Apologies for the timing of the last few weeks of The News Stand – my work has decided that I’m no longer going to be working hybrid and so I’ve lost the Monday lunchtime I would usually use to prepare the weekly post. Plus Helldivers 2 has been taking up my weekend times so I’ve been rushing through them. I’m working on fixing this behind the scenes to keep the weekly news flowing. For now though, let’s take a look at all the latest updates!
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BPRE28 Spearhead Releases!
A big one to kick off the show, Black Powder Red Earth has released its latest expansion Spearhead. This is the final release for BPRE28mm, completing the game with two new factions, a new game mode and a new campaign system to tie it all together, letting you play through the latest escalation of the war in Awbari. The set does require the previous two boxes for the full effect (the campaign includes Phaseline operations and the maps use all the buildings released so far) but delivers a final block of content.
For a limited time only, the set has a launch discount over at the official store! This runs for the first two weeks after the launch, letting you get your hands on the operators of 00 Unit Nitto and the assaulters of SPEAR Brigade.
My order arrived this past weekend, seeing as it went in when the pre-release went live for Patrons. I haven’t dug into the figures too much yet, but the rules themselves are pretty exciting and the book is another fantastic work of fiction, with an awesome blow-by-blow of the main battle it covers. More impressions coming soon.
Contact Front Releases Annual
New from Contact Front is that they have released the Annual for 2024. Designed to extend the base game with new scenarios and army lists from the community, the team behind Contact Front is planning to release these yearly, giving you plenty of new content covering far more than the original book and expansion. And all for roughly £5, not bad for the price!
Spectre Miniatures Releases the Russians!
Big release week for Spectre Miniatures as the Russians have been unleashed! This first wave consists of a whopping three squads, two singles and a whole family of vehicles so we have plenty to dig into!
Let’s begin with the first unit – the Heavy Breacher element. These guys are dressed to the nines in frag suits, visored helmets and body armour, all to allow them to push through shrapnel and low calibre firepower to achieve their mission. The team is also equipped with the usual variety of strange Russian firearms, ranging from the latest in 9x39mm suppressed assault rifles and SMGs to the heavy Ash-12 .50cal rifle. One of the figures also has a ballistic shield to go with his SMG along with extra protection on his lower legs. Ideal for one of the many Russian security agencies, I think it’s a pretty cool set to add to the existing older-style breachers you may already have.
The bulk of any Russian force is probably going to be the Motostrelki or Motor Rifle infantry. The Spectre release includes the core 7-person squad (ideal for the dismounts in a Motostrelki squad), armed with the Ratnik gear, with the distinctive helmet, uniform and body armour (including a few with the additional armour pieces covering the shoulders and groin). Weapon-wise, these guys are all rolling the latest generation of AKs, with AK-12s for most of the squad and an RPK-16 for the support gunner. For explosive purposes, two figures carry UGLs while the final man has an RPG-7 (not everything is up to date after all). There is a good sense of movement to the team, with half on the advance while the others are laying down suppressive fire. Despite being equipped with the latest gear, these guys are nowhere near the top of the food chain – none of them are using optics for example, let along mounting points for adding Spectre’s NVGs.
The Motor Element does have some variants however, designed to give you some extra firepower. For dealing with infantry, a PKP gunner can upgrade your RPK-16 to something belt fed, adding more suppressive firepower. For dealing with modern MBTs, the RPG7 is nowhere near good enough – however, the RPG-30, a disposable AT weapon with a novel system to deal with Active Protect Systems or Explosive Reactive Armour by launching a precursor round, can provide to be much more of a threat and so is a useful upgrade. This figure also carries a rifle, meaning he can join in with the squad when not engaging vehicles.
The final squad in the release is where we get the fancy toys. The Russian SSO are the elite of the elite in the Russian military, with the Assault Element rolling out with all mod cons. The standard rifles are suppressed AK-15s (the 7.62x39mm variant of the design used by the Motor Rifle troops) but that’s only the start of the gucci. Two machine gunners (the new RPL-20 for a highly mobile assault LMG on one and a bullpup PKP for the other) give you a base of fire, while the GM94 and BUR tubes carried by two of the rifleman assist with clearing structures before making entry, taking full advantage of their thermobaric capabilities. These guys also look much better equipped and more rugged than their Motor Rifle brothers, as well as posed a little more cautiously.
Of course, all your units need something to ride around in and Spectre has released plenty of options, as long as you were wanting a BTR-80. This Russian Wheeled APC is available as either the original BTR-80 (with only the HMG in the turret) or alternatively the later BTR-82/A with the 30mm cannon and additional features added to the hull (including counter-IED equipment). These are cast resin sets and seems to look pretty nice based on the images. The option between the older BTR-80 and BTR-82 means you have a vehicle that works for both less well-equipped non-Russian forces and the modern Russian infantry.
However, if you really want to take the next step into the future, you can outfit your BTR with the new BTR-BM turret. This is an unmanned turret, with a 20mm autocannon and co-axial machine gun but also mounting two Konkurs ATGMs for killing tanks. This is a 3D-printed part designed to go with one of the other kits and shows a very interesting avenue for future armoured vehicle releases.
Speaking of both 3D printing and interesting avenues, I was very surprised to see that Spectre released all of the infantry sets (both squads and individuals) in both physical (cast in resin) and STL formats. The Heavy Breacher, SSO Assault Team, Motor Rifle Element and both the PKP and RPG-30 figures are all available as STLs for the same price as their physical counterparts. The choice of pricing has definitely raised some eyebrows (STLs don’t usually cost anything in terms of materials so usually end up being cheaper) but there is definitely an element of convenience to them – Spectre is unlikely to see any return business after buying the STL if you need additional teams or replacements and not having to deal with the uncertainty of international shipping, delays, damage and potential QC mistakes is nice to have. Plus, I had these guys printed literally the day after the release – someone keen even managed to print, prime and get them in a game before the first weekend even ended!
I for one think providing the option to consumers to pick between physical and digital is great, so I lept in and put my money where my mouth is, picking up the Motor Rifle sets and the SSO (they will be very handy for the ChargeReal project I’m working on). Hopefully, Spectre will see the interest from the 3D printing community and continue to support the hybrid model with future releases, while 3D printing folk will support the company.
EDIT: So in between me finishing the news post last night and preparing to post it today, Spectre added another preview showing off an upcoming set of MENA Insurgents. Much like the last set of Spectre insurgents, these guys are slightly better equipped than the shirt and AK crowd, with plate carriers and the VHS2 rifle on display. I’m a big fan of the Minimi gunner really leaning into the firing pose with sleeves rolled up. As part of the preview, Spectre has also announced that these figures will be available as both a separate squad AND one side of an upcoming Starter Set for Spectre Operations V3.
Flytrap Digital Working On Amoeba and Preparing New Vietnam Kickstarter
Flytrap Digital is hard at work on the next monthly release for Gunslinger, bringing the Amoeba Initiative to the tabletop. Russians operating on foreign soil, these guys are wearing tactical outdoors clothing combined with well equipped Russian firearms such as the AK12 and PKM while also carrying giant holdalls for extra equipment or scavenged materials. You can expect to see the rest of this team before their release on the 15th, with another three operators on the way.
But that’s not all that Flytrap is working on. After the success of the first Gunslinger Vietnam figures, Chapter 2 will bring the Men with Green Faces to your table. The Navy SEALs release will include brand new figures with their own style as well as a collection of new firearms highly typical of those carried by the SEALs during operations such as the Stoner 63. This project is coming to Kickstarter soon, more details once the project launches.
Empress Releases Stowage Packs
Empress Miniatures have been away from this column for a while but have dropped their head back in quickly with a new stowage set. Along with a more generic set for a variety of periods, a modern British set with a variety of rucksacks (including some with LAW tubes), cables, wire reels and more are now available from the Empress store.
Sale On At Warfighter Miniatures
News from Warfighter Miniatures (formerly Anthlonica) – as announced on Discord, the company owner is having to take some time away due to medical reasons from April so the store will be closed at that time. For this reason, there is currently a sale on at the moment for the entire range which will last until the end of the month. If you’ve ever been interested in the figures that Warfighter has shown off, now is the time to take a look and pick them up.
Combat Octopus Continues On With the Criminals
Combat Octopus has been storming ahead with the new criminal release, cranking out these three finished figures in the last week. There are some more variants planned (the head and hood are seperate to allow for customisation) as well as the usual modular pieces for the hands. I can forsee this being a pretty great release in terms of kitbashing, especially to mix with more military groups for the insurgent look.
Urban Scatter Gaming Prepares The Recreation Pack
Finally for the new, we have the latest update from Urban Scatter Gaming. It sounds like this is a busy time (not least due to some medical issues that thankfully aren’t too serious) but USG is rolling on. This month’s set is designed to setting up some urban sports courts, adding some more scenery elements ideal for makign the battlefield look livied in (or running your own basketball wargame). It’s going to be interesting to see what comes from this set, but I know USG will make some good stuff.
Because I like to talk about the stuff my hobby friends are up to, the Necromunda Fanatic up in Middlesbrough that I used to live with has been showing off some of the new bases that the company he’s working for has released. Wargame Model Bases have released this rather nice set of resin rocky bases, with full details on their blog. These bases would look great no matter what the era or region, espeically when combined with a few tufts or a scattering of basing mix. They are also avaliable in a variety of sizes from 25mm all the way up to 100mm. If you want a set of these for yourself, you can take a look on the Wargame Model Bases store.
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