# Gundam Assemble: Should you? tags: #thoughts What's the new hotness that everybody seems to be getting up in arms about? But nobody knows anything beyond a few pictures? It's **[[Gundam Assemble]]**! And by that, I mean, it's just that Bandai has announced that they are going to be putting out a Gundam miniatures game which has a bit of a crossover with the upcoming Gundam collectible card game.  People are going nuts because it is very much like **[Super Robot Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Robot_Wars_video_games)**, a really fine excuse to throw everything in the kitchen sink from the Gundam universe onto the same table to fight it out. Let's go to one of the best videos which runs down the few tiny things that we know:  *(He's largely sourcing from [this Sprues & Brews blog post](https://spruesandbrews.com/2025/01/05/gundam-assemble-miniatures-game-everything-we-know-so-far/), which is fine.)* Sure, the minis look awesome, which I would absolutely expect from Bandai given their experience putting out high-detail plastic models. The sheer amount of concern about gacha mechanics in the collectability side of these boxes is definitely well-founded. We've seen Bandai engage in that kind of sales behavior before with individual Gunpla. If they do that here, then we're going to see a huge aftermarket in anything other than the most rare Gundams available. But here's the thing: it's not like this is the first mecha wargame to ever be put out. It's not even like it's the first Gundam mecha *wargame* to be put out. From my perspective, and looking at what's on display, the only interesting thing about this is it's going to make getting your hands on two inch tall Gundams a lot easier to run *your favorite and undoubtedly better-designed tabletop experience*. It's interesting that [Mike Pondsmith was involved in doing some design for the literal English translation](https://www.reddit.com/r/Gundam/comments/18w7et0/comment/kfwx69p/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) of the Japanese RPG **[Gundam Senki](https://gundam.fandom.com/wiki/Gundam_Senki)** about a year ago. What the current state of that project is, who knows? This would be a really good time for somebody involved in it to speak up in public and get it in front of people. It's based on **[[Mekton]]**, which means that it's a solid, if older, game design which has been banged around pretty well over the last decades. There's obviously an appetite for the IP. Where did that get off to? Or there was the **[Gundam Sentinel RPG](https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=gundam+sentinel+rpg)**, though good luck getting your hands on one of those in the US without paying exorbitant prices. Plus, read Japanese.^[Ironicly, this has never stopped my acquisitions in the past.] There was a pretty interesting 1:300 scale Gundam war game (**[Gundam Collection Tactical Combat](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/25449/gundam-collection-tactical-combat)**), which never saw a lot of traction in the U.S., possibly predictably, but has been floating around for a while. If you really want to play a Gundam RPG, go pick up **[[Jovian Chronicles]]**, which I've talked about on more than one occasion, because it's ideal for both the setting (no matter which Gundam setting you like) and the mecha design. If I wanted to pull a game off of my classic wargame shelf and run Gundam with it, it would probably be **[[Mecha!]]** from Seventh Street Games, if only because it has the absolute best mechanics for handling the massive missile swarm you often see hammering into the beaten zone in between mecha forces before things get really ugly. (You can use **[[Starship!]]** for the space battles for extra joy.) The most interesting thing about **Gundam Assemble** is the *potential* availability of the minis. The maps look absolutely tiny. The only thing we know about the mechanics is that it's based on a handful of d6, which could mean almost anything. Guys, we've got the tools to do *everything* about this game better, except for getting our hands on some high quality minis. And if you are willing to do a little work, [you can find 3D models on almost any site](https://cults3d.com/en/tags/gundam?srsltid=AfmBOorQGD1cV3ePgv9rnVRaTs573nfVcfoRehFMd3JCkiaMgSVv9xX_) to scale to whatever you like and paint up. I'm not feeling the excitement — help me out here, guys.