Spectre Miniatures Announces Updates On CIA Figures

This has been a quiet week for Spectre Miniatures fans who aren’t excited for Cosmic Horror’s launch on Kickstarter in March or interested in Out of Time. The only sign of life has been a single post on Spectre’s Patreon (pictured above) giving a generic “sorry for the delay”, some news about additional head-mounted systems to be included with the delayed CIA set and the news that this month’s main set will be a full modern US Ranger Squad with the M7 and KAC LAMG. This is a bit of a weird update post – why not mention to your fans about the fact that you’re in the middle of preparing for a Kickstarter, which might distract from sculpting time? Why not show off some of these head-mounted systems, be it the inspiration (or maybe play a little game with the hints)? And why, if the figures are so close to upload, would you not deliver another WIP preview of a figure to show things progressing? Hopefully, we’ll see the CIA set come out soon after this edition of The News Stand posts, but posts like this do give me a little concern – history may not be repeating itself yet, but I can already hear a little rhyming with the past.

Don’tDrinkAndPaint Releases US Remnants

Don’tDrinkAndPaint has released two brand new sets over on Cults3d. Titled US Remnants, these two sets include 10 figures each and are designed to be incredibly Near-Future, bleeding-edge operators. Armed with all the latest toys from FN’s development drawer (including the Precision Grenadier System, Evolys LMG and FN LICC-IWS rifle), these figures include Squad Leader, System Operator, two Grenadiers, two Automatic Riflemen and four Riflemen. What’s also very interesting is that the same poses come with two high-tech head options (courtesy of your friends at Anduril) – one is the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (or IVAS), while the other is the fully enclosed version of the Eagle Eye system. This is probably some of the most modern-day kit on the market, ideal for near-future conflicts or some hard sci-fi (or to operate alongside the Near Present proxy forces that Don’tDrinkAndPaint have already released). STLs are available over on Cults3D, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these figures end up at friend of the blog Desk-Ops for those not wanting to print them themselves.

Urban Scatter Gaming Drops Date Palms, Free Street Furniture And A Return To Patreon

Busy week from Urban Scatter Gaming with a trio of news items. First up, chasing after the MENA releases from last year, we have the new Date Palms and Bases set. Ideal for filling out MENA areas as either area terrain of light cover or single detail pieces to turn your city streets into something a little less dustry tan. The set is designed for filament printing, with 4 different palm sizes and a set of 6 scenic bases to show the area. In something I continue to like, this set also received a painting guide to show how they can look, perfect for getting started with. If you want this set for yourself, it’s available over on the USG Gumroad.

Also on the Gumroad is an updated pack from Urban Scatter Gaming’s History and, even better, it’s free! Ideal for the upcoming Urban releases, this Street Cabinets set has been redesigned to support both resin and filament printing (as well as improving the models after several years of improving skills), and has added an additional cabinet design with an open variant for objective marking and fun with painting. These pieces are ideal for filling the urban landscape, both to set the scene and provide some low cover in places that would usually be open killing zones. This set is free, an ideal intro point before the urban releases (previewed over the last few weeks) coming soon.

Finally, and in big news, Urban Scatter Gaming is returning to Patreon! As we’ve seen over the last few months, USG has been ramping up development of new projects, and it seems like we’ll soon be moving on from solo release to a much more consistent release schedule. No more details are currently availble but as you can see, we won’t have long to wait until we learn more. But I think we can guess at what’s coming up first…

Black Hills Games Releases Civilians Pack

Black Hills Games has released its set for January, bringing six civilians to the table. They are split into three themes, giving you a male and female figure for South America, Africa and the Middle East. Additionally, there should be another addition for the December subscribers to expand the 90’s US Rangers set coming soon. For the civilians, though, they should have been messaged out to subscribers with the three packs available on the Black Hills Games Gumroad (with each set linked above).

Combat Octopus Shows More Western Deniables

Another update from Combat Octopus as he works through Western Deniables Part 2. This time, we have an operator shooting off their left shoulder, ideal for peeking corners (or confusing Tarkov players with a questionable key bind). There are a few more neat touches to this guy to set him apart from the rest, helping the squad to look consistent in the big picture and diverse in the details. We also have an update on the final pose: a Leader operating his smartphone tactical display with a rifle slung. Combat Ocotopus has done a good job getting back on track after his break last year, so we may see the release sooner rather than later.

Modern Miniatures Delivers February Release – Terrain, Operators and So Much More

Finally, and as is tradition, Modern Miniatures deliver new releases within the first few days of the new month, releasing items for both the terrain and miniatures tiers. So let’s jump into the pile of new things.

For the Miniatures tier, we have a follow-up to last month’s Operators. Armed almost entirely with assault rifles (although a M320 in a holster snuck in to give you some ranged support), this set is ideal to bring the Generic Operators up to a sizable section size. While it might be nice to have more military supporting arms such as LMGs and anti-tank weapons, I think that these figures are ideal for creating an entry point for well-equipped forces, either Military or Law Enforcement. The set also includes six heads with NVGs,m all of them wearing glasses rather than the goggles of the original set.

I mentioned above that the main terrain release is just focusing on the big stuff, the building layout and the boundaries. If you want to detail the internal structure, then you’ll need to head over to the MyMiniFactory store and break out the Patreon discount code. There are 10 packs released this month intended to detail the building and the surrounding area, which works out to roughly $50 before the 40% Patreon discount (although you could choose to skip some of the exterior details, such as the flamingos, if you’re heartless).

The only strangeness is that we’ve had no news on the releases over on MMF Tribes, which was supposed to be a Chinese MBT. Stand by for more details.

BobMack3d Shows Off The Queen Of The Desert (Before She Was Famous)

Over in the WW2 section, BobMack3d has shown off the second vehicle for the Arras 1940 project. As you’d expect from a Kickstarter covering the battle where the Matilda II made its name by breaking into the rear area of the 7th Panzer Division, another vehicle that will be included is the early model of the Matilda II (a personal favourite of mine). This model is the early model Matilda A12 mounting the Vickers MG as the coax. The more popular MII.A (mounting the BESA instead) is going to be one of the early stretch goals, giving you a vehicle that would end up being the Queen of the Desert. Arras 1940 will launch soon, and you can sign up for the preview over on Kickstarter.

Multiverse Launches Garbino Renaissance City Terrain

Multiverse, a designer of 3D printable terrain that has created a whole series of projects (many with a Star Wars lean), has launched a new Kickstarter project for Renaissance urban areas. The project includes five modular buildings, with plenty of elements such as balconies, walkways, steps and more. You can even mix up some of the sub-assemblies to make some truly non-uniform and winding structures, ideal for historical southern Europe. The project is already doing well enough to have unlocked 5 out of 8 stretch goals. The project is running until February 19th with an all-in pledge costing £34-ish.

Hozo Design Running a Kickstarter For The NeoSander

A tool I have picked up over Christmas but haven’t talked about yet is the Hozo NeoBlade, a handy Ultrasonic cutter designed to make support clean-up easier. I really like it, so when I saw that Hozo is now working on a Sander/Saw tool, I jumped in. The Hozo Replicating Detail Sander is a handheld cordless tool designed to make detail sanding much easier, providing slightly better precision than the classic dremel or other rotary tools. There is some clever design around the sanding tips and sandpaper, including colour-coded options and separate sandpaper pieces to reduce waste. It also functions as a saw, making it a handy tool for someone who works with 3D printed objects and occasionally feel the need to chew their way through bulky supports. The NeoSander is a mostly complete project, aiming to ship in May.

Menace Enters Early Access on Steam

Good news for fans of wargaming who like Hard Sci-fi. The developers of Battle Brothers (one of my favourite strategy games and inspiration for 90% of my fantasy games) have released MENACE into Early Access on Steam. Set in a distant galaxy that has been separated from Earth, you control a marine unit sent to pacify the region, fighting alien wildlife, space pirates and rebels in tactical operations that are all based around modern combat concepts – yep, it’s time to Find, Fix and Finish the enemy. I’ve had a really good time with the game even after a day or two, and I’m very much looking forward to how it improves. If you’re interested, the game has a 25% discount on Steam until the 19th of February and is aiming to be in Early Access for a year as more content and systems are rolled out to expand on the core gameplay loop. I think this game is an excellent start, with plenty to play even now.