Strontium Dog Miniatures Game - The Bubba Gang

The Bubba Gang

Max Bubba is no loner in the Strontium Dog comic series, always operating with his gang who provide him with extra firepower and cannon fodder to preserve his own life - and the same applies in the Strontium Dog Miniatures Game. Life is cheap for Bubba but so too are his gang when you buy them for your crew; you can get all four for 22 Notoriety, the same cost as it is to buy Johnny Alpha alone. The downside is that none of the four - Impetigo Jones, Lowdown O'Phee, Brute Mosely and Skull - bring star chips to proceedings. In addition, none of the four have any special rules or abilities that require much consideration (they mostly have mutations, the effects which have been built into their stats).

Impetigo Jones

Bubba's top lieutenant is tough due to his mutated skin but he doesn't have weapons that pack a punch. Play him as a foil for Bubba, using Bubba's What The Sneck? ability to take the heat for his boss for as long as possible.

Impetigo Jones by Carlos Ezquerra. Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

Brute Mosely by Carlos Ezquerra
Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

Brute Mosely

Brute is well-named and is the muscle of the gang. He is reasonable in close combat but he is no Wulf or Middenface; engage those particular Stronty Dogs at your peril! Instead, play Brute like a typical bully, use him to pick on weaker opponents. He gets a good chance of hitting opponents at short range, but his blaster lacks punch.

Skull

If you're familiar with the strip, you'll know that Skull doesn't feature much. Don't let this deceive you, he's a got a pretty effective stormer weapon. Get him into cover with a good view of the battlefield and he can give those Dogs hell!

Skull by Carlos Ezquerra. Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

Lowdown O'Phee

Lowdown can make use of his mutation which increases his toughness when in cover so keep Lowdown low down (any cover will do though)! Like Impetigo Jones, he is a member of the gang that you should consider keeping close by Bubba so he can take the flak for his boss.

Team Tactics 

Lowdown O'Phee by Carlos Ezquerra
Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Ltd

The first thing to appreciate is that there is a reason that these four combined are literally worth one Johnny Alpha. Bubba seems to have little regard for his gang as he orders them around, treating them as little more than cannon fodder. The great news is that this is the best way to play them! Make no mistake that when fielding them alongside Bubba, their job is to keep him alive as long as possible. You may find that you lose a few of them in quick succession, particularly if they are up against the likes of Johnny and Wulf, particularly if that duo are having a lot of luck with putting their Star Chips back in the bag. If this happens, don't get disheartened; if they manage to inflict a wound or two on the Strontium Dogs engaging them, they've done a good job. Bubba is perfectly equipped to finish off (if not single-handedly defeat) any weakened SD agents. The system is designed for powerful characters to be able to engage larger numbers of weaker opponents so a high attrition rate among the gang is to be expected. Just be mindful that your opponent may have a T-Weapon in their armoury so if you have them packed too closely together, your team could pay a heavy price!

Note: Skull and Lowdown's Stormers fire 24", not the 16" as printed.  Impetigo Jones and Brute Mosley's Stormers do fire 16" as shown as they have Splitters attached.  This has been confirmed by game designer Andy Chambers as per the errata post.

Overall

The Bubba gang aren't particularly impressive but you get strength in numbers. If luck doesn't go your opponent's way too often with the Star Chips, you will find your weaponry takes it's toll on the so-called "heroes"! Take those sneckers down even if it costs you the whole gang!

The Bubba Gang by Carlos Ezquerra
Copyright Rebellion 2000AD Limited