Spectre Miniatures Is Talking Vehicles

First up, Spectre Miniatures is busy preparing for the Cosmic Horror Kickstarter but for us, they have also been showing off some of the upcoming releases that will be hitting the store and Patreon soon. First, we have the T-64 BV, showing off the ERA packs covering the front and turret. This vehicle was announced to be coming to the Spectre catalogue back in October, alongside the original T-64 and the Bulat. This however is the physical print, so you can expect to see it painted up and on the store soon.

Meanwhile, over on Patreon, this month’s vehicle release is going to be something a little bit shaky. Managing to beat MOD procurement, Spectre is going to be releasing both the Ajax IFV and the Ares APC as STL releases, before a wider release soon after. These vehicles will also be coming with the side stowage boxes that appear on some examples, giving a suitably modern (although some would say near-future or paper prototype depending on your mood) vehicle to accompany the currently released British Infantry Platoon. Next month will add even more British equipment, as the Boxer and potentially Challenger will be coming to Patreon then.

Additionally, we should hopefully be seeing more previews of this month’s models early next week.

Desk-Ops Provides More Content for Dynamic Infantry Combat Primer

Friend of the blog Desk-Ops has been hard at work releasing more content to go with the initial Quick Play Rules that came out last week. First up, the primer is now available on both Gumroad and DriveThruRPG at the low price of “Pay What You Want”. It is joined by two other digital files: an STL for the XS Template (required for gameplay) and a starter scenario set in Cairo (the game run at Tactica Hamburg).

Speaking of the XS Template, you can also pick up a 3D printed version over on the Desk-Ops site. Printed in one of three colour ways (white, black or neon green), the template combines several functions into one item and plays a key role in the rules.

There is more Dynamic Infantry Combat on the way, so stand by to see what’s coming next.

Echelon Software Previews Anchorage MFRT

Echelon Software, makers of BPRE and NearPresent, have shown off the first renders of their upcoming Anchorage Multi-Function Response Team set. Providing the infantry figures for one of the two factions in the NearPresent game, Anchorage are the US-backed mercenaries, complete with updated versions of familiar weapon systems suitable for the battlefield of 2046. The four figures show the various classes in the game and are designed to operate alongside the previously released HOUND CCT when fighting Hankou through fortified bases. This is just the initial look, but we’ll be getting more details soon (along with details on figures for the opposing forces).

Flank March Miniatures Launches Bruderkrieg Kickstarter Page

Flank March Miniatures has released the Kickstarter page BRUDERKRIEG 1, the next project to expand his Cold War range. As you might guess, BRUDERKRIEG 1 brings the forces of East Germany to the table and in the usual Flank March way – a complete platoon with over 100 infantry figures, heavy weapons and even more. This time he’s threatening us with a terrifying new vehicle as well, but is also bringing several elements of the East German forces through the 27 different stretch goals – Mot.-Schützen (mechanised infantry), Fallschirmjäger (elite paratroopers) and the takes a deep breath Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse (a paramilitary militia/reserve force). We don’t have an exact kick-off date (other than Mid-April), but the Kickstarter project page is now open and ready to sign up for.

Urban Scatter Gaming Shows Off His Dice Tower

Hot off launching his Patreon again last week, Urban Scatter Gaming showed off more details on his Dice Tower this week. This is included in the first month’s models, giving you a neat way to hide a practical item among your urban board. We got a new blog post showcasing the tower’s design and, more importantly,how he painted it. He even gets to break out some new tools such as the “Worn Effects” by AK Interactive while also showing off how the design evolved after spotting an issue. The post is up on the Urban Scatter Gaming Patreon and is available to everyone to read.

Black Hills Games Releases North Korean Special Forces Set

After a little delay, Black Hill Games has released the February set to Patreon backers. Based off some images of North Korean Special Forces, this set includes seven figures armed with AK74s, wearing assault vests and with a selection of head options. If you want this set for yourself, it has already been released on Gumroad and MyMiniFactory

Combat Octopus Releases Western Deniables Pt 3 and More!

It’s a big week for Combat Octopus, as he’s almost caught up to his traditional schedule with his latest release. However, more exciting is that we have the final part of the Western Deniables range in our hands, giving us four poses of figures with chest rigs over their shirts and t-shirts. This set was requested by the community, who wanted a little variation in their low-profile operators, and managed to squeeze in an additional set. This time around, we have the stack of weapons from the previous sets (the 416, the SCAR-L, the Masada and the LVAW), but they have been joined by some new ones, each bringing a little more firepower. For close-range use, we have the UMP9; for longer range, the SR-25 fits the bill, and for suppressive fire, the lightweight LAMG has been swapped out for an upgraded Mk48 MOD1.

In terms of poses, we have the ever-useful high and low ready poses, we have an operator leaning around a corner, and we have a crouching pose that would work for either a drone user preparing to launch or a squad lead signalling to take a pause. All four poses have a pile of weapons (with most using all six weapons in the release), while having both loaded and unloaded vests gives plenty of options for customisation. The heads also bring some more variations, with a theme base baseballs caps for Corporal level and some more up-to-date OPSCORE wearers at Sergeant (including the ever useful glasses and masked face for when you need a lot of them). This pack is out now for Patreon backers, so sign up and get your deniables today!

But that’s not all – we actually have a few extra items in the stash that’s provided to all Patreon backers, bringing separate drones for tabletop usage (in both FPV and bomb dropping roles) and a set of flexicuffs for digital kitbashing as seen on one of the prebuilt figures.

A surprise this week was the release of more guns for the US Navy SEALs in Iraq sets. These sets (released back in August and September of last year) are a great source of 2000s-era special forces kit, with PACA vests and MBSS carriers. However, there was a request to add some additional weapons to the mix, and Combat Octopus has delivered – not only do we get the original source of the request (the 416), but we also get the SCAR-L and SCAR-H. This set of arms is great, the result of a massive benefit of the modular nature of Combat Octopus figures and perfect for adding some cariety for any figures you’re building that use the Navy SEAL torso and its 2000s era equipment (I can see a project I’m working on benefiting greatly from those SCAR-Hs). If you want these arms for yourself, you can find them on MyMiniFactory (and it’s great to combine with the discount code for all Combat Octopus patrons).

Finally, Combat Octopus has announced themes for the rest of the year. We had a preview for paid patrons back in February (which some moron reported on in his blog), but it passed the test, and now it’s out for everyone to see. We’re starting off with the D-Boys in Somalia for April and May, while June and July will bring 2000s era Russian Spetsnaz in Gorka suits for Chechnya operations (including their classic helmets for the era). August and September will be the British Army in Afghanistan (I am already preparing a rough guideline of the various looks of the era for CO to peruse) but the end of the year is the exciting one. Combat Octopus is getting to unleash his mind and take a look at his own custom setting with Combat Octopods Jagdgruppe “Verlorene”. A little bit SCP, a little bit spooky, these recce guys are going to be a homage to the Gebirgsjäger and Fallschirmjäger. Although not necessarily historical, these guys are going to be realistic and suitable to fit in with the rest of the collection (and probably very useful to those doing games inspired by Stalker, Tarkov or my new love Gray Zone Warfare). The three months will give us some combat operators, a group of enablers and then two sniper pairs. Overall, I am very happy to see Combat Octopus is doing the roadmap again, with plenty of details for each point, and I look forward to seeing these sets come out during the year.

Modern Miniatures Shows Off Q2 Plan, More Stowage

Modern Miniatures has also been showing off his plans for the year. Having asked his patrons at the start of the week to vote on a few ideas, those votes have been turned into the plan for the next three months. April is going to be a roadside motel release (which he has already started), ideal for adding to the collection of US Suburban structures that Modern Miniatures has released in the last few months. May will roll out an Industrial Greenhouse, a unique concept that I don’t think I’ve seen before, but will probably be a pretty interesting location to fight around. Finally, June will bring an Armoured Cash Transporter and a Miami Vice set (Italian Sports Car, pair of detectives and some suitable scatter). This is a pretty great-looking set of releases, so it’s definitely worth watching the Patreon to see how things go.

Meanwhile, over on the Modern Stowage Mega Set campaign, the stretch goals have been absolutely slammed through (turns out people like stowage, who knew). The good news is that we got an extra stretch goal… which was then immediately unlocked. As you can see above, we now have two more sizes of the FDM printable camo netting (something I am currently printing off to take a look at myself). It sounds like we might be getting some more stretch goals, but for now, let’s enjoy this big pile of stowage options we have now.

Turnbase Miniatures Previews German KSK

Finally, for the Ultramoderns, Turnbase Miniatures has shown off a preview for his February release. This is going to be an updated version of the old KSK set, and as you can see above, there have been a few changes to bring the style up to date. No other details have been shown off.

However, we do have some good news! Turnbase has released a new model (sculpted on his iPad) designed to represent an information broker/person of interest. It’s already available for free over on MyMiniFactory, perfect if you want to take a look at how well Turnbase Miniatures print.

BobMack3d Preparing The Queen Of The Desert

Finally, for today, BobMack3D‘s Kickstarter (Arras 1940 BEF) is going through the stretch goals, having already hit its funding goal. As you can see above, they are already preparing the improved version of the Matilda II (and one of my favourite tanks), with the model heading off to be supported and test printed. You can see that the turret will come with both 2pdr and 3″ howitzer barrels AND in both realistic and “gamer” sizes to prevent them from being entirely snapped off by a cack-handed goblin. It’s good to see the project seems to be doing well, especially as there are some truly bizarre vehicles on those stretch goals. If you’re still interested in getting your own collection of Early War tanks, you can find the project on Kickstarter for another 8 days.