M2E+The+Judge


 * The Judge, Guild Henchman**

=__Overview__= Lady Justice's second-in-command, The Judge is a flexible Henchmen with a blend of ranged and melee, and some movement tricks to boot. He's very survivable, making him a real all-comers model.

Also, if you like Judge Dredd quotes, he is your chance to bring as many as you like! 1... 2... 3... "I am the LAW!"

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=__Mobility__= While having a strictly average **Wk** and **Cg**, The Judge does possess **(0) Stand for Judgement**, a 12" range ability that allows him to push models 5" towards him. Very useful for increasing the mobility of your own models, or for reeling in enemies to get pounded by your crew. It is his only (0) action, so he'll likely try it every turn. Note that as a Projectile attack (unlike **Lure**, for example) it is affected by Cover and has to randomize into engagements and the push has to be straight towards the Judge, which can limit your options.

Remember that your own models can relent the duel and Pushes aren't affected by Severe terrain, so you can pull your models through with this instead of having them walk through.

=__Offense__= Offense is one of the strong suits of The Judge and his damage output can be quite daunting for any enemy to face. If he has enough Masks in hand or spends Soulstones, he can put out an impressive number of attacks in melee as well as at range.

The Judge shares this ability with his mistress. It stops models he kills from dropping markers -- Scheme, Corpse, Scrap, whatever -- in response to being killed. Situational, but very handy when it comes into play.
 * Final Repose** -

__Melee__
__**Long Arm Blade**__ The Long Arm is The Judge's sword with a pistol built into the handle, because awesome. His melee and ranged attacks are really two different ends of the same weapon and The Judge uses it for some surprising tricks. Compared to the Pistol, the Blade has a higher chance to hit and slightly higher moderate damage, with a built-in Ram to guarantee //Critical Strike// for even more damage. This attack also has a Mask Trigger, //Blades & Bullets//, which allows The Judge to make a free Pistol attack in melee range after damaging.

__Ranged__
Compared with the Blade, the Pistol has a slightly lower chance to hit with no built-in suit and slightly lower moderate damage. While also possessing the //Critical Strike// trigger, the Pistol has an opposite trigger, //Bullets & Blades,// that allows The Judge to throw his Blade as a Projectile Attack after damaging with the Pistol.
 * __Long Arm Pistol__**

An average **Ca** attack with a built-in Ram, **Bound By Law** is The Judge's anti-Undead attack, dealing a small amount of damage to non-Undead or a hell of a lot against Undead models. Targets hit must also discard cards to Walk or Charge until end of turn. This is the go-to weapon against Incorporeal models, especially if they are Undead. It's also not affected by Cover or randomization and is thus a great support attack for shooting into melee. Against Undead models Focusing before using this is a good idea since the severe damage is massive.
 * __Bound By Law__**

=__Resilience__=
 * Hard to Kill** and **Hard to Wound +1** at 10 Wounds means that The Judge is staying around for a while at least. A model that heals -- like the Governor's Proxy -- can keep The Judge alive against anything but loads of concentrated fire or models with ridiculous weak damage. Remember that as a Henchman he can prevent damage via Soulstones which is especially valuable if you can keep him above 1 **Wd** to preserve **Hard to Kill**.

=__Upgrades__=

__**Guild Marshal Upgrades**__
__**Flames of the Pit**__ This Upgrade allows The Judge to become a complete juggernaut against the Undead, as he gains **Terrifying (Undead)** at a good level and grants all friendly Death Marshal models Immunity to Horror Duels. Note though, The Judge himself is not a Death Marshal, but a Guild Marshal, so he will not gain the duel immunity. Note 2: watch out for Resser crews with mainly Living or Horror-immune models, like McMourning's Crew Box. This upgrade is expensive and somewhat corner case but it will be really helpful against some crews. Don't take it if you don't bring at least two Death Marshals.

__**Unrelenting Leader**__ The Judge's own personal Upgrade, Unrelenting Leader, gives The Judge his first Tactical Action, **Combat Effectiveness**, which allows a target non-Leader model to perform a **(1) Ml** Action. Additionally, the Judge gains **Stubborn**, helping his **Wp** resistance flips, which can come in handy against Neverborn crews (Hey, Pandora!) as well as Ressers (screw off Lure!). It's a tough choice whether to use 1 AP of the Judge to grant one to somebody else. Take it only for good Ml models. On the other hand, if you hit the Trigger you can take the action again, thus turning one AP into two. As a tactical action, The Judge can target himself if he's not leading the crew.

__General Guild Upgrades__
When The Judge doesn't want to use a his (0), he might just as well shut down an Aura. It doesn't happen too often but works for nearly two turns, so it's a good deal against those models with really nasty Aura effects (like Tannen or Sebastian).
 * __Dampening Field__**

__**Expert Sleuth**__ Usually, The Judge needs his (0) to move stuff around. It can be useful to move himself, but it would be very dependent on the Scheme pool. If Plant Evidence or Breakthrough is in the pool, this might a good option. Of course, he could always discard it for the Initiative boost.

If you want to turn The Judge into a tank, this is the way to go. Not cheap, but a good choice for Bodyguard. With a little **Armor** on top of his already good resilience The Judge can slug it out with the best of them. It fits the model, too!
 * __Lead Lined Coat__**

Never a bad choice in games that depend heavily on scheme markers. Situational, nonetheless.
 * __Plant Evidence__**

The Judge's Sh is mediocre, so you gamble quite a bit on one action. Against models with low **Df** but high **Wd** (say, Resurrectionist Masters) it can be a nasty surprise. Generally more useful for other models, but before you let a Soulstone go to waste....
 * __Vengeance Bullet__**

=__Tactics and Tips__= The Judge is a good candidate for Bodyguard due to his high resilience. But be warned: If you play him cautious while that Scheme is in the pool, you kind of give it away.

Additional attacks are especially worthwhile against **Hard to Kill** models. If The Judge's Weak damage can bring them to 1 **Wd**, consider spending a Soulstone for the Mask.

The Judge is a good supporter for melee models due to his pull ability, but it can also be used to slingshot slow models into the enemy (e.g., Papa Loco or Executioner).

With his personal upgrades he can multiply AP for melee models. This naturally gets better the stronger your other melee threats are. It's good with a lot of Witchling Stalkers and can turn an Executioner into a shredder of models. Note that The Judge can target himself if he isn't leading the crew, but that's only worthwhile if you hit the Trigger. The Judge can even more attacks this way if you have the cards (or the luck) for it.

=__Master-Specific Tips__= His thematic Master is Lady Justice. The Lady is an excellent face beater (mildly put) and doesn't really need another one. However, the Judge is a very flexible model while Lady Justice tends to do one thing, and one thing only. Thus, The Judge is an excellent supporter for her crew, doing all the stuff she doesn't: ranged attacks, movement tricks, tar pitting, what ever the Lady needs. Also, just because the Lady doesn't __need__ another beater, doesn't mean she cannot really __profit__ from one, acting as the anvil to her hammer.

Sonnia Criid can make good use of The Judge, as well. She is a little slow which The Judge can remedy. She suffers from being stuck in melee and The Judge can pull her out. Sometimes, she needs a good tar pit who can hold enemies at bay until she can do her thing. Man, The Judge is good at that!

An interesting (and somehow funny) synergy exists between The Judge and Dr. McMourning, the Resurrectionist he doesn't notice in spite of him working at Guild Headquarters. McMourning can turn models Undead which meshes well with Flames Of The Pit and **Bound by Law**. The mad scientist can also show The Judge how to stick his sword where it hurts by making him **Precise**.

=__Leading a Crew__= In smaller games, The Judge is an effective leader: He is resilient and versatile, able to keep his crew together.

Strategies and Schemes
He doesn't do much for objective runners and should be chosen for the more killy Schemes foremost. He manages all the Strategies well, however, and is a good choice for all kind of games. Particularly, Murder Protege can be a headache against him.

Building a Crew
The Judge likes models with good melee for his Unrelenting Leader upgrade. Warden, Hunter and Pistoleros have inherent positive modifiers against certain models and are great targets for his commands. Witchling Stalkers have high **Ml** values for their cost and can reach a little farther than usual with The Judge in command. Generally, models who are good in melee but suffer from being on the slow side, like Executioner, Peacekeeper or Stalkers get much better if The Judge joins their crew. Also, ranged models who suffer in melee, like Riflemen, can be pulled out and go for another round of shooting.

=__Playing Against The Judge__= Be sure to keep fragile models in Cover away from The Judge's line of sight thanks to potentiallye 4 attacks coming their way from the //Bullets & Blades// Trigger. Avoid melee with him unless you're very, very sure you can kill him before he gets healed. Watch out for his Walk plus **Stand for Judgement** to reel you into range of his Crew.

The Judge isn't all that flashy but don't underestimate him! He is able to handle himself in most situations and can really put down the hurt if the cards go his way.

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 * __Ownership__ **