This week’s edition is packed full of great updates from all the usual folks – Spectre drops a massive pile of updates, Black Hills releases Bundeswehr Airborne, Combat Octopus gives us more toys, and Modern Miniatures has some new pieces to play with now and more coming soon!
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Spectre Miniatures Drops Previews, Oh So Many Previews
First up, Spectre Miniatures has dropped off a new Roadmap for the rest of the year. You may remember we got a Spectre roadmap back in March 2023 which was, to put it mildly, ambitious (as well as doing the old trick of hiding things behind codenames). Well this updated roadmap is only covering the rest of 2024, and includes quite a few new additions. First up, the big item at the top is Spectre Operations: Frontlines – this is the first full-size supplement for Spectre Operations, adding new rules for Trench Warfare, expanded Drone Rules and expanded advanced vehicle rules. The rest of Quarter 3 sees a refresh of the Task Force Nomad range, as well as expansions to the US and UK Law Enforcement ranges. There is also going to be a full UK Armed Forces Range. Quarter 4 is a little more nebulous with mentions of ranges in MENA, Asia/Pacific and (eagerly awaited by some people) a return to Africa
The biggest thing however is Spectre Operations: Out of Time. This is the name for a series of historical supplements for Spectre Operations and, as the tigerstripe should have given us the clue, the first era is going in to be Vietnam. It’s going to be both a supplement and an attached figure range. No specific dates for this release except later this year.
Now, remember with all roadmaps they are but guidelines. However, what I would say is that this roadmap seems a little more concrete than the last one. This roadmap is not 100% complete, as there are other releases that have been kept under wraps, but it’s a good sign to see that Spectre has lots of stuff in the pipe.
It’s even better to see how many of these future releases are actually already in preview form, and we got a full treat of them last week. First up, we have an update to the Task Force Nomad figures, and more importantly what looks like an update to one of my favourite figures from that range, the female undercover agent. She’s been joined with another figure ready for urban undercover operations and both have been upgraded with the Flux Raider. As I’ve been experiencing in the latest Ready or Not update (or in BPRE: Phase Line) the Flux is a handy upgrade to a pistol to turn it into a concealable and stable platform, allowing for the mounting of optics, lights and suppressors along with the spare magazine. It’s ideal for anyone wanting something they can stash in a bag before breaking out when things go active. These two will be awesome for sneaking around in urban terrain, either in some small games or as a covert element alongside your assaulters.
Speaking of Ready or Not, veterans of 213 Park Homes might recognise the vibe of these two characters that will be coming as some criminal fighters. You can see they have captured that run-down look, complete with holes in the clothing, bare feet and haggard bodies and faces. I also like the detail on the M4 – you can see the grip the shooter has is far from professional, sticking his thumb through the carry handle while gripping the magazine well. It will be interesting to see what the rest of this set looks like but it’s definitely a rich area for some very characterful figures. Also players like myself who aren’t particularly interested in cops and robbers could still probably use some of these guys for militia or other poorly equipped fighters.
On the other side of the board from the criminals, some additional law enforcement figures are on the way and bringing you some Texas Rangers. These guys wouldn’t be the first Texas Rangers they have done (a show exclusive figure for Millenniumcon 2018 takes that award) but these guys are a little more ready for action. One of them is a little more ready for the investigation side, while the one on the right has grabbed his gear and is ready for action, having thrown his plate carrier on and grabbed his M4. Again, these guys are looking cool and it will be cool to see what else will be coming alongside this pair.
Finally, and in complete contrast to some of the other previews which are literally a man with a gun and not much else, we have a brand-new Unmanned Ground Vehicle. This is the THeMIS, a UGV that has been used on operations in Mali and have been sent to Ukraine. Those however were the Logistics versions designed to supplies and CASEVAC – this is instead the combat version, mounting a Protector RWS and ready to provide automated fire support. This will play into the updated Drone rules mentioned as part of Spectre Operations Frontlines and seeing such a large unmanned vehicle is an interesting tweak. Part of me does hope we see the logistical version as well, although I mostly blame this for using the M.U.L.E. from Advanced Warfighter 2.
Badger 3D Ceases Trading
Bad news that I forgot to include in last week’s news post. Badger 3D, a UK-based 3d printing company has unfortunately had to cease trading. Based on the announcement on their website, this is not a simple “decided to wind things down”, especially as Administrators have been mentioned. Anyone who has placed an order with them should probably look at getting a chargeback rather than expecting a delivery. I had always assumed that Badger 3D was doing well based on how much they came up in discussions and as well as printing other people’s models (such as Guaro3d’s), they were also making their own models such as a collection of British Army vehicles.
BobMack3d Sashes Through Goals for World Revolution
For probably the last time, I have news on Bobmack3d‘s latest Kickstarter “World Revolution”. The Kickstarter finished off on the weekend and managed to raise $21,706 and hit 1085% funding. There is a little bit of shenanigans due to the total cost including the funds doing to Flank March for the crew figures but this should hopefully mean that the final stretch goal, the early model T-72 Ural, will also be included. This is great news for everyone who backed (including me) and is the most successful Bobmack3d Kickstarter so far. The next stage is to wait for Kickstarter to hand the funds over and then hopefully we’ll get the final models in September
Fire! Modern Combat Shows Off More Of Their Upcoming Game
Fire! Modern Combat has continued its preparation for hitting Kickstarter by showing off some more of the ruleset. This week’s video covers an important part of the game, showing off how to build a squad of US Rangers for their ruleset. It’s well worth a watch, and definitely interesting to have more peeks into the ruleset.
They have also shown off their figures in white metal that will be part of the Kickstarter. These are the test models but it’s a good sign to see the figures all setup. It sounds like there are no plans for STL releases in the initial Kickstarter (which is personality disappointing) but they may come out down the line.
Black Powder Red Earth Releases Info On Nova Open
Black Powder Red Earth will be at the Nova Open in Washington DC over the Labor Day weekend. As well as demo games to get you interested, there will also be a custom campaign event taking place on Friday August 30th at 20:00 EDT. This campaign, Assault on SCAV-3045, takes place during the event of Awbari Book VII and is a custom setup for the Spearhead campaign system. For more details, there is a full post over on Patreon and you can sign up for the event over on the Nova Open website.
Black Hills Games Releases Bundeswehr Airborne
At the end of last month, Black Hills Games released its full set of Bundeswehr Airborne figures that were previewed last week. As you can see, this set includes six riflemen in various poses and an MG5 gunner. You can also see a few of the separate head options, including both high-cut and low cut helmets with rails and NVG mounts. All of the figures are loaded up and ready for action and are available now on the Black Hills Games Gumroad.
This month and next month will be focusing on the French Army figures, with two set to give you plenty of options for the tabletop.
Combat Octopus Releases Marksmen and Sharpshooters Part 2
We previewed the main image of this month’s Combat Octopus pack last week, but since then we had the full release we can dive into. This month’s figures are mostly wearing cold weather jackets over chest rigs and GEN 3 trousers, as well as a selection of weapon systems. There are actually a very good set of systems available for each pose letting you run them in a slightly wider role than just the Marksmen idea. Two standouts have to be the MG5, giving your operators a little more suppressive firepower, and a brand new M82 rifle on the seated figure that idea ready to send the pain – plus we got a set of crouching GEN 3 legs, ideal for all that kitbashing. The two new female operators extend the options for both styles, ideal for some extra figures in either your assaulting or overwatch teams.
For the kitbashers, there are also another pile of pieces for you, alongside those crouching Gen 3 trousers. For the heads, we have some PMC-suitable female heads (with boonie cap, baseball cap, helmet and GPNVGs) while the male heads are extended with a set of bearded and moustached options. For pouches, two new front panels (for both the SCAR and the AR-15) are also included alongside two universal pouches, an additional long-range radio pouch, a folded dump pouch and a packed CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet).
If you’re wanting your own set of these guys (and girls) then sign up for the Combat Octopus Patreon this month and get then downloaded, as well as added to your MMF library at the end of the month.
As an additional note, backers who have the first marksmen set on their MMF will have received an update that adds the new M82 rifle to pose 1 and pose 3, giving you even more anti-material options.
Modern Miniatures Releases The DAGOR and Previews A URAL
First up, Modern Miniatures has released the DAGOR and SF Crew release, being delivered to my inbox literally on the first of the month (as if clockwork). If you want your own high speed Special Forces ride, then you can sign up on the Patreon on. For the best package, it’s strongly recommended that you go All In, as the crew set is from the Miniatures release and the vehicle from the Scenery/Vehicle side.
No details on exactly what the next Modern Miniatures project is going to be but there have been some discussions about Escape from Tarkov (and I’ve noticed someone has been playing a bit of it thanks to Discord). Semi-related however is that Modern Miniatures has been working on a URAL truck, the ideal counterpart to the M1078 truck previously released. Stand by for more info though, especially as I occasionally mention the idea of a Gaz Tigr for the tabletop.
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