Gundam Is Getting Its Own Version of Warhammer 40K, With Fans Already Exclaiming "Take My Money"

Bandai has announced a new Gundam miniatures game, featuring classic mech suits from the franchise transformed into 2-inch miniatures. Although the Gundam franchise 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 new Gundam TCG set for release later this year. Now, Gundam's expansion into the tabletop is expanding with a new game that already has fans extremely excited.

Bandai has announced Gundam 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 that Gundam Assemble will feature plastic minis that require painting and assembly. The game itself won't be an army-based game, but will rather feature 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 the Gundam franchise, 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 on the official website for the game, but more will be revealed later.

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 original Mobile Suit Gundam series, XVX-016 Gundam Aerial from Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury, and the OZ-00MS Tallgeese and XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero from the Gundam Wing series. 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 between Gundam Assemble and Warhammer 40,000, the game honestly looks a lot closer to Battletech than a larger-scale war game. Not only does Battletech also use a hexagonal board rather than a table-sized battlefield, but Battletech also 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 that Battletech has pre-assembled miniatures rather than miniatures that need to be put together and glued. Gunpla veterans shouldn't be too concerned about putting Gundam Assemble minis 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 earliest Mobile Suit Gundam anime to more recent series like Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury. The game includes non-Gundam mechs as well, including several Zaku variants and at least one Ball mech.

Confirmed miniatures for Gundam Assemble include the following:

• RX-78-2 Gundam
• MSN-02 Zeong
• XVX-016 Gundam Aerial
• OZ-00MS Tallgeese
• XXXG-00W0 Wing Gundam Zero
• Deathscythe Hell
• Zaku II
• RX-0 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam
• EMS-10 Zudah
• MSN-06S Sinanju
• RB-79 Ball

Our Take: Gundam Fans' Wallets Are Already Shaking In Terror

Gundam Fans Are Going To Spend A Lot Of Money On This Game

As a Warhammer 40K fan, Gundam Assemble sounds like an amazing expansion of the Gundam franchise. 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, so I'm not too worried about how they'll handle making miniatures on a smaller scale.

With the Gundam TCG also due out later this year and a new series coming soon, I feel like a large part of my discretionary income is going to be poured into my Gundam fandom this year. Please send words of encouragement to my wallet.

Source: YouTube/GundamInfo, Gundam Assemble website