Tabletop Games

For millions of Mega-City One’s citizens there can be no greater symbol of the law than Judge Joe Dredd, not even the Statue of Judgement itself. The mere mention of his name is enough to give even the most hardened criminals pause. Dredd has been appointed a temporary member of the Council of Five on several occasions. However, he is only truly content when patrolling the streets dispensing the law directly and his well-known dislike of bureaucracy keeps him well away from the Hall of Justice. If it is true that a man can be measured by the quality of his enemies then Dredd will take some beating. Over the years, he has clashed with mad Chief Judges, transdimensional denizens of Deadworld, super agents of the Sov Bloc, necromancers and powerful mutant pre-cogs. Yet it’s probably safe to say that from Dredd’s perspective bringing one of these individuals to justice is no more important than the prosecution of a citizen for littering or a juve for spraying graffiti on a wall. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the law!

Potential Judge candidates are usually inducted into the Academy of Law at the tender age of five. Here, they are subject to rigorous academic training in all aspects of the law that governs the North American Mega-Cities. By the end of the process, they have acquired a level of knowledge that would exceed those of the most senior lawyers and justice officials of the early 21st century. In parallel to their academic training, they undergo an intensive physical and mental exercise programme that hones their firearms and close combat skills whilst also preparing them to endure the various injuries and physical hardships that life patrolling the streets will throw at them. Whilst the life of a cadet is mostly taken up by study and training, if a particularly serious situation or crisis demands the Justice Department deploy more manpower, cadets may be armed and sent out onto the streets, usually as part of a carefully monitored team engaging in fairly low intensity operations. One highlight of a cadet’s continual assessment is the ‘Hotdog Run’ where a group of cadets accompanied by Senior Judges are sent on patrol in the radioactive hell of the Cursed Earth beyond the Mega-City’s walls. However, during the Necropolis and Chaos Day incidents cadets were deployed into highly dangerous situations normally only handled by a fully qualified Judge. Many cadets performed bravely and well, as befitted their training, but the losses incurred had serious future implications for the Justice Department when it was already struggling to maintain enough qualified Street Judges.

Not all Citi-Def units have a Jaeger Squad but those who do often consider them to be an elite force. Each member of the Jaeger Squad is a full-time Citi-Def soldier dedicated to protecting their block against all enemies. Training hard in infiltration skills and the disruption of communications, the Jaeger Squad is as close to a commando unit as any Citi-Def is likely to get. Though still far from the highly disciplined Judges, members of the Jaeger Squad gain a great deal of respect from other soldiers of their Citi-Def unit and can prove to be quite lethal in block wars.

When a block war comes, Fatties can really pull their not inconsiderable weight. Improvised armour will be strapped to their considerable bulk and then pushed at full speed towards the enemy to be used as a living battering ram. Every fat camp has a Fats Hambo, to one degree or another. A militant campaigner for fat rights, they are true believers in the Grud-given gift of as much food for every Fattie as they can stomach. Using (and bending) the laws for arming Citi-Def units, they have managed to get their hands on powerful weaponry and just enough training to be dangerous when enraged.

"Me? I’m nobody. A ghost. A hole in the crowd… a big, fat zero." There are some criminal investigations that require intelligence gathering, where the presence of a uniformed Judge brandishing a Lawgiver is not appropriate. For these activities the Justice Department has formed an undercover division known informally in the Department as the ‘Wally Squad’. These Judges adopt civilian garb and move amongst the street life of Mega‐City One always on the lookout for leads on criminal activity. If required, they will infiltrate gangs and criminal organisations on highly dangerous undercover missions. Activities like these are abhorrent to most Street Judges who tend to view their Wally Squad colleagues as necessary ‘oddballs’. Whilst some undercover operations can be concluded in a short time, dedicated squad members have been known to spend years on a case, all the time maintaining a false identity. There is a danger in such deep cover that some Wally Squad members, such as the infamous Lenny Zero, have had their outlook and life values completely changed. Their beliefs have been sequestered by the roles they are playing, and many have ‘gone rogue’ working out of sight, but not out of mind, of the Justice Department. A Judge gone rogue can become the most dangerous of criminals. Here we present three of the most infamous members of the Wally Squad. Dirty Frank: Originally a respected Street Judge, Frank now appears to be a deeply unhygienic lunatic living in ‘Low Life’, the Mega-City One’s most crime-ridden area. Jack Point: A deep cover Wally Squad Judge, Jack is a follower of the Church of Simpology. Despite this, Jack is an effective and dangerous operative. Aimee Nixon: An ‘A’ grade cadet, Nixon joined the Wally Squad and was mentored by Dirty Frank.