Spectre Miniatures has announced its latest release – a redesign of the Aftermath Kill-team, all kitted up for a trip in a hostile environment.
The set is six figures armed with a good mix of gear. Two of them are using AK74s. The others are a touch more special – two are geared up for close-quarters room clearing, a Saiga 12 and a PP-19 fitting the bill while long-range options come in the form of an RPK-12 gunner. Finally, you have a squad leader with a suppressed AEK-919K machine pistol. All of them are geared up in full CBRN suits and webbing (including some tweaks in terms of pouches for the different weapons).
Additionally, Spectre also released a new set of 3D printing STLs for some zone-suitable scatter terrain. Tetrapod obstacles, Alaska barriers and Water Tanks are the new items while the Hesco barriers have been updated (so anyone who bought them previously had a surprise this morning). All the STLs are provided with both supported and unsupported versions and each pack costs ÂŁ5. There are some really nice touches on the releases – the Alaska barriers include the usually damaged version but also a set with signs moulded into them in a selection of languages (and even one with all of them, just in case things have gone VERY wrong).
Of course, if you were looking for some opponents similarly equipped with masks, you could take a look at Spectre’s previous release, the Agent QRF Team. These guys are rocking their gear over civilian clothing, having grabbed their kit and ready to handle a low-level respiratory threat. Plate carriers, patrol packs and belts, all packed full of accessories such as gloves and light sticks as well as the Ops-Core helmet decked out with a full set of add-ons (comms, IR markers and breathing mask). Armament-wise, we’re looking at some top-of-the-line Western firearms – a variety of M4s, a SCAR-H, MCX Rattler, MP7 and LAMG for primary arms (all with a variety of accessories) while one figure also has a standalone M320 grenade launcher ready for use. Overall, if you’re looking for a generic Western force armed up and ready to take some doors, this is a well-rounded starting point.
We’ve also had a few other STLs from Spectre. The Marquis was a little piece to tie in with a limited edition John Wick figure earlier in the year (that brings us up to three at this point) but would easily work as a HVT as well. The US pilots on the other hand, armed with the latest AR pattern survival rifle are an example of the sort of figure that would have been released on Patreon – unusual and small-scale pieces that maybe wouldn’t need a larger scale production run. Both sets are delivered supported and unsupported.
Footnotes from the Hobby Desk
So, Spectre Miniatures are back. We’ve had two releases since the start of the new era – bringing up the roadmap you can see below we’ve reached the end of the Quarter 1 section (although my calendar advisor when I met him at Salute was quick to point out that technically Quarter 1 finished at the end of March but whatever).
EDIT: Based on this we can assume Spectre is working to the financial calendar.
I think if I can say anything, it’s these two releases have been solid. Nothing that has made me excited and rush to buy them (like the Local Forces), but they are on the right track to returning back to the right path. There has been a price rise (as you might expect) but the sets are reasonable enough with plenty of gear. I think the Agents QRF is a stronger set to actually get you gaming if you’re looking for something to jump into Spectre with.
To allow me to be a bit nitpicky, I’ve got a few things that are throwing me off from the new Aftermath release (outside of me not particularly using CBRN in the games I run) and it comes down to the weapons chosen. Although all sensible choices, I do worry about them being hard to identify which weapon is which – the RPK and AK with drum mag are bad enough (look at the length of the barrel probably) but spotting the difference between a Saiga shotgun and an AK with an extended mag – in the past, this was handled by the shotgunner often having breaching gear hanging off their side but there doesn’t seem to be a detail you can easily spot from tabletop height. Good news if you want to be able to run them as AK guys. I’m also not particularly sold on AEK-919K figure – combined with the pose, it feels a touch 40k squad leader-y (just missing a knife) rather than a more realistic take that would have him with a proper long arm slung across his chest. But, these are personal nitpicks.
On the other hand, the STL releases look really good – the pieces look well-designed and will end up being handy on lots of boards. It’s a good sign to see them providing supported versions (unlike the original STL releases) although it does feel a bit like the bare minimum for modern sellers.
The final comment is that the Aftermath set also includes some further references to the new ruleset Spectre is working on. Talking about an Awareness stat matches up to some of the previews and battle reports we’ve seen and gives me the impression that the next version is going to feel quite different with some major changes. But we’ll see more as more information is revealed.