Spectre Miniatures Drops Some Intel And The CIA

First up, Spectre Miniatures has dropped some interesting updates on the admin side. The first piece is a list of events that Spectre is going to attend this year. As a Northern boy, I am happy to see they will be coming to Vapa at York in a few weeks (and I’ll probably drop in to say hi), while trips to Chillcon and Colours are new for this year (Salute and Adepticon are also cool to see).

The other side is that there has been a call for Playtesters for a new version of Cosmic Horror. Based on one of the preview posts that have also put up, this makes it seem like Cosmic Horror is going to move away from purely being an addon to the basic Spectre Operations into being its own game with a different focus on the more horror aspects. Getting more playtesters in also feels like a good step – one comment made about Operations V3 was that it has felt like it needed a touch more contact with the player base before coming out of the oven. I look forward to seeing how this advances, even if the game itself isn’t quite my cup of tea.

What is my cup of tea, however, is the first preview of the CIA Special Activities team that Spectre is working on. To make them stand out from the multiple ranges of door kickers, the concept for the team is to act as enablers, giving a set of sneaky types packing fancy high-end gear. And these guys are very high-end – RIVET HUD systems to provide enhanced awareness, loitering munitions on the side of their rucksack to handle the big stuff and an MCX Rattler with some higher-end accessories. Finally, the clothing is going to be elements that could work for both military and civilian paint schemes, ideal for matching with whatever force they are enabling. This is just the first figures (and it’s still WIP), so we’ll see more details as the month goes on.

Editor’s Note – I am also amused at how close this is to one of the Gunslinger concepts that I had worked up (Raptor Diagnostics). Glad to see I’m not the only one who saw this concept coming!

Echelon Software Will Be At Adepticon

Echelon Software, makers of BPRE28 and Near Present, will be attending Adepticon in March. They are also running a learn to play event for Near Present, showing off their latest world with coverage of the game, setting and even the comics. The downside is that currently there is only one space left, BUT BPRE Patrons may be able to organise some games with the Echelon team over the weekend if you fancy some games.

Flank March Miniatures Launches Operation Mountain Breaker

In a slick marketing move, Flank March Miniatures has announced a new marketing scheme for all you Cold War fans, Operation Mountainbreakers. The idea is simple – send in some Cold War content to Flank March and each month they will pick one person to receive a £50 voucher to be spent at Flank March, Full Metal, BobMack3d or Battleground HD. The good news is that Cold War Content covers everything hobby-related – painted models? Check. Battle Reports? Check. Scenarios and rules? Get those pens out because Check. There is a full list of details on the site, but it seems like Flank March is really pushing to propel Cold War Gaming forward and get people excited about it.

Haywire Rebrands As Version 3 Approaches

Over on Facebook, news from TheSoloWargamer. With Haywire Version 3 on its way, he has rebranded his Facebook page and YouTube to focus on his solo and co-op wargame that he has been working on and refining. His page also has a pile of posts showing off his collection, including plenty of shots of his awesome board. More details coming soon as Haywire 3 is detailed.

Miniatures Building Authority Prepare Ramadi Building 4

Miniatures Building Authority is preparing a fourth building for its Ramadi set and will likely be available once this post goes live. This building is another urban structure, spread over multiple floors and balconies, making it ideal for assembling a dense urban map. You can also see an example of one of the stretch goals on the right, with a floor still under construction, perfect for some urban variety. These structures are only available as physical objects, with both painted and unpainted options.

If you’re interested and want to jump in, you can find it over on the Crowd Funding page on the MBA website.

Urban Scatter Gaming Previews New Modern Urban Building

Good news for fans of modern urban areas – Urban Scatter Gaming has an in-depth post on his Patreon showing off another building in his modern urban range. Building 1 is the core structure for the Pawn Shop shown last week, and the base building is designed to make a modular structure capable of filling a single board with varied modular pieces. You can find out more in a great post that Wedge has written on Patreon, complete with plenty of work-in-progress pictures showing the building off.

With plenty of modular options, you can see how various construction and painting tweaks would allow for plenty of variety. You can also see some great techniques for painting these buildings, with example colours and instructions on how to make off areas to make painting all that brick easier. I’m definitely inspired by seeing the buildings assembled, and I’m looking forward to what Urban Scatter Gaming releases.

Combat Octopus Expands Theme And Shows Off Deniables

Controversy abounded this week over on the Combat Octopus Patreon! If you want some more details on the specifics, you can find them on the Patreon, but the big news is that we’re getting a third month for this Western Deniables. January and February will keep the original designs of high-end tactical gear under jackets, but March is going to expand the idea by having a rig or plate carrier over a t-shirt and shirts. This means another month of low-profile operators with the latest and greatest weapons and tactical gear (such as the weapons mentioned last week).

As you can see here, we have two of the four poses good to go, with one figure armed with the SIG LVAW and the other with the SCAR-L. The second figure’s rig is designed to be expanded upon with the various pouches, ideal for customising further. There will be two more figures like this, as well as a selection of weapons and heads for them. Stand by for more previews soon.

Modern Miniatures Previews Modern US Suburban House Release

Big news from Modern Miniatures as he is previewing the February release for the terrain tier. The patrons voted for a suburban US house, with multiple rooms and floors, and we got the first preview this week. As you can see above, the two-storey structure is ideal for breaching and clearing, with plenty of rooms to fight through. You can see the layouts below, but the structure features two floors, each with separate internal wall pieces that offer greater flexibility.

There will be a few additional pieces for the structure, designed to extend it, with features such as outer walls and floor details (including the garage) potentially on the horizon. There is even the potential for detail sets for each room. I can see this set being a great addition to the range, the perfect starting point for anyone wanting to use their SWAT figures to raid something a little more upmarket. More details as they’re released, but this is already a good-looking set.

Turnbase Miniatures Redesigning MARSOC Figures

Finally, Turnbase Miniatures has announced what this month’s release is, and it’s a return to an old favourite. The MARSOC set was one of the first releases I remember picking up from Turnbase Miniatures (along with the Grenadiers release), especially with the modular heads it came with. This new release will be updating them to the new Turnabse Miniatures style (although I hope it doesn’t lose the modular head aspect that was one of the best parts of the main release). It does look like this set will merge the two previous ones, with an MK18 mounting the M203 as well as two variants of the basic rifle with an Elcan and Squad Day Optic.