Strontium Dog Miniatures Game - Max Bubba

Max Bubba

To make a living, Strontium Dogs need to earn bounties. Fortunately, the galaxy is full of outlaw scum! Unfortunately for Johnny Alpha, one of the worst is Max Bubba...and the two have history! A fellow mutie, Max and Johnny should be on the same side but it is Max's extremism which sends the two on a collision course in the Strontium Dog Miniatures Game!

Max Bubba by Carlos Ezquerra
Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

Stats

Other than Johnny Alpha, Max Bubba is the most powerful character in the game and his stats reflect this. Fast, great with guns, yet able to hold his own in close combat, this hulking villain can even soak up as much punishment as Wulf Sternhammer!  All that, and he brings a blazooka to a gunfight!

Skills & Special Abilities

Gunfighter: As quick on the draw as Johnny, there is the opportunity for a showdown between the two to activate in-game bullet time! Note that he can only use his pistol in gunfighting (as the blazooka can only be fired using a double action) though you can flip between weapons without penalty.

Schemer: A very welcome thematic ability which reflects Bubba's cunning and under-hand tactics by granting the player an additional Chicanery card during set up (only if Bubba is leader).

What the sneck?: The antithesis of the hero that Johnny is, Max is so cunning that, when attacked, he can swap places with another of his men, essentially sacrificing them for his own survival. 

Tactics for playing Bubba

I've always regarded Bubba, for all his menace, as a cowardly character, and this is nicely reflected in his Schemer and What the sneck? abilities. It's also fitting that the best way to play him is in a defensive and unsporting manner, staying out of blaster range and blowing apart everything in sight. The fact that he has that blazooka makes Bubba incredibly difficult to deal with out in the open. It has very long range and is even more accurate at short range (which is still longer than the range of most weapons in the game). My advice is to keep Bubba far back but with a good vantage point of the battlefield.  From there he can punish the "good guys" as they make their way towards him. If they try to hide in buildings, blow whole sections of walls apart so they cannot linger! Once his enemies begin to close in on him, you'll have a decision to make about which weaponry to employ; if they are attacking in a pack, stick with the blazooka, but if they are spread apart, it's time to draw out the custom blaster. If you take an Aimed Shot and put the bonus into the damage, you'll be rolling 6 Combat Dice for damage and able to dish out some real punishment to the dirty bounty hunting sneakers - while two Snap Shot which successfully hit will deliver you a whopping 8 Combat Dice to deal damage! Bubba is the only one in his gang who has a Star Chip. I would almost always use this on him unless a member of his gang was in a position to do some serious damage to the opposition. Getting multiple uses out of that blazooka each turn can massively alter how the scenario plays out. Also keep at least one member of the gang close by so that he can use the What the sneck? ability. Bubba is very much in the self-preservation business and that is exactly how you should play him. The longer he remains unwounded, the harder it is going to be for your opponent. Hats off to Andy Chambers and Gav Thorpe because Bubba as a character in the game marries up perfectly to Bubba, the foul outlaw we know from the strip!  

Overall

Max Bubba is an incredibly powerful villain and worthy nemesis to pit your S/D Agents against. Johnny Alpha won't need to use his eyes to see through cover when Bubba's around; any walls between the two will get swiftly be blown apart by blazooka fire!