I've just finished reading Judge Dredd Year One: City Fathers an e-book novella written by Matthew Smith and published by 2000AD Books.
The first is a new series of stories set in 2080AD, Dredd's first year as a Judge, it was an entertaining read, notably noir in places. The plot starts off as a seemingly straight forward case of investigating the gang murder of a Justice Department informant before expanding into something more sinister as the bodycount starts to rise.
Overall it was a good read, a couple of quirks, notably the portrayal of clone brother Rico but nothing that can't be lived with.
From a gaming point of view that isn't a great deal in it, though a raid on a known narcotics club and the end act at the spaceport have potential.
The raid to capture a suspect whilst confronted by random gangers who may or may not take on the Judges could prove unpredictable fun, whilst trying to capture the perps at a busy spaceport before they escape could make for a great time limited scenario.
When 2000AD was launched it 1977 I was eleven years old - prime target age for this new SF comic. Unfortunately an over zealous mother threw out my original comics but I still recall some of the early stories that provided much enjoyment such as Flesh, Rollerball, M.A.C.H. 1, Robo-Hunter and of course, Judge Dredd. I still remember being captivated by the Cursed Earth storyline and waiting eagerly for each new prog to arrive at the corner shop to find out how Dredd, Spikes and, of course, Tweak were.
Despite wargaming many periods and genres and even collecting a few of the Citadel Judge Dredd miniatures in the eighties my SF interests drifted away from the kind of stories in 2000AD to that in RPG's like Traveller 2300AD and books by William Gibson, my SF wargaming owed more to Hammer's Slammers and Neuromancer, than "the Galaxy's Greatest Comic".
However, my enjoyment of Dredd and some of the other 2000AD characters has endured and over the decades I have picked up the odd graphic novel which has somewhat expanded into a rather large collection, albeit with some large storyline gaps. To fill the gaps I have started collecting the excellent Case Files series but still have yet to purchase half of those available.
So what has this to do with wargaming?
Well I fell hook, line and sinker for the Mongoose Kickstarter and pledged in at the Council of Judges level. I may now be some $300 lighter in the wallet but I will have a hell of a lot of Judge Dredd related miniature goodies coming my way over the next few months.
I am determined that these miniatures will not join 'Lead Mountain' so am starting this blog as a way of encouraging myself to paint the miniatures shown below (gulp!) as well as some other unofficial figures from other manufacturers that can be used on the streets of Mega-City One or the rad-wastes of the Cursed Earth.
I also hope to look at some of the various storylines that have appeared in comic books, novels, audio adventures (I have the Radio One Cursed Earth series tape somewhere...) and films and see which lend themselves to tabletop recreation or as inspiration...
I've just finished reading Judge Dredd Year One: City Fathers an e-book novella written by Matthew Smith and published by 2000AD Books. 
