Big week for Ultramodern Wargaming! As always, the new month brings a pile of updates as Patreons drop new releases in exchange for your subscription but we also have a TON of previews for what’s coming next! Read on for more!
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Spectre Miniatures Shows Off More Street Criminals
First up, Spectre Miniatures has shown off a few more figures for the upcoming Criminal Element update. This set, similar to the last figures that we got a glimpse at a few weeks ago are definitely more of the street crime vibe, not looking out of place in a certain level in Ready or Not. However, a broken bottle and a SKS are still a threat, no matter who is on the other end of it. I’m not personally that into playing games with this style to them, but I can see the set being very popular when it comes out later this year, especially if you already have the recently released FBI and Texas Rangers.
BelloLudi Announces BelloLudi Kalashnikov
BelloLudi, makers of a pile of rulesets, have announced a new rules system designed for playing games from the 1970s until 20xx (aka exactly the era this article covers each week). I’ve not personally played any of the BelloLudi systems but seeing as there are currently seven other skirmish games covering from Medieval times to Vietnam, they must be doing something right! There is a release planned in the next few weeks so stand by for more details!
Empress Miniatures Releases Ukrainian AT
Empress Miniatures, in preparation for this week’s The Other Partisan wargames show, has been rolling out the pre-orders and the Ultramodern Ukraine range received a new release. This new pack delivers Western AT assets – two figures using the NLAW with another pair operating as a Javelin team. There is also a Javelin in flight (with wings extended), a neat edition to add some details to the tabletop. All four figures look like the militia from the early days of the conflict, wearing a mixture of military and civilian clothing and ideal to match with the rest of the range. These figures are already in the store and can easily be added to any order for collection at The Other Partisan show on Saturday by dropping the team at Empress an email. They also have some resin parachutes that have just been released, ideal for their WW2 British Airborne but I’m sure could find their way to the modern battlefield.
Urban Scatter Gaming Previews MENA Buildings and Releases The Market
Urban Scatter Gaming, in a remarkable return to form after so long away, managed to drop a preview for a future release just after I finished my post last week! Luckily for him, this preview is looking awesome. From what I hear, Wedge has been taking plenty of inspiration from Six Days in Fallujah and, after releasing the various wall assets, it seems like we’ll be getting some full buildings soon. This example is split over two floors and with an accessible roof, perfect for fighting around – it also offers the ability to fight through it, with several internal spaces on both floors. No details on a release date for these guys, but I’m excited to see how they are going to look on the table.
For now, we already have plenty to play around with as Urban Scatter Gaming has gone all out on a new set of assets designed for a MENA Marketplace. And I mean it when I say all out – with 59 separate STLs in the archive I’ve downloaded, there is plenty to be playing around with. Highlights include the table assembled out of breeze blocks and a piece of wood, piles of produce and hanging meats and even a selection of gazebos, umbrellas and even a food cart. These assets definitely feel like that final touch you want on a board, the little pieces that tie it all together. It’s currently available on the Urban Scatter Gaming Gumroad and, when combined with the other sets we’re getting, I feel like you’ll have all you need for a MENA table very soon.
Black Hills Games Releases French Army Specialists
Black Hills Games early last week released the full set of French Army Specialists. Slightly changed from the original plan, this set dropped the Lance Grenadier in favour of a second marksman. The full set (a squad leader, two team leaders with GLs, two AT4 soldiers and two marksmen) is ideal for giving your teams the firepower a section of French troops should have. As before, this set comes with variants for both FAMAS and 416-equipped troops, letting you deploy your squad with either weapon option. If you weren’t on the Patreon, you can also pick them up via the Black Hill Games Gumroad.
Black Hills also mentioned there are going to be a few little changes to Patreon – the most important being the Black Hills is opening up the topics for the Patreon, extending past the current Modern Warfare to touch on a few other projects. One of them, although specific details are unknown, is a game system inspired by films such as Jurassic Park and Project Carnosaur. It’s definitely an exciting time to keep an eye on Black Hills and see what will be coming later.
Combat Octopus Releases Eastern European Deniables and Previews More In Somalia
Okay strap in, Combat Octopus has been up to a lot this week.
Starting off, the new month saw the release of the second part for the Eastern European Deniables. This set gives us a few more mobile operators, still with the mix of tracksuits and Eastern Bloc weapons that we got in part 1. These four would fit in with the first set perfectly, giving you a full team all ready for the zone either as a team undercover or standing in for the local scavengers.
One thing you my notice when looking at all these sheets is just the sheer variety of weapons each figure is armed with. Each figure has at least five weapon options, from relatively plain AKMs to tactical AK74s and AKS-74U to the two new weapons from this month’s release, the SVDS and the Saiga-12 shotgun. The figures also have the same combination of torso variants, with a relatively civilian-looking option alongside one with either a plate carrier or web gear. This allows for a pretty impressive combination of options with tons of uses for them, especially if you add in parts and heads from previous releases. The heads in this release will be similarly useful, including several masked faces, comtac-wearing heads and even a modern ninja look with the balaclava and shades. I need to print a set of these off for my own table, so stand by for a few of these soon.
But, that’s not all. This image may seem familiar (it came out last month) but there has been a few little tweaks. At the bottom of the weapon options, the new items from this month’s release have been added to the Part 1 pack now on MyMiniFactory, ideal to give you even more options for your Deniables in combat.
It’s also unlikely that this will be the last set of parts released for this range – Combat Octopus has already mentioned making an SMG set for this release (even better for sneaky work) so stand by.
Finally, work on the Operation Gothic Serpent project (coming to crowdfunding in November) has continued on. This week we got a glimpse at an updated version of the G3 (now with additional details compared to the original release back in July 2021) that will find its way into the Somali arsenal. The other preview we got was of the first pose for the Somalis, complete with AK thrust all the way forward. There was a little poll about the Somalis in this project on the Patreon earlier this week regarding how they are going to be sculpted due to their different style compared to more organised forces. Technology has won out, and we’ll be seeing a much more diverse opposing force thanks to the multimesh option. More details coming soon as production ramps up.
Modern Miniatures Releases Literally Everything
It’s the start of a new month and as always, Modern Miniatures delivered on Day 1. There are already releases for all three parts of the monthly offering (Vehicles, Scatter and Miniatures) so let’s cover each one.
First up, the vehicle. The Small Cargo Truck is designed to be easily printed on small format printers while still providing several options. As you can see, the truck bed can be used as either a close cargo compartment or an open flatbed. The AC unit over the cab can also be added for that extra touch.
To fill the inside, there are three new scatter packs. The cargo pallets are ideal for scattering around a warehouse (the perfect cover for a gunfight) while the smuggler cargo and chemical barrels allow for some more… sinister cargo loads. Especially as one set of chemical barrels has some explosive surprises on top and another one is a box full of fish.
For the miniatures tier, we got a surprise project. One of the patrons of Modern Miniatures commissioned a set of Cartel Forces in ponchos for his collection. The entire project was 10 figures and, we’re lucky enough to be getting a chance to get out hands on them as part of this tier. This first month comes with all six modular heads and five miniatures. With a mix of AKs and a PKM, this set is ideal to be standing around in the rain just before getting slotted by a team of Special Forces guys. I can see pleny of use for these figures, and I can’t wait to see what next month’s release looks like.
On the MMF store, we also saw a collection of other releases. It’s a real grab bag, mixing static weapons for Air Defence and Anti-Tank work to a Land Cruiser to small decorative sets. We even got a free concrete planter, ideal for adding some low cover to the table. Well worth taking a look at the store if you’re interested.