You can tell it’s the end of the month because we have updates for The News Stand coming thick and fast. New releases from Spectre, previews from the usual Patreon boys and even an Exclusive from Urban Scatter Gaming. Read on for more!
Also hey, new blog theme!
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Desk-Ops Launches Spring Sale
We kick off this week with good news from friend-of-the-blog Desk-Ops. Fresh off last week’s announcement of a partnership with the newly released 2.0 version of InCountry, you’ll be pleased to know you can now get them with a discount! That’s right, Dan is running a 17% sale on everything across the store, with savings available until May 4th. As well as the new InCountry figures (such as the Direwolf Task Force or their opposing Lion Militant Group), you can also pick up pieces from the Urban Scatter Gaming range (more on them later), Black Hills Games, Combat Octopus and more!
Spectre Miniatures Brings The Goose… among other things
Spectre Miniatures kicked off this week with a brand new set of releases (at least for those who didn’t pick them up at Salute). Designed to give your Agent QRF and Task Force Operators some additional force multipliers, these small sets are ideal for giving your team the ability to deliver a severe kicking to your opponent. More importantly, all six sets are available as both STLs and shipped to you directly.
For the Agent QRF, the operators clad in both civilian clothing and the latest tactical gear can now handle a greater variety of missions. For kicking in the door, the new QRF Breacher comes with a Knight Co ballistic shield to match to their Glock pistol, while the QRF Shotgun figure is perfect to be sat at his shoulder with a drum mag equipped Origin 12 for clearing out the room. Finally, to assist with close-quarters battle, the QRF Dog Team combines a handler with a SIG Rattler and an incredibly tooled-up Military Working Dog, with a whole host of cameras, body armour and doggles. However, my favourite (as you might have guessed from the title) has to be the QRF Carl Gustaf gunner, lugging around a recoilless rifle and three rounds stashed in his rucksack. He also has another of my favourite bits of kit sat on his belt, his Flux Raider, an ideal backup for someone whose main role is lobbing a wide variety of warheads down range.
For the Task Force releases, we’re getting a dog team and some long-range support. The Task Force Dog Team is the same role as the Agent QRF set but with a few tweaks to make them feel a little more suited for the rest of the range, with the Handler carrying a MCX Spear assault rifle and clad in some high end tactical gear – the dog’s gear is a much more traditional look, an ideal update from the previous release. The Thermal Sniper Team also feels like an update to a familiar set, bringing the original ghillie-suited pair into 2025. They are clad in clothing designed to break up their outline and defeat thermal imagery while at the same time more than able to deal with targets at range – the sniper is carrying the latest in the Barrett MRAD series while the spotter brings the Geissele MRGG.
All in all, this is a solid set of releases ideal to expand your existing forces. All of them feel next gen in terms of their equipment, and I foresee them being pretty popular overall.
Battleground HD Gets UK Stockist
Good news for those who had the pleasure of seeing Battleground HD at Salute – there is now a UK stockist! Previously, Battleground HD was only available via its website and shipped from the US, but those interested in preparing Battle Dice and playing the especially interesting ruleset can now pick it up from Full Metal Miniatures (the gentlemen pictured above who also sell Flank March’s figures). So far, you can pick up Battleground HD as complete packs, which includes the rulebook (and stickers for Battle Dice assembly), templates, markers and either a Europe 84 supplement (hey remember those Flank March Brits and Russians?) or a Vietnam supplement that will take you to intense battles on the Ho Chi Minh Trail (the perfect place to use Full Metal’s extensive Vietnam range). Having had a demo of the game at Salute (specifically my team of MACV-SOG vs AI-controlled NVA), this was an exciting game to play, and it’s great to see it even more accessible than it was before.
Anvil Digital Foundry Delivers For The AK Fans
Anvil Digital Foundry does like to lure us Ultramodern gamers in from time to time. This month’s set is more Post-Apoc than our current existence but the focus on a certain group of highly trained underground Russian fighters living in the subway means we’re getting some new AKs for the regiment arms. But that isn’t all, the set comes with VANT ballistic shields, beret-equipped heads and even a C96 pistol for those with taste. Combined with previous sets, this should give you all you need for some Russian operators and thanks to Anvil’s use of multi-shell parts, they are perfect for kitbashing. If you want this set for yourself, sign up for the Patreon in May (and then stand by for the loyalty reward in June).
Empress Miniatures – Russian Restock and Airborne Artillery
Empress Miniatures has delivered a double hit this week, with items for both the focus of this post and one of my pet projects. For those seeking to model the War in Ukraine, Empress has been stocking a limited number of sets from ARES28, with previous releases including Wagner mercs. This week, they have a limited number of Russian Airborne sets as well as a new Support pack that includes a mixture of weapon systems, loaders and specialists. These are, based from the details from folks on the Modern Wargaming Discord, metal figures, many with separate heads and ideal for those wishing to play the ongoing conflict.
For those preferring an older conflict, Empress have also added to their WW2 British Paras range with the arrival of the 75mm Airborne Howitzer. This set, which includes a pile of extra kit along with the crew, is ideal for showing off one of the more unusual artillery pieces that was used in WW2, including twenty-four of them at Arnhem. The set is available now and includes two versions of the front section to allow for either firing or moving assembly.
Urban Scatter Gaming Previews Even More MENA Buildings
As an exclusive preview for The News Stand, Urban Scatter Gaming has let me lift the lid on a brand new building coming to the ever-expanding MENA range. Having already given us a pile of residential buildings, Building 3 takes you into commercial property. With a ground floor equipped with roller doors (and access to the roof), this set will be ideal for lining the streets of your Middle Eastern/North African city, decorating with piles of goods for sale and mixing with civilians going about their day.
As you can see from the render, the buildings have several options for the additional floor, letting you set them up as either a single layer with accessible roofs to fill with scatter pieces or start adding additional floors for the more densely packed terrain. As someone who has already partially filled his table with the rest of the MENA range, I’m very tempted to get these printed when they release in the next few weeks. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you know when they come out.
Combat Octopus Previews More CST Operators
Last week, we got a preview of a single female Cultural Support Team operator from Combat Octopus. This week, we got previews for three more of the team, delivering all four poses for the May release. As you can see, although they are all rolling GWOT era M4s there is a nice variety in posing, details and more. The final release is going to come with a few alternative rifles (modern G36s, AK-74s and SCAR-Ls), giving you an ideal set of female operators to add to other ranges such as the NAWE or the previous US Army set. Now that CO has had some rest, he’s going to be getting a few more pieces ready for the final release, so stand by for the final details soon.
Modern Miniatures Prepares All Things Arctic – Operators, Terrain and more!
Finally, Modern Miniatures has been going all out in preparation for next month’s Arctic release. For those in the miniatures tier, you’re getting a set of recon operators in winter gear with a selection of western gear – if you want the Direct Action guys, they will be released the same day and available with a Patreon Discount over on MyMiniFactory.
On the terrain side of the release, Modern Miniatures has been painting up the pieces he’s designed, all ready for the beauty shots that will be coming along with the final release (and perfect for me to fill this post with). You can already see the fantastic-looking radar dome and the very well-painted Snowcat waiting for its snow effect. As someone writing this while sitting in a very warm room, part of me wants this release just to make me feel cooler!
For anyone interested, these sets will be out at the start of May and based on the past, we’ll be seeing them ASAP.
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