New Metal Crack: the Strontium Dog Miniatures Game!

So I got this game maybe late 2018, early 2019 and it sat on my shelf... opened but unplayed.

Now with the whole pandemic lockdown thing, I decided to dust it off and watched some game play videos and flipped through the rules. Then based the minis and played a few quick and dirty trial turns. Once you get the rhythm, it flows quickly and the rules are insane! (Forgive the tacky terrain. It really was a quick 30 minute trial so I didn't feel like setting up an entire board for it).
The game uses a very Bolt Action/Gates of Antares activation system, pulling chits out of a bag. Heroes/villains have a star on their chit. After activation, there's a chance to put the chit back into the bag for more activations. Most books (grunts, cannon fodder, what have you) don't get the star so once they're activated, that's it. Trying to put your starred chip bag in the bag also carries penalties for failure. If you fail, your activation ends and you get a pinned marker which you'll have to attempt to remove the following turn or be penalised one action.

There's also a crazy Gunfighter rule where if you manage to dodge a shot, you get a chance to shoot back (depending on dice roll). Then the other guy can dodge your shot and potentially have a chance to shoot back at you! And so on... but not all models have this rule. Just the ones with this specific rule can do this and it builds up, so as long as you keep rolling the special symbol (2000AD logo) you can keep on doing this!

Haven't played with the Chicanery or Armoury cards yet, nor did I get to do melee combat. The melee guy was shot down before he could get within melee range. Nor have I played a specific scenario yet.

Overall, quite fun although I wish there was a PDF rulebook or some quick start rules. (EDIT: there's an invaluable player reference on the 2000AD Facebook group). With familiarity, I think the game will go swimmingly well. Feels fun and really need to move about more.


I'm basing them now in preparation to painting the minis and going through the mini-campaign in the starter set. 

I've already assembled the included terrain in my "Adventures in MDF" post here so I think  I'm all set to go. (The terrain has been primed/painted since I took this photo).

I think it'll be fun. There are also fan-made solo rules to be found online that really give you variety in how to play the bad guys in the Rogues Gallery, and the rulebook encourages you to craft your own narrative adventures, especially if you are familiar with the entire Strontium Dog mythos. Everything is provided to let you have your own DIY 2000AD Strontium Dog saga!



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