Gangs of Mega City One

[Mr. White]

Looks like this Mongoose game is dead.

Anyone play or have played it?  Is it worth tracking down, or would one be better off getting Necromunda free from the GW website?

Thanks!

[Plynkes]

It's great fun. I've had a few games in a campaign our mob were doing. Unfortunately the GM's inspiration moved on to other things and at the moment the campaign is somewhat becalmed. We had some classic gaming moments, though. I really ought to get around to writing it all up and putting it on my blog.

There are some nice ideas in there, though the rules are pretty simple. The campaign aspect keeps interest up, too (well, it did for a while). We started off simple, but now I have enough rep and cash to get some very nasty gear, I just wish we could have another game so I could use some of it.

Edit: I did get around to doing one report, of our first trial game, before the campaign started. Might give you an idea of the feel of it:

http://misterplynkes.blogspot.com/2006/09/first-play-gangs-of-mega-city-one_24.html

[Argonor]

I do not think it's dead - it just moved to the Judge Dredd section of their website.

Edit: http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=29

[Mr. White]

So what's the deal with the judges?

Are they a gang controlled by a player? Are they part of a scenario?

The nature of the universe looks like a lot of fun with room for fun conversions.

If it plays well, I might give it a go.

Thanks!

[Plynkes]

In that game they were controlled by the GM. It was a one-off.

Usually they are not used in the game, every player has a gang. But they are a balancing mechanism in the campaign, that can be used to bring a gang that has become far superior to the others down a peg or two. In the campaign phase when players challenge each other and pick what kind of scenario the next fight will be, if you find yourself outclassed in Reputation by enough of a margin, you can opt to call the Judges instead of fight with your gang. You will then play the Judges in a scenario where your opponent's gang has to escape from them.

You can gain nothing for your gang in this situation as they haven't fought (so you don't gain rep or anything), but can do quite a bit of harm to your opponent, and it saves your boys from taking a pounding.

[Eisenfaust]

Yeah, the "State of the Mongoose" write-up in Signs & Portents seemed to indicate that there was something big going on with the license beyond the game that would have ramifications on what Mongoose did with it.

It was all told with an optimistic air, though, so I look forward to them still having some form of miniatures game in the Dreddverse. I hope.

[Mr. White]

Looking around, this game really has no presence on the net.

I mean only like 15 reviews on BGG, and the only place I see any kind of activity is on the Mongoose board. Even then, it looks to be the same 3-5 guys.

Was the game too similar to the already established Necromunda, or did it really fly that low under the radar?

I don't have a problem buying oop games, but I'd like to have an forum to discuss ideas with other active players.  So far, those choices seem slim...

[Torben]

I played it myself a few times, so I could count for one of the "active" players.

The problem about Gangs of Mega-City One was that it definately flew below the radar. There was no marketing, and the rules could by some be percieved as a bit bland (I personally liked them myself, and found them far superior in some area to Mongoose' other games) and the figures were often seen as a bit dodgy at best.

I think that the main problem was that it was a bit too much like Necromunda whilst still being absolutely nothing like it. Those who wanted something different were dissapointed at the sameness, and those who wanted something similar were confused because it was different.

We tried out a small campaign and found it, sadly enough, to be rather broken - even if the Judges would appear every three games. Oh, and apparently then the expansion should really mess things up as to play-balance between the gangs.

I find it a big shame - because, like SST, it had so much promise and the ball was simply just dropped. :\

[Mr. White]

Interesting.

So, in what way is the campaign broken?  Is it due to the meddling of the judges? Is that a poor system to handicap 'tougher' gangs? Or were the judges even ineffective?

It's starting to sound like printing out the Necromunda rulebook is the better option. Shame really, I think the ape and robot gangs would be a lot of fun, and I prefer dystopian terrain to ruins. Oh well, guess I can still play necro in a city.

[Torben]

It's not the meddling of the Judges, they're actually a breathe of fresh air to any campaign. It's rather the way that the campaign is structured, and the effectiveness of certain weapons over other weapons.

It might not sound broken, but it'll soon be as there's only one weapon worth your time in the game, and then it get's boring since all gangs have - essentially - the only working layout. That was my experience when trying to run the campaign.

Also, I remember gangs ending up with ridicoulous amounts of money, and you became hardpressed to earn any traits in the long run; meaning that the gang growth didn't really get anywhere.

It had it's fair sparks of brilliance tho'! I especially liked how the progress system worked (that is, when you actually had a ganger progress), and the activation system for your gang. So, it's not a bad game in itself; the skirmish system for fighting was actually rather elegant. The rest however..

Necromunda might be the way to go, although it depends on what you want out of the campaign / ruleset itself

[Mr. White]

Well, I guess I'd like a somewhat balanced ruleset and gangs with flavor. If GoMC-1 only really has one working template, it seems that the game itself would be doomed for repeated campaign plays.

Though this is disappointing, thanks for the info!

[Zafarelli]

The Necromunda campaign system has its flaws, too. At a certain point, gangs become so powerful that it just makes no sense to play on. If most gangers only need to roll 2+ on a D6 to hit, you better look where you step...

One of the last games of our campaign went more or less like this:

- "Ok, all my men have moved into hiding. Your turn."

- "My men do the same. Your turn."

- "I don't want to do anything. Your turn."

- "Neither do I. Your turn."

At that point, I had one of my gangers stand up as a target, just to lure some of the other gang out of hiding. My man of course was shot dead. All my people went out of hiding to to kill the two guys that shot mine, and were completely wiped out during the next turn.

But with reasonably balanced gangs, it is a great game, which I liked and played a lot. Since it is free now, I'd give it a try.