An exclusive announcement from Urban Scatter Gaming, the latest release from Combat Octopus and more – never a dull moment in this week’s edition of The News Stand!
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Fire! Modern Combat Kickstarter Continues
Fire! Modern Wargaming’s Kickstarter is continuing. With another 9 days on the clock, there is still plenty of time to keep the stretch goals going. They have also been showing off some painted models on their Facebook page, a good example of what can be done with their white metal releases. If you want to jump in, the Kickstarter is still running so sign up now.
EXCLUSIVE: Urban Scatter Gaming Releases MENA Extensions
In a continuing mission to drag me kicking and screaming back to Baszistan on my tabletop, Urban Scatter Gaming has given me the heads up on his latest release in his MENA range. Designed to take previous MENA releases to a brand new level of detail, the MENA Extensions set comes with all those little addon sets that help to the battlefield feel a lot more natural with a mix of small pieces around the existing larger structures, helping to bridge the gap from pure scatter and linear cover up to the buildings themselves.
You can split the set into three parts:
- The sheds, three lower parts and a roof piece, provide the setup for three lean-to sheds. Ideal for positioning alongside the buildings or the more loadbearing scatter walls, these sheds help to make a building feel more alive, either with livestock or random storage.
- Unfinished Building Extensions (something I’ve always been a big fan of) can make your board feel a little more alive, works in progress as the city continues to expand. With two upper and two lower pieces, these pieces can then be assembled into partial or complete structures, giving some more varied fighting spaces and adding to the irregular skyline.
- Building Add-ons bring seven unique extension pieces. These I think are the absolute killer part of the set, letting you really adjust how your buildings look and turn them into that dense interconnected urban sprawl. Be it a little garage, a side door that makes an annex or even a multi-level bridge between two structures, these pieces will let you reinvent your setups with the same core buildings.
Overall, if you have any of the MENA buildings, I think these sets are a must have. The core buildings are a good starting point, but these pieces feel like the icing on the cake to turn them into naturalistic zones to fight through. One of the big things from my time in the DMZ was that areas filled with irregular shapes are much more interesting (both tactically and visibly) and can take your board to the next level. In addition, the pack on USG’s Gumroad is available right now and only £5, an absolute steal for something that would usually have to be kitbashed.
Combat Octopus Releases SSO In Syria
After several weeks of preview, Combat Octopus has released the first pack in the “Russian SSO in Syria” range. Giving us four assaulters in shooting poses, the pack comes with Combat Octopus’s trademark modularity, offering a massive seven weapons and a whole pile of additional parts. In a complete change from the last range (the sneaky Deniables), these guys are door kickers extraordinaire, all ready for pushing on the target objective.
As you can see above, each pose comes with a fully assembled figure ready for printing, two torsos (depending on if you want the integrated pack or not) and four weapons each. To help you then take these figures further, 8 separate heads in the LShZ helmet (with covers and without) and the biggest set of pouches so far, including multiple groin plates for the digital kitbashers.
If you want this pack right now (and quite frankly if you’re planning any sort of AK equipped operators for your tabletop you really should) then you can sign up over on the Combat Octopus Patreon and get the figures right now.
Modern Miniatures Previews South American Farm
The latest update from Modern Miniatures has shown off next month’s Patreon release – South American farm buildings. The barn and water tower are only the first part, with a few additional items (such as a tractor) already planned. As always, Modern Minis has done a great job getting the initial models painted up and weathered, all ready to show off on the Patreon page. Stand by for more, as well as keeping an eye on the Modern Miniatures Instagram.
Turnbase Miniatures Shows Off Covert/Overt Release
Finally, Turnbase Miniatures has shown off previews for the Tier 3 February release. This is (all together now) a Covert/Overt release, giving you a pair of figures that come both visibly armed and unarmed. I’ll save on my usual comments about this particular release format, and instead focus on the fact that these should be out soon, along with the Tier 2 figures shown last week.
Famous By Our Swords Enters The Final Week
As mentioned previously on the blog, Famous By Our Swords has entered into its last week on Kickstarter with 7 days to go. The Kickstarter is almost fully backed, bringing forth printed copies for the unique blend of RPG and miniatures skirmish game. The book has now completed planning and expansion, with some brand new pieces added on top of the PDF copy that I played through – this includes the special characters currently available in resin from the Kofi store with the legendary Horatius the Mercenary and the literal demigod Cécathach. If you’re wanting to jump into the campaign, you’ve still got another week before the campaign finishes over on Kickstarter.
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