Bandai has announced a newGundamminiatures game, featuring classic mech suits from the franchise transformed into 2-inch miniatures. Although theGundamfranchise is best known for its massive robots and complicated stories about the human cost of war, it also has a robust and growing line. In addition to its perennially popular “Gunpla” figures, which require hours of assembly and paint, Bandai is also producing a newGundam TCGset for release later this year. Now,Gundam’sexpansion into the tabletop is expanding with a new game that already has fans extremely excited.
Bandai has announcedGundam Assemble,a new miniatures tabletop game featuring classic mech suits from across the franchise. The game will feature 2-inch replicas of mechs battling on a hexagonal board. According to the official website, “each unit has abilities that reflect their unique characteristics, allowing players to enjoy scenarios that follow the original story, or diverge into situations that transcend the world of Mobile Suit Gundam series.”
What Is Gundam Assemble?
New Miniatures Game Uses Gundam Mechs From Across Franchise
From the brief teaser trailer, we know thatGundam Assemblewill feature plastic minis that require painting and assembly. The game itself won’t be an army-based game, but will ratherfeature small groups of 2-3 mechs and will use 10-sided dice for play. An army-based miniatures game doesn’t really make sense for theGundamfranchise, although the smaller teams could mean that individual minis are more expensive as they’ll likely be sold individually. No other gameplay details were provided onthe official websitefor the game, but more will be revealed later.
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Promo material has also revealed some of the initial mechs that will appear in the game. Some of the minis revealed include the RX-78-2 Gundam and MSN-02 Zeong from the originalMobile Suit Gundamseries, XVX-016 Gundam AerialfromMobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury, and the OZ-00MS Tallgeese and XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero from theGundam Wingseries.The game also specifically mentions that players can pull in mechs from multiple series to use in scenarios,meaning that players can pit mechs from across the franchise against each other to see which is superior.
Will Gundam Assemble Be The Next Warhammer 40,000?
New Game Appears To Be Similar To Battletech, With Smaller Units Needed For Play
While there are definite similarities betweenGundam AssembleandWarhammer 40,000, the game honestly looks a lot closer toBattletechthan a larger-scale war game. Not only doesBattletechalso use a hexagonal board rather than a table-sized battlefield, butBattletechalso uses smaller squads for its matches. One perk to using a hexagonal board for gameplay is that players won’t need to use a tape measure to move a unit across the battlefield, as movement should be defined by spaces instead of inches.
One big difference between the two games is thatBattletechhas pre-assembled miniatures rather than miniatures that need to be put together and glued. Gunpla veterans shouldn’t be too concerned about puttingGundam Assembleminis together, although these new minis may require glue to keep together since they are in static poses. From the appearance of a sample runner, minis will likely have 7 to 10 pieces, although there may be more complicated sets that require more time to put together.
What Units Are Confirmed For Gundam Assemble?
There Will Be Plenty To Choose From
Preview images on Gundam Assemble’s official website that showed displays from Bandai Card Game Fest in Orlando gave fans a preview of some of the mechs coming to the game. The previews show mechs from across the franchise, spread out from the earliestMobile Suit Gundamanime to more recent series likeMobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury.The game includes non-Gundam mechs as well, including several Zaku variants and at least one Ball mech.
Our Take: Gundam Fans' Wallets Are Already Shaking In Terror
Gundam Fans Are Going To Spend A Lot Of Money On This Game
As aWarhammer 40Kfan,Gundam Assemblesounds like an amazing expansion of theGundamfranchise. I can’t wait to build my favorite Gundams and mechs and see what they do in the context of the game. Bandai has a history of making high-quality products, soI’m not too worried about how they’ll handle making miniatures on a smaller scale.
With theGundam TCGalso due out later this year anda new seriescoming soon, I feel like a large part of my discretionary income is going to be poured into myGundamfandom this year. Please send words of encouragement to my wallet.
