We’re getting close to the end of the month, and with a Kickstarter Double Bill coming in July, the previews section is looking pretty full of US Army stuff. But we have content from others, including a massive drop from Spectre’s Patreon. Also, Desk-Ops is releasing vehicles and streaming? Read on to find out more!
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Spectre Miniatures Launches STL Files for June
Starting off we have a big release from Spectre Miniatures via their Patreon. Direct Action patrons will be able to find a link to Google Drive, download the figures, and start printing. There are 24 miniatures in the set, so let’s go over them.
The new MENA range refresh is the big ticket item, giving a complete overhaul to one of Spectre’s most popular ranges. These guys are designed to be the Grade A Veteran fanatics, the type of fighters who have been doing this for a while. This comes across with the visuals – these guys are beardy, with a mixture of civilian and military clothing and plenty of tactical gear. The range comes in three sets – the Militia Element, which includes 8 fighters armed with AKs, the Militia Support with a mixture of machine guns, marksmen rifles and RPGs, and then the Militia Command with leaders and veterans carrying prestige guns. The range gives you plenty to get started with and would also work great with the previously released Insurgent sets. Steve has also mentioned we’re getting some additional MENA Milita sets later on (including a sniper figure), so expect to see this range built out even further.
But that’s not all. We also got a pair of UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicles) to extend your forces. On the left, we have the Bulldog UGV, a SIG SAUER product shown at AUSA 23, complete with an NG3 Gatling Gun firing .338 Norma Magnum rounds. Additionally, the weapon station on board is being used on a selection of light vehicles, so with a tweak or two you could easily reuse the piece. The vehicle on the right is the Bulldog UGV, MARKER UGV, a russian vehicle with ATMGs and a PKM that has seen active service in Ukraine.
If you want to get these STLs now, you can find them on the Spectre Patreon at the Direct Action tier. We’re two months into the Patreon, and so fa,r both months have been pretty solid, with a good number of figures without dropping the quality. For anyone not wanting the STLs (or avoid Patreon) these pieces should be out soon via the Spectre Miniatures store.
Austin Miniatures Launches Death From Above
Austin Miniatures has launched their latest Kickstarter, Death From Above, late last week, and it has already stormed past its initial target goal (despite its lack of fancy key art to help writers make their news posts look fancier – Editor). This project, intended to provide a set of modular VDV figures designed for operations in Afghanistan, comes with plenty of options for arms, heads and rucksacks, as well as a core set of seven modular bodies.
If you want to sign up now, you can join the Kickstarter page – the project doesn’t finish for another 25 days, so plenty of time to start hitting those stretch goals.
BobMack3d Shows Off The FAV
The road to the AirLand Battle Kickstarter rumbles on, and this week BobMack3d showed off one of my personal favourite vehicles, the Chenowth Fast Attack Vehicle (or FAV). Fans of Battlefield 2 will remember style of vehicle as well, a high-speed dune buggy that in the 1980s was supposed to be issued to the High Technology Light Division to provide a high-speed recon element. Of course, most of us know this design from either Special Forces in Desert Storm or as a GI Joe/Action Man toy that we all wanted. This vehicle will be included in the Kickstarter, with M2 HMG and M240 MMG variants included as default plus MK19 and TOWs in the stretch goal section – there will also be crew figures in an add-on as part of a partnership with Flank March Miniatures. If you’re wanting your own FAV, you can join the Kickstarter preview page and stand ready for the 4th of July.
Flank March Miniatures Shows Painted Models and Stretch Goals
Speaking of Flank March Miniatures, Steffan has been showing off some of the painted troops all ready for the REFORGER Kickstarter launching on the 4th of July. Along with the full platoon worth of infantry (including the M47 Dragons shown above) we’re also getting plenty of supporting elements. We’ve already talked about the big three (M2, M29 and TOW) but the full list includes:
- Stinger/Redeye MANPADS
- MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher
- M101A1 105mm Howitzer
- M224 60mm Mortar
- M30 107mm Mortar
- M202 FLASH Incendiary Rocket Launcher (yes, THAT launcher)
- M60 Tripod Mount
- M40A1 Recoilless Rifle
- M67 Recoiless Rifle
- VADS on towed mount.
Some of you may have noticed that a lot of these additional weapons are pieces you might expect more from non-Mechanised units (such as the Airborne or Light Infantry) or from pieces that had been put back into storage by the 1980s. However, the rationale is that the Stretch Goals will let you turn the existing platoon into these more specialised formations, or represent units where everything and the kitchen sink is being pulled out to fight back in a World War 3 gone hot.
REFORGER is going to launch on the 4th of July so if you’re interested, sign up now on the preview page!
Echo Dark Studios Putting STLs on Discount
Good news for any STL collectors looking to extend their collection. Echo Dark Studios is running a flash sale on all things STL, with 15% applied at checkout until the 12:00 EST on 28th June. This is a great time to pick up some of the older figures, with INX packs usually pretty good at giving you a squad ready for action. This also includes some new releases, such as a range of pickup trucks ranging from work wagon to ramshackle armoured technical.
Warfighter Miniatures Launches Closing Down Sale
Sad news from Warfighter Miniatures. They announced late last week that they will be closing down the store from Monday June 30th, with many of the ranges not returning if they decide to return at a later date. In addition, they will no longer be selling digital files due to piracy claims. However, until midnight on Monday, they are running a closing-down sale with some massive savings. You’ve got less than a week to get the orders in, so if there is something you’ve missed, now is the time to grab it from the store.
Urban Scatter Gaming Releases Utility Poles
Having previewed these useful additions to the table in a previous edition of The News Stand, Urban Scatter Gaming has released his Modular Utility poles. This pack consists of three pole designs, each with a modular attachment for the top to allow you to change the pole’s role. These options are either a street lamp or an electrical junction box complete with holes for running thread or wire through to add that little extra touch to the table. The pack is designed to be printed support-free on FDM printers or using pre-supported resin version also included. I am looking forward to filling a box with these guys for my MENA table, so I can heartily recommend heading over to the Urban Scatter Gaming Gumroad and getting your hands on these.
Combat Octopus Previews SSO Support Specialists
Getting ready for the next release, Combat Ocotopus has really been sitting around. Or at least, the models have being (CO has been working his ass off as usual). After a little vote with the Patrons that came out against prone figure, we got ourselves the first two figures for the SSO Support pack. With an ATGM launcher and a JTAC sitting a box, these two pieces should help to give your force some additional assets. I really like the air controller – it’s a nice change from many of the other sets and the sitting legs could be handy for adding some vehicle crew. We’re still waiting on the final two models (a pair of sitting figures for the sniper/spotter) but I can see this set being the final bits I need to make a Russian SSO style force for playing with.
In addition, the day after last week’s post went up, we got the release of the latest loyalty reward for 12 months – the Female Covert/Overt Operator. Looking slightly nicer than most operators do, this set includes two head options and a pile of weapons to pull out of the shoulder bag, ranting from pistols all the way up to the MP5K and MP7. A pretty sweet release and I’m sure those one handed weapons are going to come in handy for kitbashing.
Modern Miniatures Previews Next Month’s Patreon and Releases Mid-Month Add-ons
Literally moments after I released last month’s post, we got an update from Modern Miniatures. Proving the old adage that if you wait long enough for a Blackhawk designed for 3d printing, you’ll get two of them at the same time, July’s Patreon release for Modern Miniatures will be a UH-60 Blackhawk. The set will include two variants – one designed for resin printing and the other for FDM. Additionally, this is a gamer’s kit – features such as reinforced rotor blades (or the ability to magnetise for transport) and modular interior pieces should make it easy to get to the table and prevent it needing to be repaired every five seconds when a gamer so much as looks at it.
That isn’t all the news, however – Modern Miniatures has also released a few additional STL releases that can be bought from the MyMiniFactory page. As well as two weapon STL packs, we have the long-awaited Chinese Arctic OPFOR set. Armed with QBZs and with separate heads, these guys should provide you with plenty of options for your next snowy misadventures.
Turnbase Miniatures Releases SAS Figures
Finally, in a shocking turn of events that is hopefully a sign of things to come moving forward, Turnbase Miniatures has released its figures for June early. This month’s theme is SAS Operators with a 1980s/1990s theme, and we have two packs included. For Tier 2, we have some Desert SAS – armed with a mix of M16s with M203s, a SAW and a pair of FALs, these guy definitely have that late Cold War vibe. For Tier 3 however, you’re getting the iconic SAS in black kit look, with a mixture of MP5s with big flashlights and one man with a breaching shotgun. There are two versions of this set (one with looser hoods and the one above with them pulled tight). The figures have been delivered to Patrons, so if you want your own you should be able to sign up now.
Desk-Ops Releasing APCs and Starting Streaming
But wait, that’s not all. Friend of the blog Desk-Ops has been hard at work and has released a new exclusive vehicle. The URAL 432007 Chekan APC is an uparmoured Ural 432007 truck, converted by a private company to provide armoured vehicles to the Wagner PMC for action in Libya, the CAR and Ukraine. It’s an MRAP-style vehicle, ideal for carrying around a squad of infantry in relative protection while looking suitably mean. There are four versions currently on the site in a mixture of scales, with either early or late models (the early with the large extra tyres carried on board) and either geared up as an unarmed Battle Taxi or APC (armed with a BTR turret). You can find them in the Desk-Ops exclusive section of the site, as well as the BPM-97 APC if you want to get weird with your Russian vehicle collection.
Of course, if you’re wanting to see what these vehicles are like, you can see them on Desk-Ops’s new venture – Streaming! With channels on both Twitch and YouTube, Dan from Desk-Ops is going to be streaming twice a week, painting up figures and going over the weekly news in Ultramodern gaming (man, if only someone was writing a weekly post that he could look through to bring it all together and make his job easier). Last week he painted up four guys from the INX range across two sessions (Thursday and Saturday), while this week he’ll be painting up the new Combat Octopus loyalty release on Thursday before starting work on the new Chekan with armour kit.
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