Let’s start this Wargaming Week, covering… a long time.
BLOG STUFF
A new post went up last week! The battle report I played before I disappeared away to the US was a rather fantastic little game of Spectre Operations that did not immediately start off with a raging firefight. On the other hand, it shouldn’t have taken me three weeks to get it written up – however, on checking my stats it has already done really well.
In bigger news, I’m back! My three weeks in the States was incredibly exciting (I don’t travel very much so even just going there was a massive change) and between the sitting in air-conditioned offices for meetings, I did manage to get out and explore the local area. Something I was very keen to go and do (and fitting for this blog) was hit the gun range and try out a few weapons. I quite enjoyed shooting as an Air Cadet and going again confirmed that if I had the opportunity, I would have another hobby to make me incredibly poor.
NEWS
Oh boy, don’t go away for three weeks without doing news posts.
First up – previews. Spectre has been showing off the workbench and we have some teases for what’s coming next. Including these construction helmets. Looking at them, they seem to be the 3d prints Spectre uses for its hard items when sculpting figures. If I’m going to guess what they are for, I’d probably say some new criminals (ideal for every 1980’s action film). That said, they could at the same time be for some civilian models inspired by the White Helmets although I think this is less likely. Either way, I’m looking forward to them.
Preview Two is showing off some new support for the Insurgent Kill Team that was released last year. The Squad pack only included assault rifles and carbines which is okay for a light team but a little more firepower is needed. As futuristic as the bullpup PKM is, there are multiple images of them in use with various forces from Syria to Yemen. The backpack ammo feed is a nice touch.
Good news for everyone who missed Spectre at Salute – the objectives packs are now released! These packs of resin are perfect for making your missions about more than just taking the question mark token, giving your missions much more of an interesting feel to them. Additionally, I can see the weapon boxes being really handy for adding details to vehicles.
More exciting for me is the fact the minivan is now available! Ideal for adding civilian vehicles or infiltrating your operators into the AO, this vehicle adds so much to the tabletop.
Empress is also on the release train, this time adding some more support weapons to the French forces. Giving you a few extra items for engaging the enemy, the AT4 and Minimi should be handy. In addition, there are also some fancy berets now available for some variation.
Additionally, the Chinese PLA also got some more support weapons. Giving you everything from squad LMGs to automatic high explosive grenade launchers, these packs are perfect for giving your forces a little more punch. I’m a fan of the sniper especially – I can see him being pretty fun to paint.
On the terrain front, Knights of dice have been steadily adding to the modern apartment sets. They are now up to five models of them, ideal for adding some height and complex interiors to the modern battlefield. I’m very interested in picking them up for the inevitable “board full of buildings” and they will be perfect for creating strongpoints and focusing the action. Also, everyone loves some room clearing.
Speaking of Knights of Dice, Shiny Games now have the Tabula Rasa Villas in stock. These are going to be perfect bases for a modern MENA building, something a little different from the usual adobes. I can see using these in the middle of small compounds, something a little more challenging to assault than the stuff on the street.
Sarissa has also been cranking out some modern items, ideal for ultramodern games. Some of these come from a pack they released for Warlord’s zombie game Project Z, the secured compound. This is now available piecemeal, as well as a few additional items like security barriers. I haven’t pick any up yet but I’m keeping a close eye on it.
Additionally, Sarissa has shown off a new terrain system. Coming as MDF pieces with irregular cuts on the side, these can be arranged to build up play areas before being re-arranged. Some part of me sees this as just dumb, a way of locking yourself into a system of MDF buying. One the other hand, the idea of building up a load of pieces of terrains on bases, creating little dioramas and maybe having them on display is a neat idea.
Heading out of wargames for a moment, let’s talk about Call of Duty. I make no attempt to hide the fact that videogames and Call of Duty especially was a massive inspiration for my wargaming – one of the scenarios I wrote for Plausible Deniability was a reinterpretation of a certain boat related mission from Call of Duty 4.
The trailer above makes me INCREDIBLY excited. As much as I have enjoyed other Call of Duty settings, there is something about going back to the modern day that just makes me feel like I’m seeing the Call of Duty 4 trailer all over again. I can see a purchase of this in October and PLENTY of inspiration to pull from it.
PURCHASES
First up, upon getting back to the UK I picked up the Knights of Dice releases from Shiny Games. Those villias look like a perfect addition to my “board of buildings” project, as well some more unique buildings to use as target locations. I can forsee a lot of spray painting in my future.
I also hit up Spectre. With the release of the Minivan, I added a second one to my collection letting me add some more to the battlefield or to transport more sneaky chaps into action. I’m looking forward to the look on my opponents faces when two of them appear and drop off two teams of operators around a HVT. For more overt transport, I also picked up at a second LTV to let a full squad move in mine protected comfort. I also grabbed some replacement trash bags and cardboard boxes – just before finding the ones I thought I had lost. So extra scatter!
HOBBY
First of all, new arrivals! The Black Site Studios pre-order I had with Spectre finally arrived while I was away and so I eagerly got into it when I grabbed it from work. Initial impressions were – Holy **** that’s a lot of MDF.
I did manage to sit down and break out the dry fitting fun to put one of the smaller buildings together. So far I’m very impressed, and I can’t wait to assemble more. Now, where did I put that glue…
That’s it for this massive update, expect more updates next week!
