Newtypes, assemble!

Well, well, well... look what the cat dragged in. Bandai dropped a short teaser video on the official GundamInfo channel introducing a new miniatures game a little while ago. First a new card game targeting global customers and now this? Someone at headquarters has definitely decided to ride the tiger. "Gundam Assemble" is not the most enthralling title but there is a definite clue in the name; the game is associated with the Gunpla brand and so you can look forward to putting together and painting the figures yourself...


While not conclusive from the video it seems figures showcased appear to be rigid without articulation but may contain limited moving parts or optional limbs with different weapons equipped. Judging from the size they appear to be somewhere in the same league as the Seika sharpener figures, the 1/300 Strategy of Gundam or even Gashapon HG. You could probably play this game in any scale you like using whatever figures you fancy since the set-up appears to make use of an arena-style play area with a hex-grid.


Gaming with Gundam figures is not something new, the best example being the Gundam Collection miniatures game which was developed for the extensive range of 1/400 Gashapon figurines that were sold between 2004 and 2010. I guess I can now officially abandon all hope that Bandai would revisit this excellent figure series and expand on it with more suits from the newer franchises. The game survives among enthusiasts to this day and you can find a community around it on Facebook.


There isn't a whole lot more to say about the game at this point. If the demo is anything to go by it looks like a fairly simplistic arena free-for-all, mixing units of all types and series. Certain grid cells appear to give various boons such as repair actions. Something tells me this "game" exits mostly to convert people into kit-builders so that Bandai can retire all the pre-painted Gashapon once and for all. :)


One thing that also struck me is how similar these figures are to the recently announced Kinder-surprise style chocolate egg range. It would probably make sense from a marketing point of view to lure kids into the game via the candy-route. Any way, while I remain highly sceptical about the longevity of this product I am looking forward to learn more about it in the coming weeks, months, whatever it may be.