Sun’s Out, Gun’s Out for Spectre Miniatures

Spectre Miniatures has launched Suns Out, Guns Out for the year, offering 15% off most things on the store until the end of the 21st of June. But that’s not all.

The very first set for Spectre Miniatures’s upcoming Vietnam range is out now! For a limited time, you can pick up a small four-man set of Early MACV-SOG (as previously previewed in this column), giving you your first taste of Vietnam figures in Spectre’s specific style. This four-man set includes four American troops, three with SMGs and the last with some Vietnamese equipment to act as the scout. The figures are what we’ve grown to expect from Spectre Miniatures, and the idea of a full range is pretty good. This set is only available as a physical release, and only during Suns Out, Guns Out, so grab them before Sunday evening, or else you’ll be waiting for the full release later this year.

Over on the Patreon, we have a pair of previews for this month’s releases. The mechanised guys will receive a ZIL Truck (heavily inspired by the Zil-130) as a brand-new vehicle. Produced from 1962 until the early 2010s, it’s ideal for being fresh off the Ho-Chi-Minh trail, parked up in an abandoned Russian hellhole somewhere or even packed full of high explosives as a VBIED. Mechanised Patrons were also supposed to receive the Challenger 3 this month, so stand by for that.

Following on from last week’s Javelin team, this week we get to see a full 8-man Javelin Detachment for the Modern British Platoon. Split into two halves, we have four figures moving and shooting while carrying Javelin missiles and another four engaged in using them. There are some nice touches on these guys, and I can see plenty of people using the figures with spare Javelin rounds being mixed into regular infantry squads to give them a more heavily loaded feel (and replace the crouching figures with those of a nervous disposition). As well as the Javelin teams, we should also be seeing some Royal Marines coming soon.

Don’t Drink And Paint Releases Looters, Janitors and Sleeper Agents STLs

Don’t Drink And Paint (as well as sculpting up a figure inspired by the recent MW4 reveal) has just released three sets for a post-pandemic New York. Heavily inspired by a certain Tom Clancy game, these figures are perfect for those who’ve been wanting suitably equipped guys, complete with the distinctive elements of a post-societal-collapse warzone.

The Janitors and The Looters are two of the OPFOR factions that your agents will need to deal with. The two provide different levels of threat – the looters are lightly armoured and armed but bring plenty of nasty close combat firepower and baseball bats to the fight (as well as molotovs). However, the kings of fire are The Cleaners, with three of their figures carrying flamethrowers to burn the infection away. I definitely recognise a few of these guys from my time playing the game, so Don’t Drink And Paint continues to show off his skills.

However, the coolest set is naturally the Sleeper Agents. Covered in the finest items from a 5.11 catalogue and carrying weapons suitable for a highly trained secret government agency, only activated in the worst-case situation. The four agents are shown both wearing their masks for venturing into the dark zone and with faces uncovered – the figures with masks also have the hazardous material containers used to extract items from one of the zones where the first PvPvE extraction shooters took place. There are a few things that are new (the Flux Raider didn’t exist when The Division launched in 2016) but this is a great set of heroes (or villains if you paint them in darker colours). You can grab these sets from the Don’t Drink and Paint Cults3d page now, with more projects on the way.

Echelon Software Releases NearPresent Infantry To Patrons

Echelon Software has reached the next milestone with work on NearPresent and has released their first infantry boxes for each faction. For the first week, these sets are only available on the Patreon store, but there will be a wider release after. These figures, available in 12-figure boxes for both Anchorage and Hankou, contain multiple figures for all the different classes each side allows, giving you plenty of options when setting your force up for the game. Add to them the CCT units already on the public store, and you have all the figures you’ll need to get playing NearPresent. These new figures are high-quality 3D-printed resin pieces rather than the spun resin of BPRE28, but you can see the same level of detail has been maintained (if not higher). Additionally, the first 100 boxes for each faction will include limited-edition stickers, ideal for decorating their carry cases. These figures are currently only available to Patrons (using the Patron-exclusive store), with a wider release coming next week.

Flank March Miniatures Prepares First Wave of Stretch Goals To Kickstarter Backers

Good news from Flank March Miniatures for fans of the East Germans/Backers of the BRUDERKRIEG 1 – the first wave of stretch goals have been sculpted and are being supported as we speak. This first wave is a lot of the early infantry goals – this includes figures shown above; the RPG-18 riflemen, Engineers (including the triple tube thermobaric launcher), forward observer team with portable radio and the dismounted vehicle crew for when things have gone very wrong. The wave also includes Eastern crew for various weapons that were originally released as part of the Soviet kickstarter. including the M-37 mortar, the D-30 Howitzer and the SPG-9 Recoiless rifle. These figures are currently being support by Bobmack3d, with a release to BRUDERKRIEG Kickstarter backers within the next week or so.

Haywire is now Haywire Modern – Physical Release Coming This September

As teased on Haywire’s Facebook page last week, we have the full announcement this week. Haywire is now Haywire Modern and is being published by Modiphius Entertainment. A full physical release is coming later this summer, bringing the game into a physical book form (although a quickstart PDF is already available). Of course, if you pre-order, you can actually already get access to the PDF of the book right now, giving you a chance to take a look at the book, updated cards and the new CQB tiles that will all be included in the full release.

Speaking of the book, the preview images that Modiphius have put out really help to show off the new layout and artwork. From the brand new front cover I’ve included above (because it’s rad as hell) to several hundred pages dense with rules, hobby tips and more. It’s filled with details on multiple friendly forces and enemy factions (each with its own units and AI behaviours). There are two styles of campaign: a three-part globe-trotting adventure taking players from the Islamic Republic of Bazikistan to the cartel-controlled San Cordova and eventually the Eastern European nation of Zhokovia, and then a free-form Tour of Duty system intended for giving you a framework for your games. This is a book filled with excitement for the detail-heavy yet fast-playing Ultramodern gaming, and I’ll be looking forward to when my own copy arrives. Sign up to pre-order online, at either the UK/ROW store or the North American store.

(Interestingly, this is the second web-released solo/co-op Ultramodern game that Modiphus has published, seeing as they are also the publisher of Battlespace – they are obviously very interested in the solo wargaming space, especially as they also have the Five X games in their catalogue).

Modiphus Entertainment Previews More Details For XCOM: The Miniatures Game

Hello, Commander. In light of the recent extraterrestrial incursion, this Council of Nations has convened to approve the activation of the XCOM Project…

Big week for Modiphus Entertainment! As well as the news for Haywire Modern’s release, we alos have some more details for the upcoming XCOM: The Miniatures Game. As someone with a soft spot for specifically the Firaxis X-COM reboot, it’s awesome to see that the team at Modiphus will be releasing the tan armoured, 99% shot missing operators, with the distinctive visual style from the first game in their tan armour and vaguely familiar yet chunky weapons. We’ve also seen a few shots of what we’ll be up against, with little grey Sectoids and freakish Thin Men spotted. The team have already announced the first wave will also include a whole variety of the creatures you ended up ripping to pieces during the early stages of an XCOM playthrough (including, unfortunately, the Chryssalids) but future releases will add later game operatives (including the MEC Troopers from the expansion pack Enemy Within) and the complete roster of later game enemies (yep, the Etherals and Sectopods are included) and even the traitorous EXALT (presumably in their finest suits).

On the rules side, you’re looking at a solo and co-op game utilising the mature base system from Five Parsecs From Home (a system that has already had several spin offs and collected a legion of fans). The rules are going to be about fast-paced tactical encounters using the figures and the progression as you gear up your base and work through technologies to go to war against the invaders. There is even a Player versus Player mode, where someone gets to be the aliens.

Pre-orders launch in July, and I’m looking forward to seeing everything once it’s ready for primetime. You can sign up for more details on the website.

Pegasus Miniatures Has Bad News

Bad news from Pegasus Miniatures this week. It seems we’ll be waiting a little longer to get our hands on the figures and rules, as they have decided to delay the company’s launch. This is due to an issue with getting the website ready and finishing off the design work on the rules. Dougie and Alex are delaying to allow for everything (rules and figures) to be released together, letting you jump into “Contact, Wait Out” with two forces ready to go. We’ll receive more details soon once they have a better sense of the timetable.

On the other hand, the painting continues, with this week’s figure being the paramilitary with the AR-18. I’m looking forward to seeing them all painted up and on the table!

Black Hills Games Prepares For the Next Roadmap With A Vote

Time for the usual text update from Black Hills Games. The main news post is that the release for June (the Nineveh SWAT Team) is a work in progress, the upcoming 13 Hours Kickstarter will have three levels covering the GRS Team in multiple poses ranging from basic combat poses up to undercover and customisable pieces and finally the low level Operator tier (which was for a smaller assualt pack rather than the full release) is being decativated to focus on the full size releases.

However, what’s more interesting are the votes for what’s coming up next. The roadmap finished with this month’s set, meaning it’s time to select the next sets to be worked on. As you can see from the selection above, there are a few different options ranging from expanding existing sets to national special forces and even to a set of operators for a chilly post-flu New York (seems like people are interested in them).

Combat Octopus Releases Part 1 of Russian FSB Spetsnaz

After many previews, it’s time for the release. This week saw Combat Octopus deliver the new Russian FSB Spetsnaz set, filled with all the bits and pieces to deploy a team from a turbulent period of Russian history. As with all Combat Octopus releases, this set is packed full of options for gearing up your entry team, with this team posed up for time before action or preparing for the push. This set also includes a shield operator, perfect for close-quarters combat (and when the smaller shields of previous releases don’t cut the mustard. Of course, the Gorkas and Redut armour does make them suitable for other set pieces set in Eastern Europe, such as patrolling the zone dealing with SCAV, USEC and BEARs.

The four poses (coming as both modular parts and as pre-assembled non-modular figures) come with the literal pile of weapons both ordinary (more variants of the AK-74 than you can shake a stick at) and the bizarre (such as the AS Val and SR-3M close-quarters weapons, and the SR-2 machine pistol for the shield user). There are even two weapons on the backs of the operators, ideal for giving them even more firepower – this includes the GM-94 pump-action grenade launcher and the RShG Thermobaric launcher for urban clearing. The set is rounded out with 9 heads, giving four heads with just the Altyn and five with the K6-3 visor for additional protection.

We’ll be getting a second set of more action-packed poses in July (as well as more heads), but if you want these guys, you can get them now by signing up on the Combat Octopus Patreon.

We’ll also be getting an additional figure for the Spetsnaz with the Q3 loyalty reward, specifically one carrying the PKM and shooting from the hip, his head covered in the iconic Maska-1SCh for cool (as long as you paint the stripe on it). Q4 will see a high-end VIP for those who remain members from October through December. However, the biggest news is that we have reached the Five-Year Anniversary of Combat Octopus! As my own 3D printing folders can attest, that is an incredible milestone to hit, and so congratulations to him!

Modern Miniatures Shows Off Crashed Little Bird and Road Map Time

Modern Miniatures has shown off some previews for what is coming in July for Patreon backers and members of the MyMiniFactory Tribe. To accompany the crashed Black Hawk, we have a completely trashed Little Bird who has also had a bad time. Based on details from the preview, this is designed to be printed on resin printers (unlike the colossal Black Hawk) and also supports both variants of the Little Bird, letting your crashed helicopter be either a gunship or a troop carrier. There is even a cool detail with the rotor blades in that you can print them in FDM, letting you heat them up to add additional bends. For the Tribe release this month, they are getting the C70 truck which is a common sight throughout the Americas, with two bed options to help you carry all items legal and illegal.

The additional news from the preview post is what’s coming soon. We’ve got a new roadmap covering July through to September and there is some good stuff on it.

As you can see, there is a good mix of items across both services, with a very heavy focus on cartel-related topics. There are a pile of vehicles coming, while the set of themed buildings should provide the final touch to let you get your South American boards ready.

Turnbase Miniatures Shows Off Russian Fighters

Turnbase Miniatures has previewed the tier 2 set coming as part of this month’s refresh of the original Gorka wearing models back from the start of their Patreon. While the original set was purely wearing Gorka, this updated set has added some figures with RATNIK equipment. There is the usual spread of weapons from a Turnbase release, with the PKM, Saigia 12, AK-74, two AK-12s and an RPG. No details of Tier 3 is going to be, so stand by for more details.

WarDaddy Studios Releases NVA Leadership in 15mm

Finally, WarDaddy Studios has released the next set of figures for their Vietcong range. With nine individuals in a variety of gear, posed to give orders, this set is ideal when combined with the other currently released Vietcong to build your force. This set is currently only in 15mm, while the 10mm variant will come later this month alongside the support pack (bringing heavy weapons, casualties and more). If you want the set, you can find it on Cults3d now, with a MyMiniFactory release coming soon.