Spectre Miniatures Releases A Pile Of Stuff

We kick off this week with a pile of new releases from Spectre Miniatures, as they bring their Patreon releases to their webstore.

First up, we have the latest US Rangers Squad shown off last week to Patrons. This squad is all painted up in Multicam, showing off the M7 rifles and KAC LAMG in their glory. This pack is enough for a full 9-man squad and includes grenade launchers worn in holsters on two of the operators. This pack is available as both physical sets and STLs, and it also doesn’t include the Binocular NVGs shown on the figures (you’ll have to buy them separately).

The CIA Enabler Team is a smaller element designed to act as a force multiplier for other forces, providing intelligence and remote fires support. This is helped out by all the figures carrying additional loitering devices on their back, including the Switchblade and launcher to deliver an explosive payload to the target. These figures also have some really gucci weapons and equipment, including MCX Rattlers, Geissele MRGG-S and even an M320 with a Pike Smart Guided Missile. This set is available as both physical sets and STLs, and it also doesn’t include the AR Goggles shown on the figures (you’ll have to buy them separately).

Something very time-limited is the JSOC Assault Force Bundle that came out alongside the other packs above. Available until the 28th of February, this bundle packages the US Rangers, the CIA Enabler Team and the previously released Delta Assault Element into a single pack (as well as NVG devices for all the figures). This pack works out at roughly a £10 saving over buying them separately, and it also makes for an ideal pack for some special forces shenanigans.

To go with the operators, there are three new done releases. We’ve seen the Heavy UAS and ISTAR UAS before, but the new addition for this week is the K9 Q-UGV, an updated dog-style unmanned ground vehicle packed full of sensors and ideal for crossing complex terrain (this set was also released on Patreon to backers at the start of the week). All three sets are now available as both physical sets and STLs.

Finally, as shown in the figures above, we have a brand-new pack of Night Vision Goggles releases. Using the slot on most of the helmets released by Spectre, this brings four new goggle options (previously shown off a few weeks ago) to the regular store. The Night Vision Goggles page on the store has been updated, offering you six items to choose from or an STL bundle that includes all of them.

Overall, this is a pretty sizable release for some Near Future US Special Forces. Combined with the new UAS and helmet-mounted systems add-ons, this continues to show what Spectre is good at: showcasing some of the bleeding-edge systems and weapons floating around in the current military space.

Don’t Drink And Paint Releases Mark VI Patrol Boat

Don’t Drink And Paint has taken a leap into vehicle sculpting and decided to go all in with something big. In this case, it’s the Mark VI Patrol Boat, utilised by the US Navy since 2015 as part of their Coastal Riverine forces for coastal and other brown-water operations (as well as several sold to Ukraine). The Mark VI comes with two naval CROWS weapon systems with 50 cal machine guns and two MK 38 Mod 2 autocannons mounted fore and aft. The model is roughly 1/52 scale, so it’s a big vehicle when printed, but it would also fit alongside your 28mm infantry for coastal games.

Are you ever going to use this? Probably not. But it is cool as hell, and I’m glad to see that Don’t Drink, And Paint seems to have enjoyed making it. If you want it for yourself, it’s being sold on Cults3D for Pay-What-You-Want (and can be selected for free). That said, if you did make a game with a big enough area of water, then you probably could have a pretty good game.

Black Hills Games Previews Gift To January Subscribers

Black Hills Games has shown off some previews for pieces being released soon, acting as an expansion for the January release. To expand the US Rangers from Somalia, this set is going to give you all the bits you need to bring them onto the battlefield – quite literally in this case.

The set is going to include 4 US Rangers seated, letting them be used in either internal seating or seated on the side of the helicopter. Alongside them is a pair of Rangers on the rope, rappelling down, and a Ranger on a .50 calibre (not suitable for mounting in a helicopter but ideal for upgrading any Humvee models you might have. This expansion will be given free to January’s subscribers (and should be available right now) and sold separately on Gumroad and MyMiniFactory for everyone else

As for the regular releases, February is unfortunately running late. The plan for North Korean Special Forces seems to have caused some issues in finding references and getting the figures ready. The post seems to suggest the figures will be out before the end of the month (so in the next day or two). EDIT: while writing the post, the February set has officially been announced to be coming out in the first week of March.

Combat Octopus Shows Off March’s Operators

Combat Octopus has been hard at work on the Operators coming in March’s T-shirt and Shirt operators (rather than the jacket-wearing operators of the last few months). We have had a preview of the first two poses (although our low ready friend is going to be tweaked slightly. One thing that is cool is that this set is going to have an additional weapon system, bringing the MOD1 version of the MK48 to the collection, ready to give your operators some heavier firepower. There will be two other poses coming soon, but these guys are already looking pretty good – we’ll see the rest in March’s release when it comes out, our final month looking at Western Operators.

Modern Miniatures Previews March’s Releases

Modern Miniatures is away at Tactica this weekend (along with Desk-Ops and those crazy folks from Asymettric Warfare with their giant boat), but we did get a set of previews for March’s release.

For the terrain tier, the Suburban Expansion add-on brings with it a set of houses, a detached garage and the covered furniture package. These have been previewed in the last few weeks, but it’s great to see them painted up and on the table. There are also a few additional bits of news, including a second floor for one of the houses to make it an entirely new structure. This is a great addition to this month’s large suburban house, building up the neighbourhood.

For the miniatures tier, we have a collection of four scenario figures. We have a Businessman HVT, two hostages and a Shiekh figures. While incredibly useful, these may seem familiar to those who have been around for a while. Although there are differences (including modular heads for the man with the briefcase), all four seem heavily inspired by Spectre’s older Scenario figures released in 2015 as white-metal figures. I’m not sure how I quite feel about this set – although nice to see this style of figures available in STL (although Spectre has had their hostage set out for a while) this feels incredibly inspired by Spectre’s original work.

Meanwhile, over on the MyMiniFactory Tribe, March’s release will be a T-90A, one of the more modern tanks in the Russian arsenal. Split up into Modern Miniatures easy-to-print style, this is a great way of getting some modern Russian armour on the board. In fact, this release will be available from March 1st.

WarDaddy Studios Releases More 15mm

Finally, let’s look back on someone I keep accidentally missing. WarDaddy Studios has continued releasing 15mm/10mm releases for Ultramodern Wargaming (and some very cool sci-fi sets). Many of these sets have been released in both 15mm+ and 10mm epic sets, letting you choose just how tiny you want to make your operators. The last few weeks have seen some great kits coming out – the Modern Ukrainian range has been expanded with a Support Weapon set, including mortars, Javelins, and machine guns (and also plenty of crew figures). There is also some Generic NATO-style infantry with a low-cut helmet and plenty of Western weapons, ideal for something different than the usual Operator-looking folks.

On the other side, we have some Russian Elite Operators with their Alytn helmets and light combat gear (perfect for some high-speed operating). Less High Speed Operating is the 10mm Western vehicles set, ideal to take advantage of the smaller scale by having larger operations in vehicles. As you can see in the image on the right, there are several Styker versions, Bradleys, Abrams, and Leopard 2s with separate turrets and even a little Lynx Recce vehicle.

Overall, WarDaddy Studios continues to be someone to keep an eye on, especially if you don’t play in 28mm or are even interested in trying something different. I haven’t even covered the Sci-Fi kits that appeal to someone playing Menace at the moment. Either way, keep an eye on the Patreon and MyMiniFactory store.

BobMack3d Announces Final Vehicle For Arras 1940

With the launch of Arras 1940 in a week’s time, BobMack3d has shown off the final vehicle of the Kickstarter. It’s the Bedford MW 15cwt truck. Used in the BEF and the Middle East, this truck comes with the open cab and two separate slots for windscreen (as opposed to more enclosed later vehicles). This lays out the total vehicle selection for the Kickstater – A11 and A12 Matildas, Bren Carrier, 1pdr AT gun and now a truck to tow it. The Kickstarter will launch on the 6th of March, with its Kickstarter preview page up and running if you are interested in your early war armoured support.

Empress Miniatures Releases SAS Jeeps for Western Europe

To accompany their Arhem sets, Empress Miniatures has released two packs to bring the SAS and their heavily armoured jeeps to the board. With two different vehicles, you get two different crew setups mounted onto the same vehicle, and a pile of Vickers K guns in each position. Both sets show plenty of stowage to decorate the vehicles, really selling the concept of high-speed special forces behind enemy lines.

To accompany each set, there are three dismounted crew members included. Armed with a mixture of Bren guns, M1 Carbines and M1 Thompsons, these are ideal to act as sneaky recce teams in a variety of games. All the figure sculpts are from Paul Hicks, and he continues to knock it out of the park. If you want these sets right now, they are available over on the Empress website.