It has been a long, cold, winless winter for the 107th, but finally dawn has broken and the unit is getting reinforcements in the shape of the Mudskipper Jump Walker.As such it was rushed to the front lines (meaning preordered!) and I thought I’d share a review.

Model

We should start with the model itself. This again is a nice, relatively pose able mainly resin kit. Clockwork Goblin and Warlord seem to have the knack of these kits by now and it goes together in a good logical way. it is also very simple with only 8 parts excluding weapons.

Components fresh out the box

In comparison to the Grizzly kit (which presumably has been designed with adaptability for its many variants in mind) this is a very different kit that seems tailored to this walker in particular. The lines and shape of the kit are very different to the grizzly, giving a more athletic and streamlined feel to the mini, fitting for a jump walker.

Final result, photo courtesy of Warlord Games

They’ve also made an interesting design choice regarding the jump jets.

You won’t find giant jets or turbines here. the jump jets are relatively subtle, fitting the overall aesthetic well. 

In the game

If we turn to 158 in the rulebook we will see the write up for the Mudskipper.

That’s a satisfying amount of dice this walker can put out. If you focus on a single target you can roll 4 dice at +2 pen, 6 dice at +1 pen and 4 dice just for icing. This is the standard set up and should trouble most units and light vehicles just from volume. If you want more punch, you can switch the hmgs for bazookas, which very much slants towards an anti-tank role. However get that one in the right place in side or rear armour and it can have a decent chance at popping most things in the game.

Strengths

• Manoeuvrable – with the jump rule, you can get this walker moving 18″ a turn in straight lines. But bear in mind that a jump is a run move, so no shooting afterwards and no turns. However this can be planned for, a couple of turns of bouncing into position followed by a turn or two walking through the backline causing serious hurt rewards the brave commander.
• Distraction – like the annoying song in your head, you cant just ignore this. Due to how manoeuvrable it is, its never out the game, so will either need resources committed to destroy or stall it or accept the fact that you can menace and potentially wreck his backline.
• Volume of fire – in standard setup this is putting out 14 dice of fire, with the majority having some sort of pen bonus. This makes them great for getting rid of awkward units, heavy armour infantry, veteran troops and other hard to kill thorns in your side.

Drawbacks

• No fists – Yes you read it right, no fists, though it does have assault thanks to the errata. This bad boy is close support but not too close – keep you distance! if another walker catches it, or a good anti armour infantry unit you might be in trouble.
• Exposure – Unless you are lucky, very careful or both, there is a real chance that the Mudskipper is going to be out on its own, and committing more points to support seems very risky in standard games.
• Cost – available at Veteran only, at 240 points, this is a big cost. with standard games being 1000 points, if you jump this to the wrong place or just get caught out; there goes a quarter if your points in what is likely to be a force with a small dice pool.

Overall

Continuing the theme of naming my walkers, the Mudskipper’s is obvious – The Suicide King. I think that it will do very little some games, average in others, and then now and again it will get the lines and luck and dominate the game. I look forward to seeing which one!

If you want to add one to your force, visit the Boss for great service and prices. Tell him Shipman sent you and he’ll sort you out !