All good things must come to an end sadly. In this case, the 31st of July will see the end of the distribution of Print-On-Demand Gunslinger 2030 models by friend of the site Dan and his store Desk-Ops, as the agreement expires and Flytrap Factory take over production directly.

However, as one final celebration of the project and the figures Anton at Flytrap Factory sculpted, Desk-Ops is going to be selling all of the Gunslinger 2030 packs at 20% off. With the print-on-demand model, Desk-Ops can provide all the packs in the range in a wide variety of scales (from the original 28mm for wargaming all the way up to sizes more commonly seen for dioramas such as 1/35 and 1/24), as well as letting you choose the head packs you want for each set that supports this feature. Dan was also responsible for preparing the supports for all of the sets available meaning he knows how best to set up the models and prepare them, all ready for you to get them on the painting table and into the game ASAP once they arrive.

So no matter if you’re building up a Black Sector QRF, assembling a set of mercenary Kojoti for your dirty wars, or painting up one of the three character sets (Burya-156, HRC Asset Retrieval or Raptor’s Field Operations Team) to test your skills with a unique group of figures, July is your last chance to get them printed for you by Desk-Ops, all for a very reasonable price.

Hi everyone!

As you may have seen, since July last year I’ve been working closely with Anton and Kim at Flytrap Digital and Dan at Desk-Ops on the Gunslinger 2030 range (if you haven’t I have some questions about my engagement numbers). This range has been a fantastic opportunity to get on the other side of the table from usual impression pieces and be the one helping to make them go from concept to real physical objects I’ve painted. In the seven months we have been doing Gunslinger, we released over 71 figures, 50 unique heads across 5 factions in the specially created setting, all while never missing a deadline and always providing the end customer with a product we were all happy to release.

However, all good things must eventually come to an end. With the start of a new year, I decided to sit back and think about what I actually wanted to do with my hobby time. ChargeBlog, Gunslinger and putting figures on the table are all in addition to the day job so it’s a case of maximising fulfilment and enjoyment in the free time I have.

It is for this reason that, as of this post’s release, I am stepping back from Gunslinger. It’s been a great run that’s ending on mutual understanding with all involved. I’m seriously proud of the figures we’ve released and the words I got to write about this setting and also I’ve learnt a lot of lessons behind the scenes, giving me a lot to think about for the future and how I think about this market.

As for the Gunslinger 2030 range and the world of Gunslinger 2030, it’s all now in the careful hands of Flytrap Digital. The release order of the next two packs on the Patreon will be switched around (with Contiki’s Team Arachnid releasing this month and Kojoti’s urban specialists Team Zorya arriving in March) but after that, the forward direction of the project will be entirely in Anton’s hands – I look forward to seeing where it goes next. As part of this, the Gunslinger 2030 Facebook and Instagram will be going into hibernation and pointing people to Flytrap’s social media.

All the currently released figures will continue to be available via Flytrap Digital’s MyMiniFactory and in Print on Demand from Desk-Ops.De.

Before I wrap, I do have to say a massive thank you to Anton and Kim for inviting me to come on board with this wild journey. It’s been just under a year since I received that first invite to come to York for a drink and since then I’ve felt I’ve been able to step up my game across multiple facets of what I do gaining more confidence in my skillset thanks to having shown it off to more people. As I’ve said before, this opportunity was unique, a chance to help steer a brand new range and sit behind the sculptor as he got to work making them. I genuinely hope for the best for you both in everything Flytrap in the future.

Thank you also to Dan from Desk-Ops for coming along for the ride and getting the releases ready for prime time with great support work and error checking. You were a great help in bringing up the technical level of the figures involved, spotting issues that would have caused a problem with printing so we could sort them out easily.

As for what I personally will be doing next, this isn’t the post to say it in. Let’s just say I’ve been reading a lot of my own writing I was doing just before August 2022 about a land far away and the creative vibes are returning to really dig in deep on it.

Smoke from the crash site could be seen from a mile away as the two SUVs swerved through Damascus’s early afternoon traffic. While the drivers concentrate on the road, the team’s technician begins downloading briefing packets to the team, sending directly to their heads-up displays in their glasses and handheld tactical units to store them. In the back of each vehicle, operators begin pulling special equipment from storage – launch tubes for loitering munitions, extra medical equipment and handheld tools to remove delicate pieces from the crashed satellite.

The SUVs pull up in a ruined set of buildings to disembark Team 35S as, with a dull thump, the first of a pair of Loitering Munitions is propelled into the sky, setting up an overwatch with the ability to go kinetic if required. While the drivers stay with the vehicles, the rest of the team advances through the urban decay, using the eye above to watch their progress towards the crash site.

Welcome to a new year of Gunslinger! We’re kicking off this month with a brand new release in our new format, bringing you six uniquely posed Ultramodern figures all ready for your tabletop. This month’s release is the Raptor Diagnostics Field Operations Team, a small elite unit with some near-future tech to let them even the odds.

We’re going to cover the lore of the team first, then get into the specifics of what you’ll receive if you back the Patreon in the next few days, so you too can get your own team of high-tech operators onto the battlefield.

But first up, who is Raptor Diagnostics? Where does this group fit into the world of Gunslinger 2030 and what is the unit we’ve produced in model form for your tabletop?

Company Background

Raptor Diagnostics are a high-end contracting company based out of Western Europe with offices in Zurich, London and Cape Town. They function as an additional insurance policy for various Government and Corporate assets worldwide, designed to augment existing capabilities with rapid reaction and additional offensive options. Raptor hires from both the military and the intelligence sectors, aiming to hire professional operators used to working in small groups and handling sensitive situations.

Raptor’s key advantages in the increasingly busy marketplace are its high technology base and contacts worldwide. Due to legal agreements, Raptor can base its operators worldwide on standby and in many countries operate additional assets such as aerial reconnaissance and fire support platforms, giving an eye in the sky and a finger of god. In less friendly nations or when operating covertly, Raptor teams make use of various alternatives such as local supporting forces or carrying their equipment with them.

These additional assets integrate with the small teams on the ground through the use of Augmented Reality systems built into the eyewear of each operator, allowing them to quickly visualise the information gathered and project it into their eyeline. This pipeline acts as a force multiplier, allowing relatively small units to quickly understand the battlefield and act accordingly, spotting enemy threats before they contact and allowing them to outflank and outfight them.

Unit Background

Field Operations Teams are the backbone of the rapid response Raptor promises to its investors and clients. These semi-covert teams are deployed to safehouses in known hotspots and stand waiting for the order to deploy. Rolling to the target in covert civilian SUVs containing all the gear they may need (including additional medical equipment, specialised breaching and tactical gear and loitering munitions), a team can quickly and easily configure for whatever situation they may encounter, deploying the right level of force while minimising its operational signature to other groups in the Area of Operations.

By their nature, Field Operations Teams are lightweight, taking advantage of their semi-covert nature and advanced battlefield awareness to perform their missions at speed rather than risk being slowed down by carrying heavier support weapons. If a team comes under fire and requires heavier support, either on-station UAVs or smaller loitering munitions carried by the team themselves can be launched rapidly, delivering explosive firepower from above.

For higher-risk situations, or those that do not need the plausible deniability a FOT can provide, Raptor also has access to Advanced Tactical Teams which can provide further firepower.

Team 35S

One of Raptor Diagnostic’s clients has reported a fatal issue with one of its private satellites watching the Syria-Jordan-Iraq region. This issue has caused it to enter an unwanted re-entry of the satellite, crashing down in the slums on the outskirts of Damascus.

On the client’s request, Raptor Diagnostics has dispatched Team 35S to attempt to recover the satellite’s databanks before other forces (such as the local military or Kojoti advisers in the region) can secure the satellite and steal corporate secrets. This particular team, under the command of Dieter Kurnz, is among Raptor’s most veteran assets, with deployments as a group to Mexico and Eastern Europe.

For this deployment, they are running tricked-out SIG Sauer MCX carbines, taking advantage of the .300 Blackout round for optimum performance from a short suppressed barrel. Although fire support is mostly provided via loitering munitions, a marksman armed with a modified rifle and a rifleman with a D.60 magazine allows for a limited amount of direct fire if the situation demands it.

That’s the lore side covered, let’s talk about the actual figures. This set includes six operators wearing jeans and softshell jackets, with a few fighters wearing kneepads based on personal preference (versions without the kneepads are also included if you prefer the entirely non-tactical look). We wanted these guys to approach the grey man look, the visual of the cool, calm and collected operator doing covert things in an urban environment. Operating from a vehicle also meant we only gave them the bare essentials of tactical equipment on display – a lightweight chest rig. This means that in the event of a team needing to go to ground, it wouldn’t take much to ditch the overt gear and attempt to blend in. Well, blend in as much as a small group of guys all wearing jeans and softshells can.

Something to note is that all the head options include the same set of high-end eyewear. The augmented reality eyewear is a key part of this small but elite team. They were heavily inspired by the Cross Com system of the Ghost Recon games (hence the single blue lens of each set of glasses) and seemed ideal to show their connection to other assets in the area.

The team is equipped with various lengths of the suppressed SIG MCX carbine, all equipped with various close-range optics, lights and laser units. Two specialists in the team have their own more modified variants of the basic rifle. The marksman is armed with a SIC MCX with a longer ranger build, a variable optic allowing for conventional precision fire. For an additional weight of fire, the team has an automatic rifleman equipped with a Magpul D.60 drum mag – although not as powerful as a true belt-fed or with quite the same rate of fire, the higher amount of ammo on tap should still provide useful when breaking contact while still allowing ammo to be shared among the team. In addition to the visible weapons, we consider all the figures to be armed with sidearms, just hidden under their softshells to allow for lower-profile operations if required.

The final bit of high tech we really wanted for these guys was to bring loitering munitions to the tabletop. As something that has become a key part of the modern battlefield, it made sense that by 2030 these devices would be more readily available for teams such as Raptor. We went with a smaller Switchable as inspiration, and three figures in the set have the launch tube. In addition, we can assume the team would have more launchers in their transports, utilising them during the final approach both as reconnaissance devices and to deliver warheads on foreheads if needed.

This month’s Hydra pack includes 7 head options, letting you decide if you want your figures with watch caps or baseball caps or if the team is wearing a headset for communications. If you want a more generic force, we have included an additional head with a mask over their face, ideal if you want to bulk out your force with a few more additional figures.

If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “Gunslinger 2030 Tier” or higher will get 6 unique poses in total (as well as 3 additional bodies without the kneepads and 7 separate heads).

The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above, we have a partnership with Desk-Ops.de – Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU (although shipping worldwide). In December, this month’s release will be joining the other sets currently available via POD on his website, letting you get your hands on these figures with the only issue being having to wait for the mail.

With Gunslinger V2 we are aiming for a faster turn around to releasing these figures to the general public. If you miss them this month, they will be up on the Flytrap Digital My Mini Factory next month.

This month’s post was a little delayed but I hope you all enjoy it – Raptor has been a fun team to develop, with a slightly different feel to either of the groups we’ve done before. We’re also going to be taking another turn next month when we cover the urban warfare specialists from Kojoti. Expect a whole lot of Close Quarters Firepower.

I am pleased to announce the sixth release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release concludes Phase 2, finishing off the Kojoti range with a Secruity team designed for sentry duty or expanding your rifle teams. It also includes our second character team, the High Risk Contractors. This release has been very exciting to work from, and we’re so happy to be able to show off what we’ve been working on for this month.

The final two releases of the Kojoti phase are all based on the narrative we’ve been writing for the Kojoti arc (with an actual narrative document covering it coming soon). The arrival of Alexander Wallace in theatre as part of last month’s release has caused Team Chernoborg to escalate its extra-curricular activities – although good news for those paying for these extra raids, bad news for those corporations on the other end of it.

This will all come to a head when Team Chernoborg finds itself under attack in its home base by a force that collectors of the first Gunslinger range might recognise. More details on this soon but for now, we thought we should give you the figures you’ll need.

It’s just before dawn when you and your boys are awoken by the sound of the gates to your fortified compound, way before your shift is due to start. Outside you hear the sound of gunfire, the pops of suppressed small arms mixed in with the larger barks of the heavy machine guns guns. In the haze and confusion, you and your team grab your rifles, throw on your vests if you can find them and move out. Someone shouts about helicopters on the roof – it’s probably bullshit but one of the senior Copors tells you to get your ass in gear and go sweep up the stairs to damaged and abandoned upper floors of the admin building.

For the Kojoti Security team, we decided to assemble a set of figures both to fit the role of sentries/guards/obstacles to be brutally stabbed in the back by your opponent’s stealthy operatives but also to be able to expand your existing force with a few more riflemen. Thanks to our inspiration we had a lot of examples to pull ideas from for these less well-equipped figures, so much in fact that Anton sculpted an extra rifleman to build up the pack.

That said, this is a security team – if we didn’t go hard on the theme, we wouldn’t be doing our jobs. For this reason, two of the figures are in an advanced state of undress, perfect to sell the narrative of troops defending a base under attack, jumping into combat from a state of unreadiness. Topless man on the right has grabbed his AK from where he was hanging out and showing his guns while Calvin Klien in the centre represents the impact of a large Eastern European man who, having been interrupted from his shower, has just stepped out of the water, strapped on the essentials (vest, boots, underwear, helmet), grabbed his PKP and set out with his war-face on ready to defend the base.

The pack also includes six heads, compatible with any other body that supports the HYDRA system. These heads are ideal for mixing in with previous Kojoti releases, letting you make your force look truly unique with the variety of heads for your scruffy ea

High Risk Contractors have been called many things. Crazy, suicidal, adrenaline junkies lusting after their next fix. For many people who prove themselves worthy of purchasing the distinctive custom high-tech bullet-resistant masks and matching suits of armour, these labels are 100% accurate. However, these labels can’t distract from the fact that these former soldiers are among the highest-paid contractors on the planet, or overshadow the list of exploits these heavily armoured psychopaths have managed. From being deployed en-masse to assist in the confiscation and decommissioning of Russian nuclear devices during the Collapse to smaller operations where pairs and trios of High Risk Contractors have managed to hold off vastly superior forces, these operatives are in high demand in the corporate sector among those groups able to afford the cost of hiring such highly effective assets.

Since I started Ultramodern Wargaming, there have been a few sets I’ve always wanted to get my hands on and put on my tabletop. Thanks to the release of the High Risk Contractors, I can finally tick one of them off.

Taking the inspiration from the early 2010s, we have updated the concept for 2030, outfitting the squad with a next-generation assault rifle. Additionally, each member is equipped with tools specific for their role – Taylor with a slung M320 and wrapped in 40mm shells, McCauley with a shotgun and slap charges, Rodriguez with a rescue saw and other hard breaching gear, and finally Ilsa with all the equipment a medic may need

Of course, we can’t have a release without the files being pre-supported so you can all starting as fast as possible. Once again Dan from Desk-Ops.de performed sterling work getting these figures prepared and test printed to make sure all the figures are good to go.

Speaking of Dan’s work, he has also been preparing a rescale of the entire Gunslinger range to make sure we are compatible with the market and show off Anton’s sculpting to the best it can be. We’ve settled on a scale that is 105% of the original releases. Going forward into Gunslinger V2, all figures will be released natively at the new scale, but if you wish to update your existing sets, you can scale up in your preferred slicer and take

If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the new “Gunslinger 2030 Tier” or higher will get 11 figures in total (as well as 10 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above, we have a partnership with Desk-Ops.de – Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU (although shipping worldwide). In December, this month’s release will be joining the other sets currently available via POD on his website, letting you get your hands on these figures with the only issue being having to wait for the mail.

Gunslinger | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Linktree. Make your link do more.

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We have a few things planned out for the rest of this month (alongside a break for Christmas) but don’t worry, we’ll be performing a deep dive on each the sets we haven’t covered so far. For now though, don’t forget to check out the Linktree above for all the places you can find Gunslinger online – we have pages on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, each one providing sneak peeks as to what is coming next, as well as some more shots of these figures in action.

Come January, we’ll be launching Gunslinger V2 – the next evolution in what we can provide to our Patrons.

Well, the title has given away the big news.

Gunslinger is changing for the better but first we need to talk about the Patreon for this month.

As an introductory offer for the next iteration of Gunslinger (more details below) we’re offering this month’s membership at a new lower rate but still with the same 10 figures release as previous months. This month you’ll be getting six Kojoti Security figures searching for intruders, and a brand new Character team introducing you all to the High Risk Contractors. Fans of a certain series of games will probably recognise the facemasks and high-collared body armour, but for hobbyists everywhere, this team will give you the perfect centre-piece for your table, four hardcore nutcases armed to the teeth and ready to go to war.

“Some Jobs are best done in the dark. That’s not our style.”

Taylor – High Risk Contractor

To take advantage of this offer and see the future of Gunslinger early, join up on the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory/posts. Figures will be out just before Christmas, perfect for giving you a new force in the new year.

It’s been a very exciting past few months here at Gunslinger. We’ve released over 54 figures via Patreon, started creating and detailing the fictional world of 2030 with our first two factions, launched our first Kickstarter project (which has already slammed through the funding goals) and gained a great set of Patrons. We’ve managed to launch into a saturated market and make a reasonable impression.

However, a vital part of Gunslinger is operating in a sustainable way that doesn’t negatively affect all of us involved – Anton is the sole sculptor at Flytrap for all of its projects, while Dan, Bing and myself have day jobs and other commitments to maintain (such as Desk-Ops and this very blog). Gunslinger is but one of many projects Flytrap Digital is working on – between the SOG Kickstarter, WARPOD and Phase 3 of Kojoti, there will be roughly 50 models being released in December, all sculpted by Anton. While the Patreon mostly pays for itself, Flytrap’s ability to produce Kickstarters such as DROPTROOPER and SOG helps the company (and more importantly the people running it) to keep on top of things and plan ahead, especially in such turbulent times.

After seeing the impact of the last few months, the team at Flytrap has realised the plan for Gunslinger needs adjusting to make sure we can keep bringing you the quality of figures we’ve promised since the start while still allowing us to feel fresh and excited for the project, rather than slogging through for the sake of a plan formed months ago or constantly worrying about its future.

The Plan

From January 2024 we are retiring the existing Gunslinger release model and moving forward with a new one. This involves switching to a lower price point ($9.50 a month) and producing six figures a month (rather than the current 10+) with a new theme for each release (rather than sticking to one theme for three months).

This change of plan provides a few major benefits for you, our customers:

1. We can work much more sustainably each month, allowing for greater focus, iteration and testing on each figure released to minimise issues for the customer once the figures are out. It’s more time for us to double-check the figures are fully printable, work out any minor tweaks and prepare sets that are the best they can be.
2. Rather than being locked to a particular theme for a quarter, we can vary our releases to deliver more interesting and unique teams for our setting and your tabletop. If a theme is not to your liking, you won’t have long to wait before a new and exciting set is on it’s way
3. We are also able to work faster, with the aim of soon being able to preview next month’s release before Patrons are charged on the first of the month, making sure that you know what you’re getting when you hand your money over.

There are a few key areas we are not changing:

1. The Core Tenants of Gunslinger mentioned in the initial mission statement are still in effect
   • 80% Realistic, 20% Cinematic, 100% Playable
   • Onwards and Upwards
   • Operate with Integrity
2. The HYRDRA system will continue, with each month giving you a set of heads that are compatible with any models going both forward and back in the catalogue.
3. Every figure released is designed to be a cinematic and exciting piece, working both at 28mm on your tabletop or rescaled to larger sizes such 54mm for your desk or display case.

This is an opportunity to re-focus our output on one of our unique points – tying the unique and exciting figures in tightly to the setting of Gunslinger 2030. Each set will provide an insight into the ever-evolving world, joining one of the many narrative threads we have planned to push it forward, connecting each and every release and giving them a purpose in the overall setting. If you don’t wish to use our setting in your games, our new figures are based off units in the real world and so are ideal for many different game types, including some outside of the traditional ultramodern setting. We’ll also be including a generic head in each set if you want to make the force your own, as well as information on some of our inspirations to help you get them to the tabletop.

Not Only Patreon

This change in model will also allow us to expand our Gunslinger releases. As much as we have enjoyed releasing Black Sector’s Global Interdiction Group and Kojoti’s Team Chernobog, we have realised that Patreon is not the right place to release such large sets sustainably. However, we would love to return to releasing these larger forces at some point, utilising Kickstarter to run a full campaign to allow us time to do these sets properly, without having to rush our development process.

Additonally, we’re aiming to supplement the Patreon with some smaller releases via MyMiniFactory. From specific characters from the setting of Gunslinger 2030 to packs designed to supplement previous releases (Black Sector does need some carbine-equipped breachers), these releases will be an ideal entry point to the world of Gunslinger 2030, as well as providing some useful figures for a whole host of other games.

The First Quarter

As a taster of what we have in store for you in the next phase of Gunslinger, these are the first three teams we are in the process of developing:

• January will see the introduction of a new faction, Raptor Diagnostics, in the form of one of their Field Operations Teams deployed to Syria, the same region as Kojoti Team Chernobog. While protecting their clients, these low visibility operators take advantage of the latest equipment to keep themselves aware of their environments when operating in hostile urban territory, while also carrying advanced weapon systems to spot and engage targets from the air at a moment’s notice.
• February will show what else Kojoti are up to in Syria using the blowback from some events coming up in this month’s set. While Team Chernobog are rolling around the open desert in pickup trucks taking part in large-scale operations, other teams are working in the dense urban sprawl of Damascus, hunting down opponents of the regime along with targets of opportunity for other clients. For this task, Team Domovoy has formed specialised units of the Kojoti Kill Teams, armed with weapon systems designed for fighting room to room as well as having tools to assist in pushing through walls as if they don’t exist to hunt down their prey. What these teams may lack in finesse, they make up for in aggression, ideally suited for room-to-room fighting.
• March opens up an entirely new narrative thread in the Gunslinger 2030 setting, taking us away from the Middle East and a bit closer to the USA. A former US Marine Colonel has returned to his homeland after finishing his military career. With the local economy on the rise due to worldwide economic shifts, he is taken aback by the control of local criminal elements and pledges to take the fight to them. This involves hiring former allies, veteran special forces soldiers from both the US and abroad to function as a mercenary army, armed and equipped with some of the mountain of surplus the US DoD has lying around in 2030. This is Contiki, and Team Arachnid will be your first introduction to a passion project that Anton has been conjuring up for literally years, even back in the physically sculpted days. It will also be a chance for us to bring some new details to the range that I don’t think we’ve seen elsewhere, all aiming to make this team feel like the varied group of individuals that it is in the world of Gunslinger 2030.

Beyond those months, we are already thinking of where Gunslinger can go next. The world of 2030 is not short on conflict zones – we’ve touched upon the collapse of the Russian Federation in our details of the Burya-156 team, but there are other stories to tell, and other factions to detail. World Powers utilise proxy forces and covert actors to make up for their declining Military budgets, while criminal groups and extra-national organisations establish themselves in this new world by taking advantage of resources once out of their reach. Conflict zones will be worldwide, even stretching to the most isolated continent, as increasing shortages and the worsening climatic conditions sees countries re-evaluating international agreements.

This update should hopefully give you a sneak peek into what’s coming up next for Gunslinger. We’ve learnt a lot over the first 6 months, and we’re excited at going into 2024 with a new plan, some great ideas for sets and some other things in the lab as well. From all of us at Flytrap, we hope you’ll come with us on the Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory. For just $9.50 a month, you can join in and see all the fantastic sets with have in the pipeline, as well as getting the December set for a great price.

Plus, if you like clanky robots doing bizarre and frankly worrying things, the patreon also includes a level that grants access to both Gunslinger AND WARPOD. These guys are Anton’s passion project that he’s been working hard on to make a range packed full of charm (and deadly high explosives). From the brave defenders of Cable Drift (pictured above) to the Warpod Rotorcan, each set is ideal for sitting down, painting up and enjoying all the little details.

That’s all for now, see you later this month for the arrival of Kojoti Phase 3!

I’m pleased to announce that Gunslinger has launched its latest project onto Kickstarter earlier today and it is already funded! Gunslinger SOG “Across the Fence” takes the Gunslinger ethos and brings it back to the Vietnam War, rolling out a uniquely detailed and posed range ideal for both wargaming and display.

“Across the Fence” focuses on the work of MACV-SOG, operating along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Deploying in small groups into the depths of the jungle, SOG teams played cat and mouse against the dedicated hunters of the Trường Sơn Hunter-Killer Teams. I’ve included some details below, as well as some of the fantastic figures painted by Bing Lim.

To represent MACV-SOG Recon teams we have chosen late ‘67 as the inspiration, when the unit first received the shortened XM-177 (CAR-15) carbine. The ten-model range comprises commandos from both the US and the Indigenous groups armed with the new carbine alongside more specialised weapons such as Type-56 assault rifles, RPD machine guns and an array of grenade launchers, LAWs and grenades. All team members are dressed for venturing into the jungle, laden down with all the equipment and gear they may need for extended patrols.

Future stretch goals will see this range expanded to include operatives equipped with an arsenal more commonly found pre-1967 (including the Swedish-K, the Thompson, the Sterling, and the M1 carbine among others.) 

Kickstarter Description

To represent the Trường Sơn Hunter-Killer teams we have chosen to represent commandos armed with Type-56 assault rifles, the ubiquitous SKS rifle, RPD machine guns and the B41 rocket-propelled grenade launcher, along with an assortment of Chicom grenades and other equipment commonly found in the arsenal of the PAVN (Peoples Army of Vietnam) forces. Future stretch goals will see this range expanded to include commandos armed with a wider array of weapons (Such as the PPSH, the MAT-49, the SVD, and the Mauser sniper rifle among others.) 

The Trường Sơn Hunter-Killer team comprises a twelve-model unit – it is split into three-cells of three-men in PAVN uniforms/equipment and a three-man cell of MFVC (Main Force Viet Cong) who would commonly accompany the northern commandos to aid in the training of, and lend their expertise with regards to local and regional knowledge and the general lay of the land.

Kickstarter Description

If you want to join in and start helping to crank through those stretch goals, you can join the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flytrapfactory/gunslinger-sog. Additionally, if you join within the first 24 hours of launch (aka before 5 pm GMT on the 16th of November 2023) you’ll be able to get the entire collection for a significant saving.

I am pleased to announce the fifth release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release continues Phase 2, expanding Kojoti with two new teams, a whole host of special weapons AND a brand new Character to add to the world of Gunslinger.

Before we get into it, a major programming note – at the time of writing, we are less than 12 hours out from the launch of the first Gunslinger Kickstarter. Gunslinger SOG “Across The Fence” is our first foray into the historical realm with Gunslinger, with Vietnam being of particular interest and passion to Anton. This first set of 22 figures (with more in the stretch goals) is going to be something pretty special so I’m very excited to see how it goes and how many extras we can unlock.

If you’re interested in getting into the Kickstarter ASAP, then you can find the pre-launch page at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flytrapfactory/gunslinger-sog. The project will launch at 0600hrs NZDT (GMT+12) Friday 17th November and run for 21 days, with an early bird offer for the first 24 hours.

Due to the nature of Kojoti and specifically Team Chernobog’s current mission (more details on that in the last Deep Dive), the first release was very heavy on AK platforms to give you plenty of basic foot soldiers to fill your force with. This time though, we’re adding the additional elements needed for Kojoti to achieve its objectives, both in terms of weapon systems and force multipliers.

Kojoti Support Team

While the bulk of the force absorbs most of the incoming fire, Meco Support teams get into position to bring Kojoti’s firepower to bear. RPG teams come forth to engage and destroy fixed enemy positions or light armour, while a burst of PKM fire will keep the opposing force’s heads down as the close assault team moves in for the kill. Away from the roar of the gunfight, members of the Copor often find weak points in the enemy’s defences and exploit them – either through modern electronic warfare or through the classic approach of 7.62×54mmR through something vital.

This set is all about giving your force the ability to reach out and touch your opponent. The star of the show is the RPG-7 team. This venerable weapon has had an optic mounted to assist with aiming, in addition to the stern presence of his loader and team leader (a figure ideal for a variety of purposes). A Meco with a PKM provides plenty of automatic firepower while posed to advance aggressively in the fight. The Copor in this pack are a pair of figures ideal to be stalking your opposition around the board – a spotter with communications equipment and a suppressed AK is the ideal backup for a figure armed with an SVD, his Viper Hood helping to break up his outline when in position to engage.

Kojoti Specialist Team

It takes a strong leader to control a force of Kojoti, and Team Chernobog is led by one such man. Former British Army Ranger Alexander Wallace, dishonourably discharged after events during the Balkans Intervention of 2027, joined Kojoti as a highly prized intelligence operator and commander. To assist him, a Serbian national by the name of Dragan Ilić, formerly of the Serbian 82nd River Underwater Demolition Company. These two have been responsible for Chernobog’s success, both in their legitimate contract and in several extra activities against Western assets in the region.

Every force needs its leaders and in the Specialists set we have included two of them – both in uniform and outside of it. Alexander Wallace is designed to exist in the same realm of Character models as Catherine Jensen, depicted here in civilian hiking clothing with his combat equipment on top (making him ideal for other uses). For more Kojoti-specific forces, we’ve included a Kojoti Team Leader with mobile device in hand, ideal for commanding your force or deploying force multipliers as fire support. Two figures armed with GM94s (one a Meco, the other a Copor) provide you with grenade launchers for the force (as well as a devastating room clearance weapon) while the final Copor figure provides a more highly trained form of suppressive fire from a PKP mounting the PKA-AS to backup his teammates.

This month we’ve included 9 heads split across two packs (the marksman with the SVD wasn’t able to have a separate head added due to the hood). These heads expand the basic set giving you a mix of bare heads and helmeted ones to let you add unmatched variety to both the Kojoti force and even across other Gunslinger 2030 sets we have released/in the pipeline. We try to have a mix of heads suitable for the faceless masses as well as more characterful ones to help your force feel as unique as possible.

Of course, we can’t have a release without the files being pre-supported and ready to go. Once again Dan from Desk-Ops.de performed sterling work getting these figures prepared and test printed to make sure all the figures are good to go. You can see above the test figures he has printed off (as well as some additional pieces for playing around with mixing heads) so standby for some painted examples coming when we get some time!

If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 10 figures in total (as well as 9 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

These figures will not be on My MiniFactory until the phase is complete, so joining Patreon is your best bet for getting your start with Kojoti. However, we do currently have the whole of Phase 1 online there. Additionally, for the next 12 Days, the Black Friday Sale will give you 30% off everything in the store if you use the code “BLACKFRIDAY23”. The perfect time to build your Black Sector force!

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above, we have a partnership with Desk-Ops.de – Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU (although shipping worldwide). In December, this month’s release will be joining the other sets currently available via POD on his website, letting you get your hands on these figures with the only issue being having to wait for the mail.

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Later this month we’ll be releasing a Deep Dive revealing some more secrets behind these figures and potentially dropping some hints about next month’s releases. For now though, don’t forget to check out the Linktree above for all the places you can find Gunslinger online – we have pages on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, each one providing sneak peeks as to what is coming next, as well as some more shots of these figures in action.

Before the end of the year, we have one more element of the Kojoti forces to release, alongside a Character Team that I have been excitedly waiting for since the project began. I’ll see you all later this month for the next update, and enjoy the figures!

Also don’t forget to check out the Gunslinger SOG Kickstarter when it launches tomorrow! Sign up here to get your reminder and expand your Gunslinger collection into the jungles of Vietnam!

This month saw the launch of a brand new faction in the Gunslinger world, stepping away from the ordered and professional operators of Black Sector’s Global Interdiction Group and heading in a slightly more ragged direction. Kojoti is a range that both Anton and myself got really excited about when we first came up with the idea (and then Dan joined in when he got the first model to support), and after seeing the eventual result, it’s once again a release we’re proud to put out there.

And speaking of being proud, I need to start by talking about the painted figures you’ll be seeing in this article. They were painted up and photographed by Dan over at Desk-Ops, the man responsible for both supporting the figures Patrons receive each month and running the exclusive Print-On-Demand service. You can see he’s absolutely nailed the look of these guys, not to mention actually getting to use physical figures rather than renders shows off exactly what these figures can look like.

Before we delve into Kojoti and the figures, let’s talk a bit about the background to the next few releases as it’s currently planned. One thing that I personally get very excited about when designing these ranges is establishing some narrative to them. We’re not just building generic teams, we’re giving you a specific force in the Gunslinger setting (that also just happens to work for more current situations if you’re not willing to join us in 2030).

For the next three releases, we’re taking you through an arc set in the Iraq/Syria/Jordan border. I’m sure many people’s collections are focused on the Middle East/North Africa region, so this area made sense to hit pretty early on. We’ve got a set of three forces that, combined together, will let you play out a specific theatre in the Gunslinger timeline, as well as providing a selection of models and heads for your stockpile.

After the collapse of their major defence partner in 2027, the Syrian Government was forced to look for alternative support elsewhere, becoming one of the first nations to heavily invest in the new wave of Private Military Companies. Kojoti were quick to take over the protection of various mining and oil produciton concerns in the southern regions of the country, with their base at Tadmur/Palmyra.

However, site protection was not the only role for which Kojoti had been procured. Unoffically, Kojoti would be responsible for forming flying columns in light armoured vehicles and modified civilian trucks to strike into regions of Syria still not controlled by the Government, such as heading south towards the Jordanian border or operating on the northern bank of the Tigris. Particularly, Kojoti’s actions were directed at foreign non-Govermental assets in the region as well as striking settlements forming self-defence groups to prevent them forming a threat to the regime’s control.

Team Chernobog is one of these unofficial units – under the command of a disgraced former British Army officer Alexander Wallace, this particular team has found itself operating on the wrong side of the Syrian border in both Jordan and Iraq, specifically targetting remote covert research locations run by several major Western corporations. The results of these raids is mostly facilty destruction however ContractWatch believes that Kojoti might be using these actions to cover industrial espionage actions. It is only a matter of time before the corporate entities being hit in these attacks respond to prevent this operation.

– ContractWatch Bulletin, 2030

This background lays down the background for where we’re going in the next few releases, as well as revealing the character figure coming next month with the Kojoti specialists. It should hopefully inspire images of these lowlifes rushing through the desert, overruning remote research outspots and FOBs before disappearing back into the desert, the howls of the coyotes echoing as they drive away.

With the background covered, let’s talk about the figures themselves and Kojoti. I think the inspiration for these guys is pretty obvious, especially if you’ve been watching the news for the last year. A particular Russian PMC seems to have cornered the market in the ragged look and by looking at reference photos of their activities worldwide, we were able to get plenty of inspiration for the rough look that we were aiming for.

A problem with covering ultramodern troops is that a lot of different groups now look basically the same apart from the weapons, thanks to the saturation of high-cut helmets and lightweight plate carriers (for good reason). So one of the big things we had to nail to how we could make these guys stand out from the Black Sector figures. The helmet design was the first stage, giving these guys the low-cut look of the TOR M or the Chinese-made MICH copies that Wagner (and Wagner’s former boss) have been pictured wearing. The second was to make them look as ragged as possible. An advantage of 3D sculpted figures is that, with a core body and assets already assembled, Anton is able to spend more time getting the pose and the little details nailed down. This included adjusting elements of clothing – removing sleeves, swapping in kneepads for a few of the guys or even using a variety of footwear and trousers, the sort of equipment even a member of the Meco might choose to get their own version of for their own comfort. We had to have a limit on how varied they were (otherwise they no longer look like a consistent force) but with a few varied parts alongside the core helmet and vest, it ties the release together into a cohesive force. This variety did come with a cost, however – with the time required for each figure, we weren’t able to hit the heights of the 6 figure packs of Black Sector. On the other hand, Anton had far too much fun making heads for this release, hence we were able to include a unique one for each pose.

The same comes when we talk about the Meco (the Meat) and Copor (the Pack) figures. This was always a key feature of the range from the initial concept, something pulled from reality while also adding some visual variety to the team. The main thing I wanted was to not make this split quite as varied as it is in real life – ideally both the Meco and Copor should be able to provide the same capabilities, even if we all know that the Copor are more than happy to use the more numerous Meco to absorb the firepower. The main way we were able to show this variety was down to both the clothing and the weapon systems. We’ll discuss the weapons more below but the main thing was the Copor don’t have quite the same ragged look as the Meco – the pair of Copor in this release were left to last as Anton was having too much fun with making the grunts look as crusty as possible. We’ll see more of the Copor next month (as you might guess, the Specialist pack will feature them heavily) but for now, they work well among the lower

With the overall picture out of the way, let’s discuss the two packs we included in month 1 of Kojoti. The first release of any range has to give you the basics, enough fighters to build the basics of the squad alongside enough fun stuff to give a flavour of the range. With these first two teams, we went for a Meco-heavy list, both sets including a single Copor to lead the team and then a set of the lower-tier guys to provide the firepower.

The Rifle Team was the first set Anton got to work on, and these guys were really the “safe” end of what we wanted for the Meco – hell, these guys even have sleeves for the most part! As you might expect, the Century series AKs are the core of the force, with a mixture of attachments for the varied look (even if the red dot one of them is rolling is a touch on the cheap side). The Rifle team seemed a good position for us to include the RPK, giving them a touch more firepower without touching figures that would be better suited for the later Fire Support release. Giving a Meco a plain RPK and the Copor a slightly more upmarket variant with all the furniture means you can pick the exact style of force you want. The posing was also an important thing to get the feel for this set – in combat, keeping low to make the best use of cover, putting firepower down for the rest of the force.

For The Assault Team, it would have been easy to say “slap them with some SMGs and shotguns, call it a day”. However, in the fiction of what these guys are up to, I felt that the close-quarters tools were actually not really appropriate for this team – these guys will need to able to engage the opposition at a reasonable range in the semi-open desert before closing in to finish off (SMGs and shotguns are specialist gear for a reason). To assist with this, the Close Assault team gets all the toys for kicking in doors and blowing things up. Most of the opposition in the region are not exactly rolling in armoured vehicles, so disposable AT launchers that two of the team are carrying are more likely to be used to engage machine gun positions or strong points. Primary weapons are mostly AKs but we added some more variety – a stockless version for some real close-in-action, an AK-15 for the slightly better-equipped Meco and then one with all the trimmings for the Copor leading the team. When placed together, they are ideal for sweeping and clearing.

If you’d like a set of these for yourself, you have until the end of the month to sign up and get them via the Flytrap Digital Patreon, available at the Gunslinger level or above. This gets you access to a Dropbox link that is live up until the release of the next set of figures (although access to them can always be requested from the Flytrap team). It also gives you access to the Flytrap Digital Discord, the best place to get hold of sneak peeks before the rest of the world gets eyes on them.

Your next chance to get hold of them will be via our Print on Demand partner Desk-Ops releases them early next month. This is ideal if you don’t have a printer or just really want to get your hands on them. They are being sold as a complete team, as well as a selection of heads. Dan’s figure quality is fantastic, so I definitely recommend them to get your hands on them.

If you miss out on that (or want the STLs to print for yourself, then they will be available from the Flytrap Digital’s My Mini Factory at the end of the quarter. In terms of purchasing them, the figures on MMF will be available as either individual teams or as a bundle (with a little bit of a discount compared to buying them all separately).

Next month we’ll see the next set of Kojoti releases, providing you with more firepower and more Specialists to lead. We’ll get to meet the mysterious Mr Wallace, and perhaps hear a little bit about what’s about to happen to him after such a successful operation. It might involve a set of figures that I am very excited about.

I am pleased to announce the fourth release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release kicks off Phase 2, bringing the first two packs of this new faction, the mysterious group known as Kojoti.

Disclosure time! This post is part of my work with Gunslinger. As one of the four people who run that project, I’ve played a pretty major part in the creation of these figures, doing the initial spec and pack layouts through to delivering the Gunslinger social media posts over on Facebook and Instagram.

Now, let’s get to the good stuff. Beginning with, who the heck is Kojoti?

The private military company Kojoti (translated from Serbian for Coyote) is a internationally recognised provider of personal security and military training. Originally founded in Serbia by a local millionaire with ties to the government in the mid 2000s, Kojoti grew from providing armoured car guards and supermarket loss prevention specialists in the Balkans into a worldwide security operation, used by several major multi-nationals to perform risk management and mitigation in foreign markets.

In addition to it’s public persona, Kojoti is primarily a provider of deniable private military forces around the world for it’s customers. While other groups are a more subtle touch, Kojoti can provide larger scale capabilities both for training other proxy forces and delivering kinetic operations.

From interrogation of captured contractors, a key part of Kojoti’s recruitment is a process that is referred to as The Slaughterhouse. New recruits to Kojoti have been know to be recruited from various prison systems around the world, with a primary focus on those with former military experience or a history of violent organised crime. These new recruits are referred to as “Месо” or Meat – after minimal training, they are equipped with lower spec equipment (older pattern NVGs and body armour, weaponry missing key force multipliers such as optics or aiming devices). Месо are then used as disposable assets, only slightly more useful than locally hired forces they may find themselves allied with. Life expectancy as a member of the Meco is low – between Kojoti’s aggressive tactics, hazing of new members and an expectation to prove yourself, it is very common for the Meco to absorb large numbers of casualties even in a successful operation.

Only once a member of the Meco has survived long enough, or caught the attention of a senior figure in Kojoti, are they move up in the company to join the regular troops (also referred to as the Čopor. At this stage they are issued with latest equipment and then sorted into their roles. The Čopor can be found in several different arrangements – usually leading and controlling the Meco, but occasionally into smaller but more highly trained groups for special tasks.

Especially skilled individuals may find themselves in Intelligence roles, running local assets to assist the Kojoti. Over the last few years, some national intelligence agencies have found themselves encountering more and more of these lone coyotes, even in locations that the company has not technically declared itself to be working in.

We’ll cover some more details on Team Chernobog (this specific unit) in the Deep Dive on the 25th but as you can see, Kojoti is a group of incredibly dodgy folk. These guys are designed to be a real contrast to the Black Sector release, individualistic yet highly trained killers ready to cause havoc for the right price. You can see this in their mix of equipment – while each fighter has their own combination of kit, we tried to keep a few core things; everyone has body armour, everyone has plenty of mags, and similar platforms are used to minimise supply concerns while working away from traditional supply lines. Apart from that though, Anton got to go nuts with the clothing, shoes and head options, providing a force that looks ragged but cohesive.

We also decided to go with a different type of pose for the force – while Black Sector were pushing to the fight, the Kojoti guys are in the thick of it, trading shots while advancing or covering their teammates. This posing style is one we’ll continue into the rest of the range, with even the security team being a touch more jumpy than last time.

Meco Rifle Team

The core of any force is its riflemen, and among the Meco heavy forces, the bulk of its manpower will be armed with the humble AK platform. Three of this set are armed with assault rifles, a mixture of magazine styles (including the jungle mags) and other attachments depending on the operator’s choice (or probably more likely what he’s been given). There is also a Meco fighter equipped with a regular RPK for some portable firepower within the team, easily able to put down bursts of suppressive fire. However, the Čopor leading them is heavily armed with his own RPK, although modernised with an adjustable stock, optics and of course a drum mag.

Meco Assault Team

After the Rifle team has put the fire down, the Assault Team rushes in to push through any weak points and clear out the opposing positions. These guys have a mix of equipment, including multiple sets of breaching gear and disposable MRO launchers for neutralising light vehicles and strong points. Personal weapons for these guys are a variety of AKs, including one lucky Meco who has managed to kit his hands on an AK-15. The Čopor has his own heavily modified AK, complete with all the attachments you might need for close-quarters combat.

The observant among you may have noticed that we have included 10 different heads in the renders above and that’s because we’re including HYDRA packs 4 and 5 in this month’s releases. We’re not aiming to include this many heads every month (just one HYDRA pack will be the norm) but seeing as this is a ragged and individualistic force we thought it made sense to give you plenty of options from the off. As well as the various goggled/masked heads ideal for your mainline troops, we have some more characterful options… okay we have some more aggressively facial-haired options to just show how scrappy these guys are.

As always moving forward, these models have been supported and test printed by Dan from Desk-Ops.de, our print-on-demand partner and the third head of this project. As you can see they have printed rather nicely, with a few points and improvements we’ve learnt from the release of the first phase. We can also recommend printing them at larger scales as well, as they will be perfect for putting in your display cabinet.

Additionally, this new phase is going to really start showing off what you can do with the HYDRA system, with each release adding to your possible options when assembling your force. If you want to run Kojoti as a slightly more professional force (or just want to start scrapping at night), then the first three Hydra packs give you plenty of options. Seeing a Kojoti fighter with panoramic night vision though is a slight concern!

If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 10 figures in total (as well as 10 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

These figures will not be on My MiniFactory until the phase is complete, so joining Patreon is your best bet for getting your start with Kojoti.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above, we have a partnership with Desk-Ops.de – Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU (although shipping worldwide). From the start of November, this month’s release will be joining the other sets currently available via POD on his website, letting you get your hands on these figures without having to even struggle with replacing the FEP or doing any of the cleanup.

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Later this month we’ll be releasing a Deep Dive revealing some more secrets behind these figures and potentially talking about next month’s releases. For now though, don’t forget to check out the Linktree above for all the places you can find Gunslinger online – we have pages on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, each one providing sneak peeks as to what is coming next, as well as some more shots of these figures in action.

We’re very excited to be releasing this range, with the remaining packs in it featuring some cool pieces of kit and some designs I am very excited to see finally in tabletop form. I’ll see you all on the 25th for the next update, and enjoy the figures!

To celebrate the end of the first phase of Gunslinger, I sat down with Anton and Dan to talk through the Black Sector releases, talk about some behind the scenes and answer a few questions. It’s a big long boy, so you’ll definitely want to grab a drink or put it on in the background as we talk about all things operator, doggles and more!

You can find the video embedded below or on Youtube by clicking here!

I’m incredibly pleased to announce that Phase 1 of Gunslinger (the Black Sector Global Interdiction team) is now available to non-patrons! It’s been a mad rush to get here but now everyone can take a look at what we’ve been making with Gunslinger, especially those without 3D printers who have been waiting for a chance to get their hands on the toys.

Read on below to see what options you have for purchasing your own team of Black Sector operators.

Buying Print On Demand

If you want to buy the figures and don’t have access to your own 3D printer, Desk-Ops is our Print on Demand supplier. Dan, the guy who runs it and also supports our figures, is a perfectionist when it comes to printing and sending the figures safely, so you can rest assured of tip-top customer service from him. All the packs are available right now and at an introductory discount until 00:00 on Tuesday the 10th of October.

Buying STLs

If you have your own printer and want to get to work on assembling your own Black Sector team, all the releases are now available on the Flytrap Digital MyMiniFactory page. You can buy the packs individually or save a chunk of change and get the all-in bundle. All packs come with both unsupported and supported figures and the Chitubox file if you need to amend the supports. Additionally, all the packs with modular heads include access to all 15 heads from the first phase, letting you customise your troops exactly how you want to.

Additionally, for the next week, you can use the discount code “20SPLENTY” to get 20% off anything in the Flytrap Factory, so you can pick things up from both the Gunslinger range AND all the other items from ranges such as WARPOD, Caveman vs Wild and Netherworld’s Edge.

Joining The Patreon

If you like these figures and want to get your hands on the next set, the best (and cheapest way) to get hold of them is to join the Flytrap Digital Patreon at the Gunslinger tier or higher. This month is the ideal time to join as we are just about to begin work on the next faction Kojoti. If you sign up this month and support all the way through to December, then not only will you get 6 teams for half the cost of the end-of-phase bundle, but you’ll also get the Hazardous Duty Incentive with even more figures included (including some very exclusive pieces). Plus, you won’t have to wait until Christmas to get all your toys, you’ll be able to start printing them as soon as they arrive on the 15th of each month.

The Gunslinger tier is only $12.50 a month and the more people who back it monthly, the more figures we can release. Gunslinger is only just starting off and this next phase is not one to miss. Especially if you have a love for all things AK, a need for lots of heads with covered faces or just want some glorious OPFOR to fight. Watch this space for more details soon.

From everyone involved in Gunslinger (Anton, Kim, Dan and myself), we are very happy to have reached this first milestone. We have a lot of things in the works and can’t wait to see these figures in wider release, getting to the tabletops and painting trays of even more people. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far, and looking forward to see where this next release will take us!

Last month, we took a look at Part 2 of the Black Sector Global Interdiction Group releases, covering the Command and Support teams.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and this time we’re going to cover the final releases for this quarter, wrapping up the figures for Black Sector with the Security Team. However, it’s important to note that we also get to cover my favourite release in the range so far Burya-156, the first figures for a brand new faction Blockade and the first Character team.

(As an aside, you can thank Urban Scatter Gaming for the scatter propers in the header image)

Before the specifics, let’s talk about the Big Plan. Black Sector has really been the prototype for how Gunslinger is going to work going forward – three-month release cycles, two themed packs in month 1, two themed packs in month 2 and finally in month 3 a Security team for the theme and a Character team (to either be pitted against the theme or enhance it). This is the rough outline we’ll take for each quarter moving forward.

That said, we’re not tying ourselves to the exact makeup of each pack or even the same names – for example, future factions may replace a breacher element with something more suitable for their composition while Project Ubique releases will go for an entirely different setup to accommodate it’s own goals. What doesn’t change is the focus on getting playable figures in your hands, providing you with plenty of options to outfit your force.

This month, we also renamed the head packs to HYDRA Release. Not just because it’s a funny play on most of the packs including 5 heads (the traditional number of heads a Hyrdra starts with) but mostly because it shows a little bit of a change as to how we handle heads. True, each pack is designed for the range they are released alongside but honestly, the biggest bonus of moving to modular heads is providing the hobbyist more, letting you take our figures and create your own forces by combining different parts. Nothing should stop a Gunslinger from taking the Black Sector figures we’ve released and combining them with heads from a range we release in 12 months’ time. We’re also thinking about using this split to allows us to perhaps release some additional heads as their own HYDRA packs, as every piece expands what we can do with the figures we’ve created.

Finally, a big thing to mention is the addition of Dan from Desk-Ops to become the third part of Gunslinger’s team. Dan, as well as bringing on a third voice to the creative project, more importantly brings someone who can focus on making sure the final models are well supported and are going to print properly across a wide variety of machines. Getting someone else to take a look at the models on a technical level also helps to spot any mistakes or issues before the customer gets their hands on them, acting as a good sanity check, while Dan’s expertise help to catch a few things that went fucky between ZBrush and the scaled STL. He’s also been able to really knuckle down and do all the test models, spotting some potential weak points that needed adjusting to improve printability.

Dan has also been killing it on getting the rest of the models supported and ready for wider distribution. Supporting our patrons is the number 1 priority but personally, I’m also quite keen to get the figures out to the wider population, either by ala carte STL release on My Mini Factory or providing a Print-on-demand for those who don’t want to mess around with the messy job of 3D printing. The easier it is to get your hands on Gunslinger figures, the more people will get a chance to see what we’re doing with the releases and get them on the table.

The Black Sector half of this month’s release is the Security Team. We started discussing this particular element even back to the chat in the hotel bar just outside York, commenting on how few people release dedicated sentry figures despite how common stealthy operations feature in common media and how many people play solo games or dedicated systems such as 0200. Anton and I really wanted to make some sentries that look like the type of enemies you’d encounter in a Splinter Cell or Metal Gear Solid, to really evoke the feel of goons for your operators to sneak around or drag into the bushes. This meant we chose to go a bit past the non-combat figures that are already on the market and build up a few who push much harder into the vignette look, to really sell the idea that these guys aren’t just taking a pause, these are guys who have been pulling guard duty for a while.

Now, when the Security Team was released, there was a bit of a conversation – after all, for a project talking a lot about playable figures, the Security Team are very much focused on their role and for some people, these models may not hit the tabletop. As much as we can try, we’re not going to please everyone with every release – we definitely prioritise making the figures we want to make over pleasing everyone. That said, we will definitely endeavour in future to make sure that people know what the security team will entail before they spend money on it.

Despite this little controversy, these figures nailed the brief that Anton and I had discussed. We’re going to include the Security team in every range moving forward, with a few tweaks for them depending on the range they are included in.

The Security Team also has the final HYDRA pack for Black Sector, giving you some additional heads for your operators. My big priority for these guys was to add some more variety to the regular troopers, giving you goggles, glasses and a version of the head with the mask rolled down. Anton sneaked in the other two, giving you two heads for the more relaxed guard types – a balaclava and headset combo for the line troopers and one slightly more characterful head for your NCOs. These items will give you plenty of options for when you’re building your force, as well as expanding the general pool for Hydra releases.

The other half of the release was another piece of the range Anton and myself have been looking forward to. We’ve come up with plenty of ideas for cool figures that maybe wouldn’t really fill a whole 3 month range but are perfect to build as small squads. Even better, we’ve managed to find places to fit them in with the ranges, tying our releases further in with our lore. More importantly, some of these ideas let Anton really take the gloves off and get to dive in to go hard with the sculpting.

For Burya-156, the idea was to build a scenario using the Black Sector guys and deliver them an OPFOR. We could have gone with the Black Sector team leading a raid and kicking the doors in, but the addition of the Security Team set up something in the aftermath of a raid, our door kickers being jumped by someone meaner and nastier in the dark.

Blockade, the new faction, is an Eastern-based PMC that acts as a covert arm of the Russian state (as it stands in 2030). By acting as a naval security contractor on worldwide cargo ships, Blockade operatives can move around relatively freely before deploying on special operations utilising specialist weapon systems and state-of-the-art equipment.

We decided to drop down to only a four-man team – this meant that Anton could spend that extra time on each figure to make them really special, pushing the level of detail. We also decided that, with these guys and girls being named characters, we would go with fixed heads – in contrast to Jensen, whose head options meant she could be used for a selection of roles, this team is a specific group of individuals during a specific operation. More practically, it meant Anton could work pretty unrestrained, without having to worry about the constraint of finding space for the socket joint.

As you can see above, I broke out the moodboards to try and get a rough idea of what the team was going to be. Originally, the first image was inspired by a certain level from MW2. However, as that game is from 10 years ago, there was a need to update the equipment to the modern day/near future as well as specifying certain specific tweaks. These docs are definitely a starting point, an ideal rather than a hard and fast instruction. There are certain areas where I’ll bow to Anton’s specific skills (mostly poses) or limitations of the process (getting weapons from Nick, our weapon specialist, requires some planning in order to give him plenty of time to gather references and build the models. This is doubly hard with near-future equipment, hence why sadly we didn’t manage to include the SVCh rifle. Although it will be coming).

This process is also one with plenty of back and forth, as we work through each figure and collaborate. For example, the planning doc originally had everyone using the AS VAL rifle. However, thinking more about how Blockade are supposed to be in the near future with all the best kit, a rifle from the late 1980s felt out of place. This meant we got to have a deep dive into the sort of newer items that have been released or are on the horizon, the 2030 setting giving us a little more leeway. Luckily, Kalashnikov has developed the AMB-17 rifle, an updated rifle using the same subsonic rounds as the older VAL. It’s a much more advanced-looking rifle and a single image sent over chat had us in agreement to change it over. I think it definitely helps the team look and feel much more near future, as well as getting to play around with a cool-looking rifle.

The squad itself is a four-person team where all the poses are designed to both work together but also stand out strongly by themselves. They are also focused on selling the story of these covert warriors, having just emerged from the sea, dumped their rebreathers and are preparing to breach and clear. Each of them is a hardcore individual here to do a job, and so every element is there to show it off. They each have their own unique head sculpt designed to make them easily visible at a glance to work out who is who. Each of them is a strong pose, but it’s safe to say Valentina with her pistol and knife drawn is definitely leading the pack when it comes to being people’s favourite.

This is a special set for me personally – it’s the first that I’ve been involved in that went from idea to printable object and I’ve been there each step of the way. Getting to see a core concept adapt and evolve is awesome. I’ve also learnt a lot about what I need to do to get to this stage – providing references, giving Anton all the tools he needs to nail the visual and make a figure set that conjures up the feel that we’re going with with Gunslinger

Having reached the end of the quarter, there is another set of releases to talk about – that of the Hazardous Duty Incentive. We wanted a little something to tempt people to stick around on the Patreon, as well as rewarding those who continue to give us support month after month. For this reason, we’ve come up with effectively a loyalty reward system. At the end of each phase, we’ll prepare a bonus release just for those who stuck around month by month.

So, let’s see what everyone who was around for July, August and September are getting in the next few days.

First things first, we have a little something to expand on the core range itself. While Anton was building the Security Team, I commented that the sitting poses could be handy for anyone wanting to show Black Sector en route to the objective, perhaps sitting in the back of a Humvee or hanging off the side of a Little Bird. Well, Anton being Anton, that quickly spun off into creating a whole other set, with seated figures armed with a selection of weapons we’ve used in the range. These guys use the same modular heads as the rest of the range so are the perfect little add-on for force building. Not every release will be a transport-focused pack – sometimes we may release scenario figures suitable to the story we’re telling or may even some alternative sculpts. It all depends on what suits the range the most and what we think the patrons will enjoy as a little bonus.

The plan with this pack (and similar ones in the future) is that they will relatively quickly come to a general release. By sticking with the Patreon though, you will get them for free and much earlier the wider sale.

Second, we have a bonus HYDRA pack. This brings the heads Anton sculpted for Blockade to a modular format, letting you take them forward and play around with the rest of the Gunslinger range. No matter if it’s building a team of hero characters from Black Sector bodies or just doing alternative looks for Jensen, these four heads took plenty of work from Anton and I’m happy to see them being able to be used by Loyal Gunslingers for their crafting.

That said, these heads are going to be a little more carefully curated. Characters are a key part of our ideas for the Gunslinger range, and we want to have a little control over what these heads are used for. Additionally, there is always a little concern about assets disappearing into the ether and reappearing on other models outside of the Gunslinger. For this reason, there is going to be a major delay on these being released to the wider public as we’ll be holding them back for a special occasion.

Finally, we have what I think will be the most exclusive model in the Gunslinger range. From what was originally sent to me as a joke and a sculpting exercise is soon going to be a way of marking out your route through the Gunslinger. At the end of each quarter, you’ll receive a Micro-Tactical operator, designed after the phase it’s part of. These static one-piece figurines are designed to deploy to your desk or secure your display cabinet, letting you show off your role in keeping Gunslinger alive. Plus, they are pretty damn neat.

The only way to get these guys is going to be by receiving the Hazardous Duty Incentive pack after each phase. We have no intention of selling these on My Mini Factory later or via Print on Demand.

Overall, the Hazardous Duty Incentive is a focus on rewarding the people who support us every month. As much as we’re excited to get the figures out to a wider audience, at the end of the day the patrons keep the lights on and Anton sculpting every month. So for this reason, we’re going to focus on keeping them happy and incentivised to stick with us for as long as they want to.

If you’d like a set of these for yourself, today is the last day to sign up and get them via the Flytrap Digital Patreon, available at the Gunslinger level or above. r

If you miss out, then they will be available from the Flytrap Digital’s My Mini Factory from the 6th of October (a slight delay from the originally intended 4th due to some technical issues). This release will also see the first two months go up online as well, letting you pick up the whole Black Sector range and get printing them yourself. The plan is to release figures to MMF quarterly (both to save on admin time but also allow us to double-check for any potential issues within the smaller community), so if you want the figures immediately (and for the best price), it’s best to be a member of the Patreon and get them month by month. In terms of purchasing them, the figures on MMF will be available as either individual teams or as a bundle (with a little bit of a discount compared to buying them all seperately).

Additionally, Desk-Ops will be starting their Print on Demand offering on the 6th of October as well. All of the first three releases will be available on that date, giving you an opportunity to get your hands on these figures if you don’t have a 3D printer.

If you’ve enjoyed these deep dives, we actually have another information drop coming soon. Signals: A Gunslinger Retrospective is a series we’re going to run alongside the figures, getting together at the end of each phase to chat and talk over what we’ve released and what’s coming next. We ended up chatting for roughly 90 minutes (plus the faffing around beforehand) and I’ll be uploading it soon. I get to write about this stuff endlessly but hearing it straight from Dan and Anton’s mouth should help to show exactly what we’re up to.

Signals is also going to show off some information on the next quarter’s release, so if you want a sneak peek of what’s coming soon, this is the place to hear the early news. Otherwise, I’ll see you all next month – all ready for something distinctively gritty as we prepare to give Black Sector some OPFOR.

I am pleased to announce the third release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release ties up this quarter, bringing an end to the Black Sector Global Interdiction Group releases with a rather unusual set while also providing some OPFOR to go up against them.

This month also marks the end of what we internally have been referring to as our prototype period – we’ve worked through the initial teasing troubles, set up the processes we’ll use in the months going forward and are in the process of preparing to kick in the door of a whole new range. There are lots of exciting things planned and we wouldn’t have got here without the support of all the Patrons and those excited for all things Gunslinger.

Disclosure time! This post is part of my work with Gunslinger. As one of the the four people who run that project, I’ve played a pretty major part in the creation of these figures, doing the initial spec and pack layouts through to delivering the Gunslinger social media posts over on Facebook and Instagram.

In the last two months, the focus has been on giving you a set of figures ideal for the action on moments of all the wargames we play, letting you build a reasonable force with plenty of options. However, this final month is going to do two things – provide your force with alternative figures for a common situation in wargaming and introduce a whole new faction through a unique Character team.

Security Team

Ultramodern gaming is full of covert actions – nighttime raids, attacks on unaware positions in the rear or maybe even some undercover work in a non-permissible environment. Many of these actions require you to have a set of goons or guards ready to be avoided by your stealthy operatives or viciously stabbed in the back if you prefer my version of stealth. However, not many ranges provide you with figures to set up your board for these escapades. A Security pack will be included in each Gunslinger range, this should give you options to support these scenarios with a mixture of poses from being on patrol to taking a tactical pause for a smoko. The pack is also ideal for those interested in painting or assembling dioramas, giving you some more interesting poses to play around with. All six figures are equipped with all the gear you would expect from the Black Sector figures with the latest in plate carriers, tactical equipment and modified weapon systems to give you a high-tier enemy for your hero characters to attempt to evade.

In addition to the poses, the Security pack includes a new set of heads. The latest HYDRA Pack (as the head releases have been rebranded) includes 5 new heads to add to your collection, expanding out the basic Black Sector heads to include new variants (goggles, glasses and more) as well as a more characterful head to lead your team.

Of course, to go up against a team of sentries, you need the covert operatives themselves. That’s where our first Character Team comes in.

Blockade Burya-156 Team

Burya-156 is a team of four operatives belonging to a new faction in the Gunslinger setting. Blockade functions as a private military contractor with a focus on maritime security all over the world. However, this is a ruse. Instead, Blockade is an arm of the failed Russian Federation, performing covert operations all over the world. This pack models a team on a mission, having just dumped their bulky scuba equipment and collected their weapons to infiltrate a facility. The details show them to be highly trained and well equipped, with the AMB-17 integrally suppressed rifle as the weapon of choice for most of the team.

Each of the four operators (Valentina, Igor, Ilya and Sascha) have their own backgrounds in the lore. They are also unique figures, with their own head sculpts, and equipment to suit their role and poses that all tie together. Due to the design, they do not have separate heads so we could maximise the details and posing with the limitations a ball and socket joint adds.

In general, we’ll be including Character teams with each release. Sometimes, like this, they will be an opposition force, setting up a game for you to play with the figures we have released. Other times, Character teams will supplement the rest of the range they are included in, either helping to show their links to other factions in the world of Gunslinger or to expand their capabilities.

I’m also pleased to announce that Gunslinger has added an additional member to the team. Dan, the guy behind Desk-Ops.de and one-half of TTE has come on board to provide assistance with supporting the models produced. As you can see on one of the Burya guys printed at 54mm, there has been an improvement in the quality of the supports as well as the ease of removal. In fact, he has recorded a video of him removing them from some of the prints and you can see all it takes is the right resin and a careful hand with a knife.

Adding a third member to the team has provided us with a far better ability to both get the models supported and run through the QA process to make sure they are all ready to go on time. It also means that Anton gets to spend more time focused on sculpting up fantastic figures like the ones above.

If you want to get these figures yourself, they are available now at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 10 figures in total (as well as 5 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

After some delay as we sorted the process on our end, the first two releases for Black Sector will be up on My Mini Factory on the 4th of October. Additionally, if you miss out on backing the Patreon this month, the Black Sector Security Team and Burya-156 will join them just before we release the next set of figures on Patreon in mid-October.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! As mentioned above we have a new partnership with Desk-Ops.de – as well as joining the Gunslinger team to provide us with new and improved supported files (see above), Desk-Ops is our exclusive Print on Demand provider for the EU. From October 4th, all Gunslinger releases so far will be available via POD on his website, with further releases coming once they are available to the public.

But that’s not all – we are investigating a method to support patrons who do not have their printers but want to support the Patreon. Details will be coming soon, so standby.

Gunslinger | Instagram, Facebook | Linktree

Linktree. Make your link do more.

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Finally, this month we set up some social media platforms for Gunslinger. We now have a presence on Facebook and Instagram in addition to Flytrap Digital’s page on Facebook. These new social media pages are focused on Gunslinger and will be the place where we’ll get to post lore snippets, sneak previews and more. You can find them all at the link above, as well as getting a chance to take a look at some of the things we’ve released so far to give more background to the world of Gunslinger.

And with that, we have reached the end of the first Quarter of Gunslinger. With these three releases, we’ve brought the Black Sector Global Interdiction Group to the tabletop, giving you 32 high-quality body sculpts and 15 heads to build your force with. These figures have proven to be ideal for a wide selection of hobbyists, including some mad enough to scale them up 250% for display on the shelf. This is something that all of us involved in the project have been super happy to see and we can’t wait to see what happens when we introduce a whole new full range and the possibilities that will allow.

As well as the usual Deep Dive coming on the 25th, we also have a special video coming out at the end of the month. To celebrate us reaching the end of the first range, we’re going to release a special video as part of a new series called “Signals”. This is where Anton, Dan and myself will answer Patron questions and talk about how Gunslinger is doing and where we are going next. There might even be a little surprise for those who have been around for a while. If you’re interested in adding some questions to the pile, keep your eye on the Patreon for where to post them.

Last month, we were introduced to Black Sector and specifically the Global Interdiction Group. As well as looking at the Assault Team and the Breacher Team, we also looked at some more of Gunslinger’s Lore.

This time, as we cover the Support and Command teams that make up the August release of Gunslinger over on the Flytrap Digital Patreon, we’re also going to touch on some other aspects of the Gunslinger Range, such as the impact of what modular heads can bring, the importance of Character models to the range and a little bit of the working process between Anton and myself when it comes to getting these figures made.

First up – lets talk about those heads.

A bit of a stone in our process this month was the need to redo the previous packs to support the new headless design we’re aiming for going forward. This first range is, in many ways the exploratory set, working out what works and what doesn’t and then adding improvements. With the heads, this was something we originally anticipated to be a request only by the more advanced users – looking at similar products, most of the printed examples you see use the default heads in the default position. However, even before the initial release, there was an overwhelming number of people asking for modular heads so we decided that it would be worthwhile to make the switch over.

Luckily, aside from making the patrons happy, there is a plus side to this re-work. Going for modular heads massively reduces the potential number of figures we have to make per range (we don’t have to do variants with things like NVGs raised/lowered for example) while at the same time allowing more flexibility in how the end users (aka you guys) will play with them. Black Sector, with their lightweight plate carriers and 416s, are ideal for a whole host of forces depending on the head you pick – maybe some CIA goons with baseball caps and face masks or a few hero operatives with some of our Character heads mixed in if you’re building a special team for a specific scenario. Even if you don’t start mixing and matching outside of a range, each faction will include a selection of heads over the three months, giving you plenty of options by the end of each quarter as to how you want to build each faction.

The separate heads also allow us to launch a different type of range coming in the next year, one that helps to take a concept that a few people have already tried but pushes it to the next level with all the Gunslinger ideals and design notes. Stand by for more details on something we’ve titled “Project Ubique” in the upcoming months.

With that covered, we can now move forward and start discussing this month’s release. The first big thing (especially for me) is that this was the first month I got to decide the initial concepts of what was going to go into the packs. Early on when talking about Gunslinger, we came upon the idea of using three months for a release, giving us the ability to provide a full range worth of figures rather than limiting options to only a single squad per design. With the core of the force completed (assaulters and breachers), the next step was to decide on the Support Weapons and the Command Specialists to augment the options for someone using the range on the tanletop.

Discussing support weapons brings us to how we arm and equip the Gunslinger figures. Despite building a fictional world, picking the specific weapons for a range still follows some rough guidance to keep them feeling realistic and plausible. Working from kit used by real-world teams is the first step – equipment used by DEVGRU is the starting point for us for Black Sector’s Global Interdiction Group, seeing as they have become an iconic look for Tier 1 Operators. They also do a good job of providing examples for pretty much every role (in addition to the baseline assault rifle) you’d want as a wargamer building a list – machine guns to provide your base of fire to allow you to advance, sniper or marksman rifles for precision fires, and launchers either for varied ammo types (HE or smoke) or specifically to deal with light vehicles. With them also being a close-quarters raiding force, there is also space for room clearing special equipment such as SMGs and shotguns, specialised tools you won’t see in every force (I have a bit of a bugbear about this that I’ll get into at some point). We included the DMR in the Breacher Team, so the Support pack would provide LMGs, Grenade Launchers and some Anti-Tank capability in the form of disposable launchers. This should mean it’s easy to build a full squad + attachments with various support options without having to repeat poses.

And speaking of poses, seeing as we decided to go with two figures for each piece of gear, it made sense for the pair of them to be in two different poses. One pose would have the operator using the kit, while the other would match the dynamic nature of the Global Interdiction Group to show the operators on the move.

For the LMG, we went for a variant of the MK46 (a modified version of the Minimi), taking some design elements from the earlier M249 SPW (such as the lack of bipod and the collapsing stock). As with all weapons in this set, the MK46 has got a suppressor, laser aiming module and a holographic optic, helping to give across the well-equipped feel. Both figures have had their plate carrier adjusted for their role, with mag pouches replaced by three belt boxes. While one gunner is laying down fire while advancing, the other is pushing up hard, grenade off the belt and primed ready to lay down a smoke screen so his team can advance.

The grenade launcher is the now ubiquitous M320. Following the modern trend, we decided to have them carried separately rather than the traditional underslung role it was originally designed for. On both the UGL figures, we replaced a chunk of their belt kit with 40mm pouches to really sell that these guys are loaded up and ready to drop the hammer on some distant targets. The grenadier on the move is posed giving the halt signal, ideal for running him as one of your team leaders.

Finally, for the Support pack, we lay down the LAW. The M72 is an iconic piece of kit that still has a place on the modern battlefield, thanks to its ability to be shoved onto a rucksack. It’s also not that outdated, thanks to the more recent M72A8 and M72A10 variants. We used the distinguishing caps for those variants the LAW gunner advancing, as well as including multiple tubes to show off the capability. The firing pose, with the launcher fully extended and rear sight up, includes a subtle rock to really sell the braced pose. Both of them are also Assaulters and so include the same kitted-out 416s as the first set to make sure they can pull their weight when technicals and fortified structures aren’t a problem.

Altogether, the support team should give you enough options when building a force, augmenting your Assaulters and Breachers while still fitting the feel of the high-speed raiding force.

The Command pack is somewhere we get a chance to add some more Character to the range, both literally (in the form of Ms Jensen) and also in terms of extending the designs we already have in the original two packs. In terms of gameplay, they also provide the force multipliers a force may need, both in terms of leadership or specific equipment.

First on the drawing board was two figures designed to be used as the Raid Leader and the 2IC. With the Raid Leader ordering a halt before the breach, he stands in contrast to the 2IC who is looking down at the chest-mounted tactical display while carrying a comms setup on his back. The original intention was to provide them with unique custom heads but due to the delays at the start of the month, you’ll have to wait until next month for the specific faces. That said, these guys look cool enough with the default heads, giving you a pretty cool pair of a NCO figure and a JTAC or drone controller.

To go with the original teams, we had to give you a pair of specialists. The original idea had just been two guys wearing bigger rucksacks but as Anton got to work they evolved into more distinctive poses. The Assaulter specialist has pulled out his tactical knife, keeping it ready for a close encounter while carrying a larger rucksack full of a whole host of possible kit combinations, making him perfect for taking the EOD or Medical role.

On the other hand, the Breacher Specialist looks like he’s dangerously close to going medieval with the hammer in one hand, his tactical display folded down. He’s also got a pack of extra breaching kit on his back, with plenty of pouches and even a tactical tomahawk. These guys give you some extra cool-looking poses to go with your regular troops, able to fit in and be run as just another pose or to stand out as Team Leaders or your custom characters.

There is also a fur missile. A hairy hand grenade. A military working dog, inspired by a Belgian Malinois complete with his Doggles and backpack-mounted camera. A few people have done MWDs (probably inspired by the presence of a dog as part of Neptune Spear or the fine actor Dita from SEAL Team) but I haven’t seen any of them wearing the eyepro you can see in photos. The fur texture might seem a little over top on the render but it’s there to make sure that it shows up properly once printed (something Anton has used to great effect on some of his Caveman vs Wild figures). He’s also in pose which should mean he’s pretty stable when mounted to a base while still looking ready for action.

Finally, we come to Catherine Jensen, the first character figure in the world of Gunslinger. I mention some of her lore in the release post, so here, let’s talk about her design.

The rough pitch for Jensen was to make a character that fit alongside the rest of Black Sector, but a careful observer would see that she has slightly different gear and stands out slightly. The visual we had was her turning up to the pre-mission briefing with her own kit bag, picking out the right gear for the job. This is the reason her head comes with the more advanced GPNVGs rather than the dual tube option but there are also a few other little things to make her different. She’s using a SIG MCX rather than the 416, her gear has many more grenades on it and she has a set of kit mounted on the rear of her plate. There is also the fact her pose is supremely confident, cracking her knuckles ready for action. Basically, she’s cool as hell. She also comes with a selection of heads, letting you use her for both day and night operations.

I keep talking about Characters but what does that mean for you guys? Well, the idea with Characters is to build an ecosystem of operators, usually with their own head sculpt, carrying equipment and providing capabilities to the rest of the range. These characters can then re-appear across different ranges, showing the way that this world has created an ecosystem of these operators, contractors and agents plying their trade. It also means we get to make some figures that look super cool, while also providing a fun project for hobbyists while still providing a useful part of a force for the gamer. We’re aiming for at least one Character per range and can’t wait to see what Patrons get up to with them.

If you’d like a set of these for yourself, you have until the end of the month (31/08/2023) to sign up and get them via the Flytrap Digital Patreon, available at the Gunslinger level or above. If you miss out, then they will be available from the Flytrap Digital My Mini Factory or Cults3d. There has been a little delay getting Release 1 up on MMF, but hopefully, by next month they should be available for ala carte purchase.

Next month is going to be the last release for Black Sector’s Global Interdiction Group. If you join the Flytrap Digital Patreon in September, you’ll receive the GIG Security Team, a pack of figures ideal for bringing a new style of play to the tabletop. It will also bring the first Character Team, giving you a four-figure pack in a brand new style for a brand new faction. Finally, we have a few heads for Black Sector that we sadly ran out of time this month to provide. We’re aiming to give you a brand new set of NVGs I haven’t seen anyone else use, as well as some additional variants for the mainline troops to make them look cool.

And once that month is done? In Q4, Gunslinger will be advancing into brand new territory, bringing a new faction up to the same level as Black Sector has achieved in the first three months. By the end of the year, you’ll have two ranges all ready to go up against each other, with a complete set of capabilities for each force. More details coming soon.

I am pleased to announce the second release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is available now, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release has definitely been a test of our systems and how much can be done in the time due to several issues (including the relocation of FOB Flytrap), but I think you’ll agree we’ve managed to drop the second part to the Black Sector Global Interdiction Group range with style, giving you two extra sets to expand out your range and fill in the capabilities.

Before we can get started, disclosure time! I’ve played a pretty active part in the development of these sets, from picking the load-outs to all the minor tweaks that drive Anton mad to make these figures properly Gunslinger. Because of this, consider any post in the Gunslinger category as part of my role with Gunslinger.

Last month, we introduced you to the Private Military Company Black Sector and its Global Interdiction Group by providing you with the Assault Team and the Breacher Team. This month, we’re taking that base of operators and expanding it with additional specialists.

Both packs continue the themes of the first month, with figures all geared up for a raid and ideal for portraying a Western force operating at night. FAST helmets, plate carriers laden down with kit, dangle pouches and those tactical trousers with built-in kneepads abound as before and continue on with Gunslinger’s tweaks to make each figure feel like an individual while still part of the force. All figures have separate heads, letting you use any head released by Gunslinger to make these guys into a force of your own creation.

With the overall information out of the way, we must now take a look at the two individual elements that make up the release: the Support Team and the Command Team.

Support Team

With the assaulters and breachers giving you the bodies, the support team really brings the firepower. This pack includes two of the useful fire support tools that a light infantry force will want to bring with them into the zone, letting you really bring the pain. For putting fire down, two figures with the Mk46 LMG (suppressed to match the rest of the force) let you go cyclic on any enemy positions that might threaten the rest of the force. To assist in the elimination of entrenched enemy fighters, two figures carrying the M320 separate from their 416 ARs are available to push up and deliver an explosive payload accurately. Finally, if the enemy deploys light armour, then you’ll be happy to have assigned M72 LAWs to two of your force to give them an explosive surprise.

The idea with the posing in this pack was to provide some variations for you, with one pose for each weapon in the firing position while the other matching the theme of the force, pushing forward into action.

Command Team

Firepower isn’t the only asset that a Black Sector force needs for its advance – it also needs leadership and very special skills. That’s where the Command Team comes in.

Working from left to right, we have an Assaulter specialist with a rucksack (ideal for using as a medic or EOD specialist) ready for CQC. Next to them, the Raid 2IC is checking his chest-mounted tactical display, either coordinating with a higher power or passing on orders to the team. A Raider leader brings his team to a halt with a raised fist, while next to him a Military Working Dog stands by ready for his command. The Outside Observer prepares for contact while finally, the Breacher Specialist, carrying a full set of breaching equipment on his back prepares for a dynamic entry. These figures are packed full of little touches for their roles and are ideal for bringing a little extra flavour to the force.

Catherine Jensen

You may have noticed, that one person in the Command Team doesn’t look quite the same as the rest (and I don’t mean the dog). Maybe it’s the panoramic GPNVGs, or the SIG Rattler she’s bringing to the field or maybe the confident pose as she cracks her knuckles ready for barney. That’s because this is the Outsider Observer for this Black Sector operation, Catherine Jensen.

Originally with a career in Norwegian Special Forces and Military Intelligence, budget cuts in the mid 2020s forced her into the private sector. Now she works as a facilitator, connecting Private Military groups with corporate and state interests and maintaining relationships between them. Equally at home in the boardroom or the battlefield, Jensen has developed a reputation for results and a cold exterior to those she’s forced to work with.

She also comes with a set of heads, letting you assemble her for a whole selection of operations. The GPNVG heads also come in two variants (with ponytail and without) meaning you can finally give Black Sector the budget increase and give them very expensive night vision for the full SEAL Team Six experience.

With Gunslinger, we really wanting to build up lore to connect all our releases with a world full of spies, mercenaries and shadowy wars. Characters are just one of our tools to let us go all out, both mixed in with a wider range and in the dedicated Character teams. Jensen is going to hold a special place as our first, and may even re-appear in another range down the line. After all, she’s a busy woman – I hear her next operation is somewhere in Europe involving private security for a pharmaceutical company (standby next year for more information on this particular deployment).

If you want to get these figures yourself, they will be available from 12:00 NZST on the 15th of July 2023 at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 12 figures in total (as well the 5 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

If you miss the Patreon this month, Gunslinger releases will also appear on the Flytrap Digital My Mini Factory after a slight delay.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! Warfighter Miniatures (formerly Anthalonica) in the UK will be acting as a Print on Demand provider very soon. With Flytrap Digital also including a merchant tier, you can expect to see other providers coming soon to other regions around the world (such as in the EU and US).

As I said at the top, this month has been a heck of a thing to get ready. Anton, Kim and myself are really excited to see the response as Gunslinger continues, especially as we’ve now brought Black Sector’s Global Intervention Group to a fully playable state, with a wide selection of poses and weapon systems.

Next month, we’ll have a few more Black Sector guys but also unveil our first character pack and with it another faction in the Gunslinger world. We’ve been hearing reports that Black Sector has been involved with a Black Site close to Porti in Georgia, with helicopters spotted landing coming from the northwest. More details to follow.

Good news to all Patrons backing Gunslinger – the first month’s releases (the Black Sector Assault Team and Breacher Team) are now available in an updated and improved form. Following user feedback, Anton has been working like mad to get the files changed over, fighting real-world shenanigans as well as the regular monthly workload for both Gunslinger and the rest of the Flytrap range to get these changes done and into your hands. Frankly, the tonal whiplash between the bad news and the results over the weekend has been quite a lot, but he’s been an absolute machine.

The picture above shows the two changes in closer detail. The heads was something we were on the fence about when first discussing the range but it was made pretty clear that the effort to adjust the figures would open up improvements for both the people buying the STLs and our development plans. The ball and socket joint should give plenty of scope to expand out your force, both with head positioning and even swapping out the variants (ideal for those wanting to run these guys during the day). Additionally, all the existing heads that have been created have been updated to take advantage of the system, giving you 5 heads to start off the collection.

The other element changed in this release is where the suppressor attaches to the rest of the rifle. On the 416s, this join was especially thin (the gas block being a narrowing of material compared to the rail and the suppressor itself) leading to several snapped barrels, including even myself losing one after a nasty fall. We’re still wanting to keep the proportions of the guns as close to reality as possible but in this case to make it playable (and printable) we’ve added some extra material to the join.

A few other concerns have been mentioned (such as the radio antennas and the magpuls) as failure point, especially on other printers and while removing supports. While I’ve managed to print them successfully, these are definitely potential issues that we just ran out of time to correct in this release and were not quite as concerning as snapped barrels. That said, moving forward we’re going to be trying to maintain the details while making them print more reliably, such as adding a little bit of material to them to give them some extra structure.

As mentioned above, if you were a Patron of Gunslinger back in July, the unsupported versions of these files are in the Dropbox for the month now, with the pre-supported versions coming soon. If you’re a patron for this month however, standby for release around the 15th which will give you a whole load of extra guys to your Black Sector force. Additionally, for those wanting to get their hands on these figures but missed out last month, they will soon be available via the Flytrap Digital MMF page with a discount available for anyone currently backing the Patreon. So if you missed out on the Assault and Breacher guys in July, why not sign up now and get them at a lower price as well as the two new sets coming soon?

Long before I even came onto the Gunslinger project, Anton was hard at work making the figures to introduce the Gunslinger concept to the wider world. Picking a first range isn’t an easy thing – it’s going to be the benchmark that future releases are held up against, needing to give you enough space to really show off what you’re trying to do while also being a popular enough topic to get people to actually buy it. As much as some loud people might express their interest in something very specific and unique such as modern Peruvian Special Forces, the market of other people actually wanting to buy them means it’s unlikely to lure the masses in.

The ubiquitous look of “Fast helmet, NODs, plate carrier and AR-15” is not exactly an underserved market, with most sellers offering a smorgasbord of possible figures for that look (with many giving you specific figures for the multiple arms of the SOCOM as well as other friendly nations with tweaks between the models such as clothing variations or additional face protection). However, the look is a feature of the modern combat space, as iconic for the Ultramodern era as the M1 helmet and M16A1 was for Vietnam. And as someone developing a range, you’re always trying to be there to grab the newcomers but also want to grab the attention of the old hands by giving them a twist on the old and familiar. After all, it’s ubiquitous for a reason.

The question was… how do we make it fit Gunslinger?

Before we look at the figures, we should probably ask an important question – who is Black Sector?

Well, that was a question I also asked when I joined the project. Seeing as these figures were being designed and developed before the world around them had really crystalised under the pressure of that first meeting in York, this set would also be a prototype of the world we were about to design. There were a few basic concepts and design elements which had already been chosen (such as the equipment and weapon choices) but the rest was waiting for us to play with.

The world of Gunslinger is a future where the landscape of military power is augmented with a wider variety of private armies, ranging from small-scale teams of specialists up to forces capable of providing combined arms and logistic services for a price. Black Sector is on the larger side of this spectrum, with multiple different subunits that can provide a selection of services. Static site security, training for national forces and groups around the world, and even close protection details all fall under their portfolio. We’ll be covering some of the other subunits in the future – for example, a team providing static security in parts foreign is already in the design phase. But for now, though, let’s talk about our raid team.

The Global Interdiction Group is one of these subunits. It provides a rapid response Direct Action force for its corporate and national clients, taking advantage of the experience of many of its veteran operators hired out of SOCOM or similar organisations. Setup by a former DEVGRU Commander, the GIG was formed to replicate that organisation and its capabilities in the private sector. This move was controversial within the SOCOM community, leading to the Global Interdiction Group having a poor reputation with those still serving. However, the paycheck for going private is enticing, as long as you’re willing to be blacklisted.

The Global Interdiction Group finds itself deployed all over the world depending on its employer’s mission, either with the prep time required to properly practise the operation or as a rapid reaction force should the situation demand it. For those in the know, their arrival in an area is usually a sign that any and all operations are about to be disturbed by an unstoppable force that lets little get in the way of its objectives.

With the lore out of the way, let’s take a closer look at some of the design features on the models themselves. The inspiration for the figures themselves is, as you might guess from a glance, heavily inspired by the portrayal of Seal Team Six over the last few years. It’s safe to say that Zero Dark Thirty did a rather good job of marketing the look that people associate with the Tier 1 Operator now and it’s a visual we’ve taken inspiration from – however, there are other elements that are much more up to date, such as every figure having a tactical display on the front of their plate carrier. These guys would be great if you are making a team of highly trained and equipped special forces guys.

We have also done a few adjustments to maybe show that even though they have some gucci kit, they aren’t exactly the Tier 1 operators, mostly on the heads as you can see above. The older model of IR strobe (the MS-2000 rather than the more recent Manta Strobe seen elsewhere) helps to change the visual of the helmet while still being a piece of kit that is in regular use. We also decided to go with the more common dual-tube NODs rather than the fiendishly expensive panoramic systems. However, the mounting system does allow for one of the tubes to be swung up and out of the way, allowing operators to still use magnified optics.

Clothing-wise, all the Black Sector guys are running combat trousers with integrated kneepads and combat shirts. Lightweight plate carriers are festooned with all the equipment they might need, with dangler pouches adding additional space on top of the packed mag pouches. Belt kits have Glock sidearms in a retention holster, as well as grenades, gloves, additional mag pouches and chem lights.

In terms of weapon systems, the iconic 416 is on deck here for the Assault Team. They are all equipped with the attachments needed for fighting at night, with all weapons suppressed and mounting IR laser/illuminators and torches. While these figures are uniform in terms of their clothing, we decided to add some variety to them by giving each one their own arrangement of forward grips and optics. The holographic and magnifier combo rules the roost but a couple of the guys are running T1 red dots or just the holographic by itself.

As well as the attachments on the weapons being adjusted for each operator, we also adjust some gear positions on the figure’s belt kits. Additionally, some of the mag pouches on the belt kit already have magazines removed to show them in the thick of it. We’ve also mixed up the packs on the back, giving you a mix of guys running low profile rigs while others have additional kit in their tactical packs.

The Breacher element is split in two, giving both some CQB punch and some longer-range firepower. The four figures armed with MP7s have the same level of variety to their attachments as the 416s in the assault pack, with both red dots and holographic optics with magnifiers in use. Additionally, the presence of the Mosberg M500 with MEK upgrades provides you with a weapon ideal for door breaching before returning to the MP7. There is also a breacher bringing up a sledgehammer ready to take the door if needed, the stock on his MP7 collapsed to make aiming in close quarters combat easier.

The longer-range firepower mentioned above are the two figures with the SR-25 E2 marksman rifle. Suppressed and with all the equipment needed for night fighting, both marksmen also have their NVGs adjusted to allow them to use the magnified optic if needed

Of course, all the renders in the world won’t get you very far if you can’t print the STLs you’ve been given. These are some examples I supported myself (I missed a few of the NVGs) and then printed on my Elegoo Saturn. As you can see, even on a 4K printer a lot of the details in the renders have been maintained (including the hole in the magpuls), all ready for painting up.

I haven’t painted the entire force, but I did get a chance to try out these two test models. Thanks to doing some pre-shading, I was easily able to hammer these two through relatively quickly, taking a look at just two of the schemes that Global Interdiction Group might find themselves wearing.

If you’d like a set of these for yourself, today (31/07/2023) is the last day where you get them via the Flytrap Digital Patreon, available at the Gunslinger level or above. If you miss out, then from 15/08/2023, they will be available from the Flytrap Digital My Mini Factory or Cults3d.

In addition, anyone who has bought these models will be finding an update email them coming (hopefully) later this week. After feedback, Anton has managed to add a ball and socket connection to the Black Sector bodies, meaning easily swappable heads are going to be an option for all the poses shown above. In addition, modular heads will be standard with most releases going forward (there may be a few cases where it is just not practical). In this case, the modular heads will be ideal if you prefer to run your operators for both day and night missions with NVGs stowed.

However, that’s not all. If you join the Flytrap Digital Patreon in August, you’ll be receiving two more Black Sector teams releasing on 15/08/2023. For those of you wondering where all the firepower was in this first release, no fear! The Support Team will come with all the special weapons a Black Sector Assault Team needs, with light machine guns, grenade launchers and even disposable anti-tank launchers. The Command Team will give you a few additional specialists to lead and support your assault, including a very good boy to assist in clearing rooms. The Command team will also include Gunslinger’s first Character figure, who is on-site to oversee Black Sector’s operation for her employer.

Looking into September, we’ll get another Black Sector set designed to let you use your assault for another type of operation. And just in time… the first OPFOR Character Team will be making landfall that month as well, giving you all the figures you might need for a sneaky midnight clash somewhere on the Georgian coastline. Stand by for more details next month.

The word keeps coming up. I’ve talked about its first release, I went through all the previews and teased my involvement all the way back to March. But what actually IS Gunslinger?

Gunslinger is a brand that forms part of the Flytrap Digital Patreon, releasing Ultramodern figures. After having made a range of Ultramodern physical releases under his Warfighter brand (as well as producing commission work for other parties), Anton decided back in 2019 that he wanted to re-enter the Ultramodern space with his own range and began gathering assets and designs

My role in the story has been mentioned before but I enter the story in March 2023. After chatting with Anton over Facebook, we met up and got to go more in-depth over his plans for Gunslinger and to provide some feedback on them. However, there was an invitation to expand my role in the project if I wanted to. After a few months of thinking about it, and some more back and forth, I finally decided to go all in.

The Core Ideas

With Anton and myself approaching this project from two different places, one of the first things we decided to agree on was a set of core ideas for what we want Gunslinger to be. Working out the core ideas gives us some guidance as to what we should be aiming for at every step of the operation, from designing new ranges and selecting how to release them to all the final touches on the figures themselves.

These core ideas are:

• 80% Realistic, 20% Cinematic, 100% Playable – This ratio is the core concept behind the Gunslinger figures. Realism is the lead element, the jumping-off point to this genre we enjoy. But, allowing an element of Fiction into the design expands our possibilities, letting us take a leap forward to produce a more interesting range. However, as you can see, the cinematic influence is only a fraction of the whole – we’re not going to go too outlandish with our designs (at least in THIS range). At the end of the day though, the figures Gunslinger makes must be Playable game pieces forming a range designed to support as many rule systems as possible.
• Onwards and Upwards – Gunslinger is focused on taking advantage of advances in 3D sculpting and printing to produce a range that pushes what is out there. Each and every figure in a release should be exciting to paint, being unique in terms of details yet cohesive on the tabletop alongside the rest of their range.
• Operate with Integrity – At every stage, Gunslinger aims to do this business right. When we make a mistake or find room for improvement, we’ll try our best to correct it. As money is exchanging hands, we want the people choosing to buy into Gunslinger (no matter if it’s monthly support or through the ala carte offering on My Mini Factory or Cults3d) to know what they are getting.

The Background

When Anton and I first met at the Fairfield Manor hotel outside York and I got my intro into what he had been making for Gunslinger at that point (spoilers: it was the Black Sector guys that were released in July 2023), we really got to talking about the types of figures we’ve wanted to collect over a couple of beers. During that discussion, something that came up was a collection of shared interests – one of which was a love for the era of Tom Clancy games in the mid-2000s (the era of GRAW, Rainbow Six Vegas, HAWX and Splinter Cell Double Agent), separate games covering different events that acted as companion pieces to each other, toeing the line between realism and still portraying its own world of rival intelligence agencies, special forces, paramilitaries and more. Anton and I both lean closer to the cinematic angle when it comes to wargaming and so during our discussions, exciting concepts and ideas combined into the first thoughts for the background to the world of Gunslinger. That night, after getting back home, I started penning a tone piece, a wide-angle view of a world for our releases to inhabit. Luckily for me, Anton loved it. I’ve included it below, giving you a taste of what’s coming.

Now, I should stress that the lore of Gunslinger is important to us (it helps to fuel the creative side) but it’s not our core focus – the focus is always going to be making great models for the Ultramodern Wargaming space. Though we may be designing them to represent forces 15 minutes into the future, the vast majority of what we produce will be inspired by teams and groups in the real world and ready for real-world, modern-day situations. However, this setting does give us some breathing room to add elements that technically wouldn’t work at the moment – such as a private military company having enough funding, paperwork and contacts to get a deal with a certain German arms maker.

The Background is going to grow as we release more ranges and unveil more factions, giving patrons even more ideas for scenarios they may want to play.

The Results

All of these are wonderful ideas but this blog is a monument for writing things down and then not doing them – at the end of the day, patrons who support Gunslinger need products in hand (or onto hard drives in this case). For that reason, we’ve worked out a schedule, both on a month-by-month basis and in the long term.

Every month, on roughly the 15th, patrons at the Gunslinger tier will receive at least 10 uniquely posed figures (but potentially more). These will be split into two elements – some months the elements will be equal, in others we might lean more towards one than the other. All figures within these elements will be provided both supported and unsupported. In addition to the elements, we may also include some other useful bits, such as additional head variants or anything else that Anton has come up with. Moving forward, most of the main range figures will have swappable heads, letting you use the additional bits to customise them more easily than having to perform surgery. There will probably be exceptions, especially with the Character teams (more on those in a moment).

In the first six months, we’ll be hitting two separate ranges – each range will take 3 months to release all the currently planned figures for them (you can see a clip from our planning doc above). However, once this foundation is out of the way, we may adjust our release schedule depending on the ranges being done at the time (as well as the mental state of Anton sculpting away) so we can give more variety.

As well as the elements dedicated to a specific range, we shall also be releasing Character Teams. These sets are designed to augment the larger ranges, giving you a set of specialists with unique visuals and equipment to expand their capabilities and give something special to paint and play with. These Character teams might be specific themes that don’t fit a larger release or potentially test sets for larger ranges – in both cases though, these sets will be complete with a selection of capabilities and unique visuals.

And with that, that is a brief description of what Gunslinger is. If you’re interested in joining the Patreon, you can find it at the Gunslinger Tier at the https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory. This blog will be full of updates on the project as we move forward, as this is a process we want to be quite open with.

We’re all excited about the possibilities that Gunslinger can provide going forward. Depending on its success, we’d love to be able to expand Gunslinger further, keeping some of the same concepts but hitting different eras. But that’s for the future and you don’t go revealing all your wishes.

However, you won’t have to wait long for another post covering Gunslinger. It’s going to cover our first faction Black Sector and in particular its Global Interdiction Group. As well as its background and design notes, it will also provide a closer look at the figures released already, as well as may hinting at what is coming down the line.

I am pleased to announce the first release of the new Gunslinger range from Flytrap Digital is coming out at 12:00 NZST on the 15th of July 2023, for those backing the Patron at the appropriate levels. This release has been a long time coming and the last few days have been a blur of back and forth making sure all the final touches are ready for this first release.

You’ll find the release trailer embedded above or can be found by clicking here.

Before we can get started, disclosure time! I’ve been chatting with Anton at Flytrap since March of this year in mostly an advisory role but have now increased my role to be a bit more hands on. I wasn’t responsible for the design of these figures specifically, but I have been helping out with double-checking them, making sure the set makes sense for the wargamer and then helping to publicise this release. Consider any post in the Gunslinger category as part of my role with Gunslinger.

Without further ado, may I introduce you to the Private Military Company Black Sector. With the company being American in origin and with a reasonably wealthy backer in the world of Gunslinger, this range provides you with a relatively modern (although not quite tip of the spear) Western force operating at night. All the figures in the range come with the gear we all know and love – FAST helmets, plate carriers laden down with kit, dangle pouches and those tactical trousers with the built-in kneepads. Anton has thoroughly enjoyed adding all the little details to these guys, giving you all the equipment you’d need for door kicking. The poses on these first two sets are very much “on the assault”, designed to work together well when put on the tabletop and avoid any figure looking out of place next to another.

The intention with Gunslinger is to provide ranges which include the full capabilities a wargamer may want when building a force for a skirmish-level game. To achieve this, Black Sector is going to have at least two releases, with the first release consisting of two elements: the Assault Team and the Breacher Team.

Assault Team

No matter how many fancy bits of firepower you assemble for a team, at the end of the day you’re going to need a solid core of guys with assault rifles in your force. Black Sector has these guys in droves, thanks to the six-figure Assault Team. Armed with suppressed HK 416s and sidearms, these guys are fully prepared to be the core of your offensive effort.

One thing I really like about these guys is that, despite having the same loadout, all of them have some little tweaks to make them look slightly more individual without breaking the overall consistency of the element. Variations in things like the positioning of items on the rig and belt, attachments to the rifle, and even personal clothing should all work together to make a characterful unit, perfect for painters to get their hands on.

Breacher Team

While the bulk of a force from Black Sector is made up of assaulters with ARs, there are other weapons systems in the armoury to leverage an advantage in the field. The Breacher Team with its six figures includes some of the more common load-outs for the assault mission the figures in the range are in the midst of.

Company doctrine is to assign pointmen and breachers with the HK MP7A2 due to its compact size. This pack includes four figures with the SMG, while also equipping some of them with a few extra tools. One has a sledgehammer held in one hand moving to the door, another has a shotgun on his back while advancing while the final figure is preparing to pop a door with his breaching shotgun out and SMG slung across his chest.

Finally, to assist with the advance of the team, two marksmen with HK 417s are onsite to precise fire support while still able to advance and take ground. These two also have adjusted their NVGs to allow them to use their magnified optic slightly more effectively while still having the required devices for engaging targets using active aiming.

As with the assault team, there are additional variations between the figures, as well as correctly configured mag pouches for the different weapons included.

Addon Parts

Finally, the release also includes some parts for the kit bashers and modders among you. There are 5 heads included in the back, giving you some variation while still keeping the same core look of fast helmet and ear defenders. There is even an option with no NVGs and no IR strobe if you want to run these guys during the day.

The figures are provided as single-piece sculpts, so if you want to do some modification you will need to either edit the STL file digitally or do some surgery post-printing. Head swapping is an area that we at Gunslinger are interested in seeing people’s opinions on but this should provide a solution for those so inclined to go chopping heads.

If you want to get these figures yourself, they will be available from 12:00 NZST on the 15th of July 2023 at https://www.patreon.com/flytrapfactory Patrons at the “‘Supporter Tier’ GUNSLINGER” or higher will get 12 figures in total (as well the 5 separate heads). The items are delivered both supported and unsupported to help you get printing. To assist with basing, the figures have a peg in their foot to provide support either by drilling through the base or sanding the peg down to make a large contact area without requiring too much additional material.

If you miss the Patreon this month, Gunslinger releases will also appear on the Flytrap Digital My Mini Factory after a slight delay.

If you don’t have access to a 3D printer, no worries! Warfighter Miniatures (formerly Anthalonica) in the UK will be acting as a Print on Demand provider very soon. With Flytrap Digital also including a merchant tier, you can expect to see other providers coming soon to other regions around the world (such as in the EU and US).

It’s safe to say that the team at Flytrap and myself are really excited about these figures and can’t wait to see them out in the wild. Anton and I have been throwing ideas for future releases back and forth, including both large-scale ranges that we think are missing from the market as well as more characterful smaller units to expand out your favourite force for whatever game you’re playing. This has already been a great project to work on, and I really hope you enjoy getting these guys on the table.

And if you’re worried about needing some suppressive fire or explosives, come back next month to see what Flytrap is cooking up.