buy come November :-)

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  6. I foresee a huge upsurge in JD games once this range is up and running. The figures look great and you've no doubt made many gamers very jealous seeing them first hand.

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    1. Cheers Joe. Undoubtedly, this was one of the highlights of the "Warlord Games" open day, and I've already seen my photos appear on at least one other wargaming website, so hopefully that'll enthuse even more people to buy them when they're released :-)

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  7. Warlord just needs to pump the brakes a bit, the wallet needs a break :) Thanks for posting the photos, great stuff!

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    1. You're more than welcome for the pics, Ivor. At least "Warlord Games" have given you a few months to save up though ;-)

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  8. The best Dredd minis I've seen to date by far. Wow, just wow.

    Thanks for posting this Simon.

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  9. Wow they look great. Not happy with the law-master but the rest look ace!!!

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    1. Cheers HappyDan. Glad you found the pics and liked most of what you saw :-)

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