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.

It’s been a busy week elsewhere on the site so it took me a while to put the newsfeed together. Of course, it may have also been delayed by getting a certain first peek as well…

Gunslinger Releases Phase 1 To The General Public And Previews

Big news from Gunslinger this week – we have now released the first phase as both STLs (on My MiniFactory) and Print on Demand (thanks to our partner Desk-Ops). These sets are available right now and we’re running offers on each – Desk-Ops includes an introductory discount while using the code “20SPLENTY” on My MiniFactory for 20% off anything Flytrap.

However, I’m even more excited to show off the next phase of Gunslinger – Kojoti! The first set of figures will be released on the 15th of October but for now, have the first two rifleman figures that Anton has produced. I’m already super happy with these guys – we’re going super hard on the variety and details on this set and even these first two show off some of the little touches we’ll be going for on them.

If you want your own set of these guys, the only way to get them when they release on the 15th is via the Flytrap Digital Patreon. Stand by for more details on the first two sets!

Spectre Unleashes The Spook For A Limited Time Only!

Spectre has released its previously announced Spook figure for the Spooky Season! This guy is available right now on the Spectre store, letting you set up your own 60mm tall buddy to guard your desk.

Combat Octopus Shows Progress On The Bodyguard

Combat Octopus has been hard at work on the next release for his Patreon, bringing use some bodyguards for the tabletop. These guys will be coming with the MP7 and the PPK-20 shown (as well as an MP5) and you can see he’s pushing ahead hard with these guys to nail that “bodyguard waiting for things to kick off”. As always these guys are modular, so there is going to be some really cool possibilities.

Urban Scatter Takes You To The Mini-Mart

Urban Scatter Gaming continues his spate of releases with a whole host of decorative pieces for your local shop. Large fridges to cover the walls, drinks and vending machines, shelves and the all-important checkout counter. Plus, as you can see above, literally all the various produce you might need to make your shelves look more like Saturday shopping trip rather than an abandoned post-apocalypse. You can see in some of the renders some awesome little scenes showing them all laid out and it’s definitely going to elevate your board to a whole new level.

He has also released two other sets to assist with your gaming – a free set of bases and some cool markers to help you mid-game, marking out things such as unknown contacts, objectives or smoke clouds.

Modern Miniatures Launches Modular 28mm Vehicle Frontier

Finally, Modern Miniatures launched via Frontiers his Modular 28mm Vehicles project (which I mentioned last week). This set includes three different vehicles (Modern Car, Modern SUV and Crown-Vic) with various modular bits to let you make them into police or taxi. There is also a pile of addon parts – interesting how it’s mostly street decoration rather than parts for the vehicles but it does also include a rather nice little news helicopter if we get roughly an additional $714.

If you want to support my work on gathering the news together, my Patreon is the best way to keep things going. With a minimal cost of £1 a month, every little helps to keep the news spigot flowing and to let me cover more of the suppliers out there.

Of course, if you are a REAL news fan, there is a brand new tier called, shockingly, News Fan. For £5 a month (or £1.25ish a news post), you can guarantee you’ll get your weekly dose of news updates.

If you think the news is only okay but would like to see me actually do some hobbying, then you can join the Board of Shadowy Figures for £7.50. This group will, before the start of every month, vote from a selection of mini-projects I have in the pipe and tell me which one to work on this month. I’ll then do my best to work on it and by the end of the month report back with my success or failure in a little post. If that sounds exciting, it’s available for you!

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!

It’s the start of a new month and so it’s time for all the news you can get! We have a whole host of items, Patreons and Kickstarters promising all sorts of good things for those wanting to play in the Ultramodern sphere.

Gunslinger Announces Loyalty Pack and Prepares For A New Phase

Gunslinger has reached the end of it’s first phase so this week we showed off what all the Loyal Gunslingers who stuck with us are getting in the Hazardous Duty Incentive. I wrote a bit about them in my Deep Dive that was finished yesterday, so it’s well worth taking a look if you’re interested to see how it’s all going.

Final Call For Spectre’s Rulebook and A Spooky Preview

It’s highly likely that as you read this, the pre-order window for Spectre Operations is over. But we do see some good news in the update post – total page count on the rulebook is over 150 pages, so there is going to be plenty to digest once it’s released. Actual release date is still unknown but we’re definitely getting closer.

Additionally, it seems like Spectre will be having some fun this spooky season with a suitably armed Spectre. He seems a fun little guy, especially with the ability to drop the nods up and down. Not further details have been released, but I expect something later this month.

Anvil Industries Launches Heist Kickstarter and Shows Off Stretch Goals

As mentioned last week, Anvil Industries launched its brand new Kickstarter last week “The Heist”. It’s already funded and rapidly storming its way up the stretch goals (shown above). For anyone interested in jumping in, £15 gets you all the new stuff, but £55 (or £50 if you’re quick) also nabs you several great sets that would work well alongside the Criminal and Police (the Modern Civilians and Undercover Operatives as well as some bases and terrain). A great deal, and perfect for getting yourself a lot of figures very quickly.

Modern Miniatures Shows Off October’s Release And A New Campaign

Modern-Miniatures.eu hits us with a double bill this week. First up, we have the contents of the October release on his Patreon. Ideal for your cop-related shenanigans in the US, the list of parts is a good mix of large-scale terrain pieces and smaller scatter. If you pay for the Patreon in October, you’ll get these pieces pretty quickly, with the poll to decide on what comes out in November coming soon.

And speaking of coming soon, Modern-Minatures seems to never sleep and is also running a Frontiers campaign through My Mini Factory. The idea behind this set is to bring some iconic modern cars to the tabletop, with enough modular parts to swap them between different roles and let you easily build up a whole table without having to dip into the diecast collection. This is something I think 3D printing is perfect for and having a set of models as well designed as Modern-Miniatures other releases is a great call. The campaign kicks off on the 4th of October over on My Mini Factory and you can be set to be notified about it’s launch at the Frontiers link.

Combat Octopus Begins Work On The Bodyguards And VIPs

Combat Octopus has returned from his break and already kicking in the door for the next release. The theme this time is a VIP and bodyguards, giving you some good-looking folks in sharp suits to get jumped. The plan is that the Security team will be armed with either the MP5 or PPK-20, while the VIP is going to be some kind of an aggressively rich asshole, pocketbook in hand.

Additionally, the PMC release from the last two months is getting a brand new toy. This customised AK-105 will be appearing in the Stash O’ Bits drive, complete with the hands to let you make your PMC fighters slightly more Eastern.

Turnbase Miniatures Releases Law Enforcement

Finally, Turnbase Miniatures released its Law Enforcement set that was previewed a few weeks ago. You can see that there were a few changes from the original images, helping to make them fit the theme a lot more than the first version. Tier 3 also adds a Police SUV to include in your vehicle garage.

If you want to support my work on gathering the news together, my Patreon is the best way to keep things going. With a minimal cost of £1 a month, every little helps to keep the news spigot flowing and to let me cover more of the suppliers out there.

Of course, if you are a REAL news fan, there is a brand new tier called, shockingly, News Fan. For £5 a month (or £1.25ish a news post), you can guarantee you’ll get your weekly dose of news updates.

If you think the news is only okay but would like to see me actually do some hobbying, then you can join the Board of Shadowy Figures for £7.50. This group will, before the start of every month, vote from a selection of mini-projects I have in the pipe and tell me which one to work on this month. I’ll then do my best to work on it and by the end of the month report back with my success or failure in a little post. If that sounds exciting, it’s available for you!

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.

Finally, a quiet-ish week after the business of the last few. However, quiet does not mean dead and I have a pile of stuff to show off this week.

Gunslinger Reveals Blockade Team Burya-156

World exclusive (unless you’ve been on the Flytrap Digital Patreon) but I can reveal the Character Team coming with this month’s release for Gunslinger. This team is the first from a new faction “Blockade” and its members are designed to go up against the Black Sector Global Interdiction figures released over the last few months as well as a very interesting team being released in the other half of this month’s release. Stand by for more information on that soon.

If you want more details, there will be profiles and visuals for the individual figures over the next few days on Gunslinger’s new Facebook and Instagram feeds that were set up earlier this week. These will provide you with a much greater insight into the world of Gunslinger, as well as some material not seen elsewhere.

Asymmetric Warfare Has Its First Public Outing

After months of waiting, Asymmetric Warfare finally appeared in public at Rhein-Main Multiversum. Put on by the CONflictRhineland team, this scenario game had special forces and criminals clashing in a very nice compact urban board. My man on the ground got to have a chat with the team in between games (as well as getting the photos you see here) and has some good news for anyone who was a fan of Spectre Operations Version 2 – Asymmetric is the game you all know and love, with modifications to clarify and fix any issues found since Version 2’s release.

From chatting to some of the team behind it online, and from what the roving unnamed reporter from Desk-Ops was able to pick up, Asymmetric is getting very close to it’s release. With the main rules in place, the final tweaks and presentation are all that’s left before it’s final release via Wargames Vault release soon. From what I’ve been told the cost is less than you might expect for a ruleset and will also support Wargames Vault’s offerings to assist with printing hard copies.

Spectre Shows Off More Gameplay

No figure previews from Spectre Miniatures this week but we did get three more videos for the upcoming relaunch of Spectre Operations V3. These videos cover a turn of the game, close-quarters battle and Area of Effect weapons, all three giving an extra look into just what is going to be in the next version of the rules when it comes out next month.

Miska Miniatures New Kickstarter Coming Soon

We haven’t had an official announcement yet from the team behind Miska Miniatures but they have been busy getting some new sculpts painted up by No Man’s Land Studio, a rather good commission painter in the UK. From what we can see on this post on Miska’s Facebook group, these are some modern SF with fast helmets and an AR15 and have been confirmed to be part of a new Kickstarter coming soon. Interestingly they are listed as an add-on meaning the main KS might have a different theme.

Urban Scatter Releases City Scatter

Finally, Urban Scatter Gaming, mere moments after my news post last week, released a whole brand new asset pack. Ideal for a city street, this collection of planets, rubbish bings, benches and more is great for adding those last few touches for an urban battle space. And of course, with it being modern day, they are ideal for more than just ultramodern gaming, with zombies and superheroes being the first ideas off the top of my head. The pack is also only £10 and pairs up nicely with the Alley Scatter pack as well.

If you want to support my work on gathering the news together, my Patreon is the best way to keep things going. With a minimal cost of £1 a month, every little helps to keep the news spigot flowing and to let me cover more of the suppliers out there.

Of course, if you are a REAL news fan, there is a brand new tier called, shockingly, News Fan. For £5 a month (or £1.25ish a news post), you can guarantee you’ll get your weekly dose of news updates.

If you think the news is only okay but would like to see me actually do some hobbying, then you can join the Board of Shadowy Figures for £7.50. This group will, before the start of every month, vote from a selection of mini-projects I have in the pipe and tell me which one to work on this month. I’ll then do my best to work on it and by the end of the month report back with my success or failure in a little post. If that sounds exciting, it’s available for you!

Coming to you a day early because tomorrow I’ll be driving down the motorways of the UK to go see AEW at Wembley, it’s this week’s News Stand! And man, when I asked the industry to cool it for a week, they turned to me and gently whispered “no”. So lets cover it!

Gunslinger

First up, earlier today we dropped the Deep Dive on this month’s Gunslinger release, giving you more details on the Command and Support teams.

You may notice they are all missing their heads, well it because the new headless models are kind of a pain in the ass to layout in Chitubox with the heads looking as they should. I’m going to investigate some alternative solutions so I can show the models off in the best form.

Speaking of showing off models, Anton dropped off a little preview of some other places where Gunslinger can go. To put it mildly, Anton loves making figures for Vietnam and is really excited to take some of the ideals of Gunslinger and develop some figures to take a step into the light green. These will not be an addition to the core Gunslinger range, so stand by for further details of how you’ll be able to get your hands on these guys.

Spectre Previews New TFO and Operations Goes On Pre-Order!

So err, bit of a big week for Spectre huh?

Start of the week we got first eyes on the new updated Task Force Operators range, with some partially painted examples appearing later in the week. With Spectre moving to retire the original sculpts and move to 3D designed figures, they are also taking a chance to upgrade the gear they are using for the modern day. With the originals coming from way back in 2015, little things have changed in the kit that Spectre is able to show off, such as the Daniel Defence M4 and the adjustment to the helmet layout. I’m interested to see the rest of the range, especially as they have teased having a XM7 rifle model.

The Big News from Spectre this week is the pre-order for the new rules. Keeping the Spectre Operations name, the new book is an entirely new rule set, unconnected with the previous system. To get the hard stuff out of the way, the book is up for pre-order now at £36.00. It includes a physical rulebook, force cards, quick reference guide and a PDF version (that will be delivered to customers slightly early). Pre-orders run until the 21st of September, with physical copies aiming to be dispatched four weeks later (roughly mid-October).

Boring stuff out the way, lets talk about the book. As you can see from the preview screenshots, it’s a very nice looking thing, produced in partnership with Black Side Studios who have nailed the visual aspect of their rule books. You can tell Spectre is going to take full advantage of all the wonderful miniatures photography they have done over the years, so I’m not worried about the book itself being anything less than a lovely object to flick through and enjoy.

To accompany the pre-order, Spectre have also put out some videos to introduce you to the new mechanics, covering things such as the new concepts of Momentum and Stress, as well as how the core game itself is going to work. Obviously these are only intro videos, but it defintiely sounds like there are some major changes between the new book and previous rulesets formerly of the same name. I’m going to hold off on my ocmments until I’ve actually had a chance to get figures to table with the beta PDF.

Of course, what would a new release be without a limited edition model? And man, this guy knocks it out of the park. Taking cues from the old Nomad range but updated with the beneftis of 3d sculpting and more reccent kit, he is rocking a MCX Lite chambered in 7.62×39 (the SR47 lives again) complete with the older model ACOG and an under barrel M320. I really like the pose and overall design, he should look great among your militia fighters or running a solo op. And even better for the fans, he doesn’t require you to buy the book. Although only avaliable during the pre-order window, you can buy him seperately or add him to the cart with the rulebook and get a small discount.

Enemy Spotted Studios Prepares for NOVA

ESS are going to Nova next weekend in Washington DC! However, afterwards they will be bringing out physical copies of the new INX: Recon book. Spiral bound with a rather nice looking design style to them, it seems a great place to get your hands on the rules if you want more than the free PDF.

That’s not all though. It seems as though ESS will also be releasing a modern operator dressing up as George Washington, complete with wig. I have some questions but frankly it’s an event model so go nuts. It will be available at Nova or via their online Pack members store.

Bobmack3d Launches Its Latest Kickstarter – Soviet First Echelon

It’s about that time, when Bobmack3d appears with a brand new Kickstarter when the savings are too good to ignore. This time, it’s the Soviet First Echelon – T72s, BMP-2s, 2S1 artillery pieces and the Zil-131 truck. Oh and the Mi-24, which look like they are going to be a monster to get printed (while also looking cool as hell).

As always, the Kickstarter will provide the models in the three main scales (15mm, 20mm and 28mm) with the option to pick either the cheaper base level or the higher version with the Stowed version. There are also a lot of stretch goals, adding variants of the base models such as the modernised (for 1989) T-72B M1989 and various upgrade parts for the Hind. There is also an Object 781 Proto-terminator STL if you push to the Turbo Backer level.

If this interests you, you can find the Kickstarter at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bm3d/soviet-cold-war-first-echelon-3d-stl-files

Design For Battle Announces Business Change

Bit of an interesting one here. Design for Battle, a company that has been making a very cool range of Virtus equipped British Army figures, posted up this news piece about their plans for ranges moving forward. It’s interesting to see them deciding to go to a not for profit route but what might be more interesting is the mention that all ranges will be avaliable as STLs, resin prints or even metals. This choice is great, opening them up to a wider audance and letting people collect how they want. I’ll be keeping an eye on these guys.

The Solo Wargamer Shows Off Haywire

After last week’s announcement, The Solo Wargamer wasted exactly 0 time and got to showing off Haywire, his new rulset. The video above shows off the core of the game, letting you see just what he has planned with this easy to learn and fun to play games designed for the solo player.

Part 2 covers off some more of the mechanics, including the class cards. If you’ve seen any of The Solo Wargamer’s other projects, you can see the familar level of visual design at play here, using combining art assets from other places to make a nice set of gaming aids to get you playing quickly. Part 3 is coming soon, and then it won’t be long until a full release for free so that everyone can give it a go.

Fire! Modern Combat Starts It’s Previews

After I sent out last week’s news stand, I was reached out to by the team behind Fire! Modern Combat. This is a game I’ve seen mentioned a few times both on Facebook and Instagram but hadn’t really had a chance to do a deeper dive into it. Lukcily for me, they have been making a set of videos that they are slowly rolling out over the next few weeks, all in preparation for an upcoming Kickstarter project. This is definitely a project that has been in the works for a while, so it’s going to be cool to see how it all works out.

Modern Miniatures Summer Sale is On!

Finally, Modern Minaitures is running a Summer sale on their MMF store. If you use the code “SUMMER23“, you can get 30% off anything on the store. I can heartilty reccomend the Humvees in all their various forms, while my desk can attest to the pile of Russian Cars I’ve been printing for cover.

If you want to support my work on gathering the news together, my Patreon is the best way to keep things going. With a minimal cost of £1 a month, every little helps to keep the news spigot flowing and to let me cover more of the suppliers out there.

Welcome to the new version of The News Stand, delivering you a catch-up on the headlines in the Ultramodern Wargaming Scene. Usually, I’d do this weekly but seeing as I’ve been away for a bit, there is going to be a touch of catching up to do. The intention of the News Stand is mostly reasearch, keeping an eye on the tempo and flow of the Ultramodern market as it currently stands. But seeing as I’m gathering it all for my own use (and the Patrons need to be fed something), I might as well write it up for everyone else.

Gunslinger

All news on Gunslinger will get its own posts (shocking I know), so if you want to see what we’re up to check out the post from earlier this week announcing the latest releases of the Black Sector Global Interdiction Group’s Command and Support Teams. And then come back on the 25th for a deeper look at this month’s releases, showing off some of the features you might have missed. In the meantime, take a look at one of the figures (Catherine Jensen from the Command Team) painted up by Bing Lim (or Bingles), the painter who is responsible for all the painted figures on the Flytrap Digital MMF page.

SkullForge Studios Joins the Fight

In the most surprising news I think, we have a new addition to the Space. SkullForge Studios, makers of some of the best figures inspired by a Galaxy Far Far Away are launching some ultramodern figures among their monthly releases. This new team of M4 armed operators really caught my eyes while scrolling down my feed (I blame having just come out of messing around in Tarkov). There are some tweaks to certain items to help with the printing (which might drive certain people mad) but it’s awesome to see SkullForge’s style brought across to my genre of choice. These guys are scaled for 28mm but are recommended to scale up.

In addition to the latest team, there are a few other Ultramodern figures that he’s been working through, such as a Spec Ops team designed for the new Majestic 13 rules (as well as some Agents in Suits with more sci-fi gear) and (as seemingly is required by anyone making modern figures) a John Wick figure in multiple variants. Based on comments Jordan has made, we have at least one more modern set coming this month, as well as more coming soon.

Spectre Opens Pre-orders, Pushes 3D Printing In New Releases and Shows Off Some Teases

Oh boy, Spectre Miniatures has been busy. First up, and the biggest news, the new set of rules from Spectre has a pre-order date. This entirely new ruleset will be up for pre-order on the 25th of August, with a full release to come soon after although the date has not yet been released. As well as receiving the physical book, pre-orders also include a quick reference guide, Force Cards and, for the first time, a PDF version of the rules.

Remember in the last Spectre post we talked about Spectre’s Print on Demand trial? Well, it was obviously successful as they have moved to add several brand new figures using this method. These scenario figures are ideal for adding into some more narrative games, giving you some very characterful figures. You can tell when a sculptor got to have fun with the crafting of a figure and I think all of these have that flair (including the Architect). All of these figures are provided via Print on Demand, using the Phrozen Mini 8k printer and high-quality resin direct from Spectre (removing one step in the supply chain).

Along with the new, we also have the old. The RWS systems first released alongside the Humvee set have long been a popular item, to the stage where finding them in stock was a problem (even during the time Spectre brought resin production in-house). However, these items (along with the SUV and Off Road SUV that already fill out my tiny garage) are all now available via Print on Demand, hopefully keeping them in stock more often. But it’s not all old stuff – a keen eye may spot the new RWS Minigun, something which I think people have been asking for for a while. Finally for POD, the Local Forces Squad (one of my favourite releases in the 3d Sculpted Spectre era that I need to get painted up) are now available as either the existing multi-part metal (currently out of stock) or using the Print on Demand method as single figures. It looks like Spectre is hitting the POD hard, presumably to help remove any sticking points in supply chain.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Spectre without a cheeky preview so these are the two I’ve missed since the last News Stand. On the left we have one of the new Task Force Operators (seeing as the old hand sculpted range is being put to bed) while on the right we have the DAGOR, a vehicle that I know Steve has been wanting to make since the original Razor came out all those years ago. Seeing that thing printed in 8K is great so I’m looking forward to seeing that one come out.

Black Powder Red Earth 28mm Heading Rapidly towards Nova

First up for BPRE, big news about Nova next weekend. The team from _Echelon will be running a version of the next expansion for BPRE28 named Spearhead, showing off the new campaign mode for the first time to the public. For those going, they will receive a special pack of exclusive pieces for the event to help you get playing the new content, in the form of new maps, rules and the Battlespace Effects Record sheet to keep track of all the nightmarish things you get up. What’s even better is that all Patrons on the BPRE Patreon will be getting these handouts via PDF the day after the event, giving you a first look into what’s coming later this year. After having been part of AFO Torch on the Discord and getting an early look at all that Spearhead entails, I’m really excited to see how the players take to what is the most apocalyptic rules BPRE28mm has brought to date.

Additionally, Jon Chang from _Echelon has been on the No Dice, No Glory podcast chatting up a storm as he likes to do about all things Black Powder Red Earth 28mm. It’s a great listen, giving plenty of insight into BPRE and some of the processes that they took to get the game out.

(As an aside, there is going to be an article/video combination coming soon covering my own chat with the BPRE guys back in November last year. It’s taken way too long to get around to it but I’m looking forward to making something special.)

INCOUNTRY:RECON Releases and the Tribe Continues

Since the last post, ESS has released INCOUNTRY:RECON, the fast-paced match play version of the core rules. It seems to have gone down well with the ESS fans, offering a new method of play for free. There are also 5 teams that will be released soon, with the pre-orders for them currently up on the store and running through until the end of the month. There is also a giant oil rig set they are selling, ideal for some shenanigans.

Over on the Tribes page for ESS, this month we received the Russian Killteam – a set of figures armed with the notorious ASh (beloved of Tarkov bosses and Barkov’s men in MW2019 alike) and a SVU rifle to support. Due to the number of members in the tribe, all now have access to a mounted weapons pack – this gives you access to three different gunners (Western, Eastern and MENA) as well as a variety of weapon systems such as the M2 and Dshk HMGs, the Mk47 grenade launcher and a Minigun. Finally, next month will see them release the Danish Frogmen, taking one of The Pack releases (previously only available to paying members) and making it onto a wider release. It’s interesting that they appear to have left behind the original plan of building full forces for INCOUNTRY via every three months and instead settled on wider-ranging themes instead.

SoloWargamer Announces “Haywire”

After many years of beating Spectre Operations into various shapes (Red Dawn, Tarkov and more) to suit his solo wargaming style, The SoloWargamer is doing his best Thanos impression and making his own thing. Luckily he made a channel update video covering the info.

Based on what’s mentioned above in the channel update and some of the comments in the SoloWargamer chat on the Ultramodern Wargaming Discord, it looks like it’s going to be a relatively simple core system with lots of addon parts (such as characters for factions) to provide a level of customisation and special abilities. The main focus of the game is to support Solo play and be something that is quick and easy to get on the board and hammer out a game. Even if this isn’t the style of game I look for normally, it is definitely a handy tool in the toolbox for those times you want to move some figures around and don’t feel like playing with yourself.

…

Not like that.

Combat Octopus Deploys The PMC

Combat Octopus continues the monthly releases with a rather exciting range of Private Military Contractors. Taking full advantage of the modular nature of his releases, he’s managed to cram in a mountain of cool pieces, with four separate torsos available in both plate carrier and slick versions ideal for creating that custom force of mercenaries. As always, hitting at the Sergeant levels gives you even more fun toys, such as additional characterful heads and perhaps most important, finally someone making the Magpul Masada in 28mm form. I can already hear all the Jormungand fans rejoicing. If you want these guys, joining up in August will get you the links.

With the move to dual-month releases (giving more time to work and expand out the range to an even more playable state), this means September will also be having some more PMC fellows. As you can see above, an LMG gunner will give you options between the western MK46 and the Eastern PKP while the second pose will let you roll in with the rifle out or have the moving figure using their sidearm. CO is doing a good job with the look of these guys so they aren’t all at the peak of military standards, ideal for more irregular groups. He is also doing two female poses, with the WIPs available on the Ultramodern Wargaming Discord in the wip and teasers channel. These figures should all be released early in September.

Black Hill Games Drops In The US Airborne

Black Hill Games is someone that really needs more coverage as he’s doing a good job hammering out releases on his Patreon. In June he released a set of USMC figures with the M27 and various additional pieces. In July, he released a pack of US Airborne, giving you some recent US Army soldiers including some of the specialists you’d need. The August release is going to be a little bit off the wall – Contras, the Central American guerrillas that may end up being quite a useful set based purely on the gear. Definitely worth keeping an eye on and all his old releases can be found on his Gumroad.

Modern Miniatures Arrives On Patreon

At the start of this month, Modern Miniatures took the step from Webstore and Kickstarter machine, and into his own Patreon, costing only £9.50 a month. Alongside a welcome pack, the first month’s release was a modular kit for the M1078, giving you a choice of three different types of cab, multiple rear sections and assembled in a way to let you easily swap the parts in and out on a common chassis, complete with pre-drilled magnet holes.

Next month’s theme is going to be this remote airport pack with several interesting bits and pieces. The plane and the control tower are obviously the centre pieces, but there also going to be things such as Contraband boxes, fuel tanks and big oil tanks, a wind indicator and even a tree armature.

The releases are a mix of Resin and FDM intended pieces and I’m intrigued to see how the Patreon develops. There was voting to decide which theme was released next, and I have a feeling that the designer is several packs ahead to make sure he can deliver all of them on time every month.

Urban Scatter Gaming Brings The Favela To You

There have been some very interesting releases from UrbanScatterGaming recently. Working with SoloWargamer, Wedge from UrbanScatterGaming has cooked up some Favela packs, offering walls, scatter and poles to really bring the table to life. All three packs include some cool touches, such as gated doors in the wall pack, the roof tiles and awnings in the Scatter and even a selection of pole bases with preinstalled scatter. I’m already eyeing these for my eventual terrain project and I’ve noticed that even Spectre has been using them on their display boards. The pricing also works out nicely, ideal for bringing that extra touch to any board.

District Miniatures Roll Out In The Pinzgauer

District Miniatures on the Ultramodern Wargaming Discord released some very cool STL files ideal for those looking for some different vehicles. The Pinzgauer, as beloved by military users worldwide, is available in two versions, a 6×6 command vehicle with a hardened rear section (for free) and the more common 2×2 version with a soft cover for the reasonable cost of $4. For those of you running ops Stateside, the UPS delivery truck is also a great addition to the table, giving you something slightly more substantial to hide behind.

Windham Graves Continues Being A Machine With His Time

Windam Graves is a very nice fellow I’ve met via the Ultramodern Discord (including seeing him at work on some of the hang outs). His Patreon is an unusual model – rather than buying a specific pack or vehicle, the Patrons spend money to buy Windam’s time to 3d design WW2 and 20th Century vehicles, mostly models. Patrons get first access to the models produced each month, before they are unleashed to the public for free on thingiverse after two months.

This month, he managed to crank out a few things that might interest the ultramodern wargamer. The Huey is obviously the big one but Ural Trucks and the Unimog will definitely find itself a home in certain theatres. There was also the rubbish cans (ideal for street scenes) and the folding chair (ideal for preparing yourself for what I’ll be seeing at Wembley next weekend). The Windham Graves collection incluides some weird and wonderful pieces (where else can you get a LeHaitre Tractorcycle?) so supporting him should help him continue on making this stuff.

Phew, that’s all for now. The next News Stand should be slightly shorter and out at a regular tempo, ideally aiming for Sundays if there is any news to cover for that week. It will not be quite so long next time… hopefully.

If you want to support my work on gathering the news together, my Patreon is the best way to keep things going. With a minimal cost of £1 a month, every little helps to keep the news spigot flowing and to let me cover more of the suppliers out there.

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.

With my work on Ultramodern Chain of Command continuing, as well as campaign in the planning, I would need to recruit some additional players. Luckily, I have a former housemate/Delaque player to recruit. Of course, recruiting a new player to game is always interesting, especially as his other tabletop experience had been entirely Games Workshop small model number games (such as Inquisitor, Necromunda and Blood Bowl) so being given a full platoon might be considered a bit of a jump.

That said, I managed to get him over on Sunday to have a game, heading back to the Invasion of Bazistan. We’re using the same rules, so for more details on the changes I’ll refer you back to the first battle report, Operation Rubicon.

Alongside the main advance into the Bazi Empire, elements of the Cynerician 18th Division have been engaging in probes along the flanks in order to find and destroy scattered elements of the Bazi forces before they can reform.

Following the route of Highway 212, the forward elements of a Cynerician platoon, accompanied by a small team of the highly trained Cynerician 31st Logistical Studies Group, find themselves against a Bazi Army Platoon among the ruins of several family compounds in the Nahr Highlands region.

CYNERICIAN ARMY

My Opponent received an understrength Cynerician platoon, roughly patterned after the US Army Infantry platoon. As before, the Cynericians only has two of the usual three infantry squads, with the supporting Medium Machine gun squad only able to provide a single team. However, as before each squad had it’s mix of Team Leaders and firepower in addition to the faction benefits of body armour, medical gear and optics and the drawback of being Heavily Laden that should act as force multipliers.

They also had a new addition, a team of Special Forces from the euphemistically named “Cynerician 31st Logistical Studies Group”. Using the rather awesome Operation Red Wings figures from Empress, this Team comprised of a Junior Leader with UGL, Team Leader with UGL and a pair of DMRs. As well as being classed as Elite, there would be some other benefits to them (some of which are still under wraps). However, it should be noted that my opponent (obviously playing the role of a Cynerician infantry commander with an axe to grind against the glory boys) would end up declaring he would try and carry the game without using the Special Forces Team.

Army of the Emitrate of BAzistan

I would find myself in command of a platoon of regular Bazi Army. This force is the same as the previous game but missing the pair of police units that added some flexibilty. The rest remains the same – 8 man sections with Junior leader, RPG and a PKM with no loader. The Command HQ is the same, Ranking Senior Leader, Senior Leader and medic. And as you might expect, the communications, body armour and Questionable Marksmanship also applies.

However, I had gained some support. A Bazi Army Sniper was available to me (which should help cause some problems for the enemy) and I had a technical to hand. With a PKM on the back, the vehicle should be handy as a high speed machine gun platform, the only downside being it not having a leader in it so limited to fire or move each time. Oh and it is unarmoured, so it will need to avoid being in the open too long.

The battlefield was assembled again from the various pieces of Sarissa Alamo compound. I decided to go a little more ruined this time, removing many of the roof pieces to make the area look like it’s been hit by enemy fighting. I also made sure not to make things too squared off – this needs to look like the rugged uplands that haven’t followed European farming patterns.

We decided to play the Patrol mission (scenario 1 in the rulebook) seeing as the objective was reasonably simple for a new player. The dice rolls for the patrol makers arrival ended up mostly on the same central/flank positions, meaning out encounter would be focused on one side of the board. Once we ran through the Patrol phase, we deployed our JOPs.

For the Bazis, the trio of JOPs were in a pretty reasonable position. The furtherest forward was close enough to let me deploy over the wall of the L compound and push towards the enemy at the top. The central position gave me a good setup location on the board edge in cover while the final position would setup an assault on the centre.

On the Cynerician side, there was obviously a bit of traffic jam of JOPs around the gatehouse due to how the Patrol phase had ended, which would possibly make it easy to lock them both down if I could get into those structures. If being the main word there.

The JOP in the centre would be the main push however – close enough to the buildings to allow the Cynerician squads to deploy almost directly into cover (or at least move up to it carefully).

With the higher force morale (11 to my opponent’s 9), I activated first. Not wishing to put all my cards on the table too quickly, I placed one of my three squads around the shrubbery JOP, before putting them into overwatch focusing on the front arc.

The Cynericians also deployed quickly, getting the first of their two squads out and heading towards the only real height on the board, the central compound.

The following phase also belonged to the Cynericians. While building up a Chain of Command dice relatively quickly, the deployment of a senior leader allowed the advancing squad to move into the building, take up positions on the floor above and then enter enhanced overwatch, covering the open ground between the treeline and the compound.

A junior leader activation put the other Cynerician squad onto the field, heading towards the road way in an attempt to out manevoure the overwatching enemy.

Getting a reasonable idea of my enemy’s plan, I deployed the technical to the board to act as a mobile MG team.

I then made a catastrophic mistake.

Seeing the distance between my jumping off point and the corner cluster belonging to the enemy, and looking for a way to destroy my opponent’s force morale, I realised if I could capture them both and deliver a heck of a punch.

However, I only had a squad activation – I couldn’t use the junior leader to go on Overwatch or pop smoke.

At which point, the phase shifted. My opponent reached over and picked up his machine gun team, dropping them into the ruins of the compound. It’s really easy to picture it:

The Bazi squad climbs over the wall on the flank moving from cover to cover. But alas, before they can cross the passageway…. muzzle flash lights up the shadows of the ruin, and GPMG rounds started shredding the wall behind them.

The first burst forced the squad to hit the deck, taking 6 points of suppression. Only body armour had stopped them from taking any casualties but it wasn’t a good start to a lynchpin assault.

To add insult to injury, my opponent decided to add an infantry squad’s worth of fire. However, being careful of my squad sat on Overwatch, his junior leader decided to pop smoke across the opening.

Moving forward at slow rate, the squad then rained in additional fire. Lucky for the Bazi’s the shots were mostly ineffective, but also not a good sign as more enemies were advancing.

The Senior Leader on the other hand had more violence on his mind. Spotting that the first Bazi infantry section had started advancing on his position and setup an overwatch (thanks to them being joined by a Senior Leader), the Cynerician Platoon Sergeant left one of his fireteams on overwatch while the other team were ordered to begin throwing frag grenades over the wall.

Three grenades later and the Bazis had taken their first casualty (as well as some shock). The battle was truly joined.

The phase switching to myself, I now had some movements to do With infantry advancing into the open, the technical moved up to meet them.

I also decided to be sensible with the infantry in the centre. Rather than dragging a casualty around, my junior leader activated and detached a soldier to carry my casualty back to the JOP, making sure that when the turn ended I wouldn’t have any lingering casulties well out of safe CASEVAC zones. Right?

Oh no. Oh no no no.

By activating the Senior Leader with the squad, I rallied off the two points of shock and then put down a simple order “move as fast as possible across the gap”. Two men down, and with the Platoon leader’s right hand man pushing them forward, the squad began a sprint.

With the benefit of hindsight, I should have spent one of those points to pop smoke. But hindsight is 20/20.

Instead, as the Bazis crossed a gap, the Cynerician fireteam on the first floor opened up. With a range that was close enough for the carbines to be within close range, a literal hail of 5.56 (and a single DMR shot) tore through the moving squad. Being that they were in the open, the results were devastating. Thankfully, body armour stopped there being any immediate KIA but instead, the team would now have to deal with three casualties and a pile of shock. The squad was immediately pinned in place.

And then it got worse. As the phase changed over, the other fireteam from the ambushing Cynerician took up firing positions and the entire squad opened up. Being pinned did help, stopping most of the fire, but it didn’t help entirely. Taking another casualty and saving a shot via body armour added enough shock to break the squad, forcing it to fall back with it’s casualties. A Bad Thing had occured.

Side note: After the game (and discussing with the Regular Opponents) we decided that excess casualties in this case should have been left behind. A very bad thing!

Speaking of bad things, at this point, my opponent remembered my mention of what ending the turn does. Dropping a chain of command dice down, I had to take a pile of Bad Things Happen tests due to all the casualties. In a single phase, my morale plunged from the heights of 11 down to 4. Damn.

Finally, the Cynerician infantry squad spread out, ready to finish off my other Infantry section and prepare to hit my technical with the AT4 one of the soldiers is lugging around.

With my reduced command dice, I realised I need to get to work. The Technical opened up with the PKM, causing some shock but not much else. More useful was deploying my final Infantry squad. Emerging in the yard of the outbuilding, the Junior Leader pointed out the Cynerician machine gun team. The RPG round detonated against the top of the building, covering the dug in defensive team in shrapnel and pinning them (while quietly thanking the rules writer that he gave them a team leader).

Side note: This is an interesting thing to note – although Ultramodern teams and squads/sections can put out an obscene amount of firepower, they are often smaller than their WW2 counterparts and more vulnerable to being pinned.

Speaking of being pinned, the Bazi squad on the far left attempted to perform some fire and manevoure – by which I mean advancing towards the enemy, firing on full auto (thanks to the Questionable Marksmanship, firing at full effectiveness while moving is possible even if you probably won’t actually hit anything). Alas, between some poor dice rolls and the shock, I was only able to get one infantry man into cover.

I can see where this is going.

Of course, a pinned machine gun team is still a machine gun team. And 10 dice at half effectiveness is still 5 dice. So after dusting themselves off, the MG team let it rip again.

Between the MMG team and the assisting Cynerician infantry, the Bazi squad on the left flank got hammered. With one KIA, a casualty and a pile of shock markers, the Bazis broke and routed off the board. With the loss of a junior leader AND the squad, I lost my remaining force morale and left the board.

Victory to the Cynericians! After the traditional hand shaking across the board, we retired to the kitchen to talk over the game and cook up a Thai Chicken curry.

That was a really fun game! I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to win it (partially as I was helping a new player learn) but I still had a good time. One thing I’m definitely learning is just how useful things like smoke grenades and Covering Fire will be when you’re having to deal with just how much firepower is floating around a modern battlefield. The basic mechanics and Modern tweaks are working rather well, but I think the next step is to add the platoon lists and support options. To the CoCulator!

More importantly, my opponent had a good time and so will be joining us for the campaign as another commander. Expect more games coming soon.

Hmm, this blog has been far too quiet this week, maybe I need to drop a hint about that I’m working on…

Okay that’s less a hint and more of a preview. But expect a post soon about some of these fine figures from White Dragon Miniatures. It’s actually been a nice change, jumping around between different paint schemes rather than block painting one scheme.

Full post this weekend.

Well I do love a good contents page don’t I?

A lot of time has been spent digging through various conversions of Chain of Command these last few weeks, trying to arrange together some information to be used to make up a set of changes to move Chain of Command into the Ultramodern era. I’ll go into more details on the changes after this week’s play session but I’m happy how I’ve managed to add some major changes that don’t massively bulk out Chain of Command’s existing systems with excessive re-writing.

The Dastardly Regular Opponent is coming over this weekend for us to play the first test games – I’m planning to play some understrength US Style platoons against each other, and then maybe expand out after that. Probably adding some off-map supports or light vehicles.

Of course, I do need some platoons to play with. I already have a US Army platoon (and enough irregulars to throw something together) but there are a few other forces to finish off. The big project is the pair of British Platoons I have to paint up (from Empress and White Dragon Miniatures) which is something I’m working on next month.

Over the last two years I’ve been working on the USMC guys. I have realised I will need more to bring them up to a full platoon size (something I’ll probably get next month at Vapa in York). But in the mean time, I can get the guys I have finished off. It was definitely a change of pace from painting Games Workshop style figures, with a lot more details to paint up. I also need to go back and add basing material to all my current figures (US Army included) as it looks so much better than the mere sand I’ve used in the past.

But, time moves on. There are other platoons to make. As well as the US Army, US Marine and British Army platoons I currently have, I’ve been looking into other possibilities. Turns out there are plenty of nations with weird and wonderful setups. Last year I grabbed a late Kickstarter from Normandy Miniatures to pick up their French Infantry STLs – I decided to just go for the FAMAS equipped guys, as I have plenty of men with AR15s. These are some really nice figures, and I was able to print them out in one Saturn build plate. I haven’t got round to getting them cured and painted up, but I have noticed some print issues on the crouching figures so I may need to re-do some. But that’s 3D Printing for you!

Surprise! The guys over at The Table’s Edge (a Spectre Operations podcast) invited me on to chat about all thing Ultramodern Wargaming. We talked a lot about a wide selection of things from how I started in the hobby up to my thoughts on rulesets and even the ChargeReal, which might explain why it’s 90 minutes long. So sit back with a warm drink (or maybe a model or two to paint) and enjoy!

Ben and Dan (the guys behind the show) are pretty fantastic – full of enthusiasm for the hobby, focused on making a super entertaining product and just really nice and welcoming over on the Unofficial Spectre: Operations Wargaming Community Discord. I recommend jumping into the Discord to come and hang out as well as listening to the podcast (on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts or Spotify)

It’s taken me a little time (I was distracted by all sorts of fantasy things) but I’ve finally finished off the first three Criminal Element Heavies from Spectre. As mentioned previously, these guys are going to be used as another Special Forces team in the Bazi Empire. While the Insurgent PMC I’ve done previously look like a properly military unit, the ballistic masks and tricked out guns are definitely something a touch more “personal”. For this reason, I’m going down the route that these guys are the private army of one of the many Bazi princes, an elite unit inside the Emirate that operates adjacent to the Emirate’s command structure, much to the chagrin of the government. As well as providing their Prince protection, they will also be willing to do any other tasks assigned to them – including the removal of political rivals and opponents or the crushing of any sign of popular revolt. With Bazistan’s wealth in resources, the Princes can easily drop the money on well trained mercenaries (or high levels of training for their loyal followers) and the latest in high tech gear. Or of course, they can also go get the most gucci stuff that they saw in an action movie.

I’m also starting to play around with actually editing the photos I put up here. Previously I’ve just hammered out the photos to get the damn thing uploaded. However, I always feel like the photos are the point of a lot of my posts and so I feel like I need to do a little bit of a job. Luckily, I’m more than happy to work to add to my skillset when it comes to running the blog. You might see them looking a touch odd as I work my way through the process but I’m already really happy with my early attempts.

Oh boy. It’s been a long time since I’ve looked at rulesets, even longer since I’ve written my impressions on them. So why not kick it off with something that has been eagerly awaited?

For a long time, there has been a lot of discussion about a tabletop game from Black Powder Red Earth. Keen eyed readers may remember the Spectre models that were made to represent Ember team from the graphic novels and I am continued to be annoyed we didn’t get any further sets. There was also a board game prototype that they had been working on and that has evolved into the subject of today’s Impression piece, Black Powder Red Earth 28mm.

Also before we get started, slight disclosure – I am a backer of Black Powder Red Earth on patreon at the lowest level, enough to give me access to the piles of PDFs they have.

The Background

For a bit of context, I should probably go into just what Black Powder Red Earth is. More commonly abbreviated to BPRE, Black Powder Red Earth is a series of graphic novels and games from Jon Chang, with illustration work done by Josh Taylor and funded in part by an ongoing Patreon. Split over several arcs each set in a different hot-spot (Iraq, Syria, Yemen and the North African fictional state of Awbari), the stories are all action thrillers involving Cold Harbor, a US PMC that is hired by various government and private entities to provide training and direct action capabilities. Each book is filled with incredibly striking and stylistic artwork of operators operating operationally – gear and tactics are intricately researched, helped by some of their close contacts and partnerships with companies like BCM, as well as Mr Chang having been a co-founder of Hayley Strategic, and all with this aggressive colour scheme, the visuals almost searing themselves into your eyes. The tone is similarly realistic – technological advantages may help Cold Harbor stack some bodies but a lot of the guys in red still go down during the numerous firefights. And all the way through, the setting is presented in a way that is gripping and interesting to read – as I’ve said in the past, the thing that pushed me into making my own setting is seeing what Echelon has done with this series, in it’s graphic novels, video games and sourcebooks.

With the baseline information aside, I should probably say the first controversial thing – I’m not actually the biggest fan of the graphic novels.

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Okay, I can already see the comments being written and the tabs closing. Let me explain.

I do enjoy the artwork and the world building each issue includes. The broad strokes of the story and the setting, the dedication to showing the real world (with all it’s shades of grey) and showing the tactical operations done right. Where I think the series falls down, in my opinion personally, is that while the world sticks with me, it fails to grab hold quite so much with the more specific drama – the focal characters mostly merge into one of two archetypes (grizzled operator or suit wearing leader), while the story seeming to meander it’s way through the first three books before rushing to the inevitable “Book 4 Big Dramatic Twist” (that usually leaves everyone you might have liked dead). I am cautiously hopeful for the latest series Awbari – the first issue already shows a dramatically improved amount of recognisable characters and less focus on the gore/spectacle of the action over actually delivering a plot.

So, coming from that I must really dislike the game, right?

Oh no. I really, really like it. I think this is a game I’m going to keep coming back to.

The Rulebook

Set in the Awbari storyline, BPRE 28mm is a skirmish wargame focused on one thing – night raids by the Cold Harbour team Scorch against enemy positions in the border clades. Each mission lets you take a selection of Cold Harbour operators and send them against the local insurgents and their Hongbin mercenary handlers. The front of the book is a big chunk of lore describing the situation, giving anyone who may have missed the first volume of the new graphic novel a lowdown on the situation. It’s very evocative, conjuring the images of the world and the forces into your mind. At the back of the book there is also the action scene from issue 1 of the Awbari arc, giving you some more inspiration for the games to come and just how your tabletop actions will look in your mind’s eye.

As a side note, I think it’s worth mentioning about how book writes about one of the sides you’re expected to play. As in the comic, the religious fanatics of the Aayari Network and the Chinese backed, North Korean Hongbin troops are written as the complete and utter bastards they are (the Hongbin Merc standing out as especially moustache twirling villains while the Muhtsib are exactly what you expect when someone says “Religious Fanatic”). Unlike the comic however, one player is going to end up having to control them. Ultramodern Wargaming is full of these situations and it could be argued that it’s one of it’s defining traits. It’s interesting just how all out they go making them “the bad guys” without the shades of grey that often come into play. It should be said, this is not really a critique, more an observation – plus, as I discovered with a certain player at SESWC (they know who they are) some people really enjoy playing the bad guys.

I also want to talk about the presentation of this book – it’s fantastic. BPRE has evolved a style all of it’s own and the book lives and breathes it. The punchy fonts, the colour scheme, the very clear diagrams in a pictorial style – all of this helps to make the book feel like another entry in the graphic novel series, while still getting across information needed to play the game. In fact, the only downside is maybe some of the print quality – like the graphic novel volumes, the book is a paperback printed by Amazon locally. While this is great for the environment and better for Echelon Software, it’s not so great for having the premium feel that other rulesets like Osprey’s big books can give you. As my eager reading of Silver Bayonet this week can attest, a little bit of gloss and a hardback cover can go a long way, especially with all the great design work already in the box.

The Rules

Once past the lore, the meat of the book is the rules. And lets just cut to the chase: I am kind of amazed at just how slick the core of the rules is. Take for example the enemy of rules writer everywhere – character profiles. While most games include separate stats for combat, leadership and equipment options, BPRE cuts it down to four things: How fast can I move, How well can I hit the bad guys (the hit roll), how easily do I go down when shot (the save roll) and what special things can I do (special rules). Having just come off Necromunda’s literal list of values, this was quite a breath of fresh air! And yet, despite this dialling back of complexity, the character types still have a different feel to them – I’ll go into more details later but while playing the bad guys, the difference between the local Aayari troops and the Hongbin mercs comes across hard thanks to the tweaks in the different values.

The rest of the core fundamentals are pretty damn solid as well. Shooting is a two stage process (roll to hit, roll to save) with very few additional modifiers (at most maybe a single numerical one) with details for cover included in the attack roll. Rolling high on either of these is good, while 20’s give you either an unsavable kill (useful against S-Vest and body armour users) or ignores the staggering effect of being shot. Cover is also simple – it’s all done from the top down perspective you are either out of Line of Sight, Obstructed or in the open (with any additional line of sight rules covered with some handy diagrams). Doors on the battlefield, key in a CQB engagement, also paly a part, blocking line of sight unless movement is spent to open them. Activating a character at any point drops an ACT chit on them, with specific rules for this varying during whatever stage you are in.

A final general rule element is facing – rather than 180 degrees or 90, BPRE goes with 135 degrees, or 90 degrees to their left and 45 degrees to the right. While at first puzzling, it made a little more sense when I thought back to my airsoft trips, during which your visibility to your right is usually filled with at least some element of your armament during a close quarters engagement.

Four things I really want to cover are the Turn Structure, Intervention Cards, Warfighters and setting up each scenario (with the potential to arrange a full on Night Raid).

Turn Structure

Each turn in BPRE is split into three phases: Direct Fire, Maneuver and Finishing. Players take turns activating within each phase, meaning there is a quite pleasant back and forth, especially with how little action paralysis you’ll experience. Additionally, the Assaulting player always goes first – each game of BPRE is a very short engagement, not really enough time for the initiative to swing back and forth

The Direct Fire phase is probably the phase where most of your pre-planned shooting will take place. Any attacks during this phase gain a bonus to the hit roll and by going first makes you think about setting up firing arcs in the previous turn. This phase also lets you toss out frag grenades, which lie in wait until later in the turn. Interestingly, this is merely place a token in the location you want to throw the grenade, leading to some fun mechanics later on.

The Maneuver Phase allows units that did not shoot in the Direct Fire phase to move around and, at any point in that move, engage an opponent within line of sight. If you are unfortunate to move into the line of sight of a model that has yet to be activated (or god forbid start activating within that line of sight) then an interruption can occur and a Immediate action take place (at the loss of some accuracy). My favourite feature of this phase though (aside from being able to drop support fires on your opponent) has to be rules about cover. While you can move around the waist high cover dotting the area, you can also attempt to cross it. This comes with a risk though, you have a 50/50 chance of fluffing your attempt to climb over the obstacle and end up staggered and on the far side of it – good when running to cover, bad when crossing some to keep advancing.

The Finishing Phase begins with the clearing of all Activation chits, preparing everyone for one final chance to act in the turn. This is followed up by the re-appearance of those frag grenade chit that were dropped in the Direct Fire phase. However, rather than simply detonating where the marker was placed, there is instead a chance for it to scatter a short distance (stopping at walls) and then detonate. This makes grenades a pretty interesting trap, flushing people out of cover as you always sure exactly where the final template will be. This turn also ends with close quarters Finishing Attacks taking place, with each player taking turns to deliver a final blow to any opponent within spitting distance of your forces – useful for finishing off anyone not killed by the frag grenades.

Now, you might have noticed that I mention ways to attack your opponent in every phase there and that’s correct – this game is fast and bloody. In the games I managed to play, we were dropping bodies frequently, with several games ending way before the 7 turn time limit just by tabling the opponent. This makes sense for the close quarters action the game entails and makes most moves feel like dancing on a knife edge.

Intervention Cards

If there is one thing that Necromunda has taught me, people love having hands of cards to let them modify how the game is played. BPRE 28mm is no exception, giving each player a small hand of cards at the start of each game. The use of these cards is something that lets you change the game, upending the core mechanics and letting you twist the hands of fate.

Think your fanatical Muhtasib is about to die due to all the Scorch guys around him? Drop “Front Towards Enemy” and suddenly the Scorch player is frantically hoping you roll a Stagger or higher to prevent an explosive end. Your Scorch Recce man stuck in the open? “This is Bat Country” lets you claw a touch more movement in the Finishing Phase. Your Assaulter shot entering a room by a Hongbin Merc? “Save the Last Bullet” lets you attempt to take that son of a bitch out before you go down.

You are only allowed three of these cards, and picking it as important as picking your team. None of the cards feel overpowered or useless – they are all minor tweaks rather than any game changers and only a few are raw “add +2 to a dice roll” – too many of that is when you know a designer is frantically trying to pad. It’s also a mechanic that can inspire some really great plays and memorable moments – exactly what you need in a skirmish game.

Warfighters

As I mentioned before, the units you select may be simple in profile but all feel different and have their place. Some of them (like the Machine Gunner or anyone with a fires asset) are limited to specific numbers within the force based on it’s total points, which is a neat bit of balancing without hugely overcomplicating things.

For Scorch, you have the Advisor, Assaulter, Automatic Rifleman and Recce. Assaulter are probably the “main” part of the force giving you a reliable shooter and a frag deploying machine. Recce are a slightly tweaked Assaulter, giving you a host of special rules and extra movement to make you perfect at kicking in doors. The Automatic Rifleman is the main killing power in the team, great at both Immediate Actions and dropping a handful of attacks every opportunity (thanks to the LAMG). Finally, the Advisor is a better Assaulter who also brings an area of effect explosive drone to the field.

For the Aayari guys, you have the Muhtasib and the Shurta, as well as the Hongbin Enabler and Mercs. The Muhtasib are your Assaulter equivalent, although cheaper and less skilled. They are however all wearing S-Vests – you want to stay away from these guys as that explosive packed vest isn’t just a reaction to a critical save fail, it’s an option to self-detonate in the Maneuver phase as well. Taking a Muhtasib also lets you take four Shurta and oh boy, these guys are terrible. No save rolls, a middling Hit Roll and honestly probably likely to shoot through their own team if they are in the way (yes, that’s a special rule). But, coming in at a quarter of the price of an Assaulter (a Muhtasib and a Shurta equals a single Assaulter), you can get more than enough numbers to overwhelm the Scorch guys. Alternatively, Hongbin Mercs give you a Lite version of the Automatic Rifleman who can also frag while the Enabler is the equal of any Scorch character while also giving you a pair of Loitering Munitions that simply drop a lump of metal directly onto a single enemy figure if you really need them dead (Automatic Riflemen and Advisors for the most part).

The limited numbers and lack of equipment options means it’s very easy to make a list for every game, without have to do a pile of mental maths or fill out tons of paperwork. I also like how each side only has four types of soldiers as it means you don’t need piles and piles of reference cards or a table to hold them all (looking at you Warhammer 40,000/Age of Sigmar). This also means that after a few games, you might find yourself remembering the Attack and Save Rolls (especially with Scorch where everyone but the Advisor has the same Attack Roll and they all have a standardised Save Roll). I may be jumping the gun, but if this game was to be expanded, I think it’s better to swap out ALL the cards for a side, rather than tacking on more and more – four is the right number.

Organising your Night Raids

So as you can probably tell, I like a lot in the core parts of this game. Where the game really shines though is in the scenario generation system and how these operations can be turned into a 3 or 5 mission night raid.

If you want to play a single mission, you will need to grab your tasking cards, your battle-space cards and your atmospherics. Taking one from each will determine your objectives, the layout of your AO and any large scale effects that might help/hinder your forces. The taskings are split into three types (Infil, Action On and Exfil) but these don’t determine a particular style of mission or anything specific – there is a good mix in each section so you won’t find yourself doing the same thing twice if you play multiple Infils. Additionally, not all of the missions has Scorch on the assault – something I was worried on my first read as going first in every mission might make it annoying for a Aayari player. The scenarios then detail Setup, anything required in your team makeup and how to win. I was very glad to see that not every mission is a simple “wipe out the bad guys” – from placing thermobaric charges to holding an exfil point, there is plenty of cool things to be doing.

Once you work out what you’re doing, the next step is setting up the play area. The battlespaces are all built from different arrangements of the same core elements (specific buildings, scattered vehicles, planters begging for you to leap over), meaning that it’s very easy to build up a board ready to play. I’ve got some opinions on these layouts (I’ll mention later) but we did notice that quite a few of them are very similar which might lead to some play space fatigue. However, each of them does have a nice mix of spaces to fight through, with plenty of thought put into keep plenty of cover in play.

Finally, the atmospherics determine just how much the fates hate you. One of them are pretty reasonable, with clear skies doing nothing. Too clear, with strong moonlight, and suddenly Fires cards are more deadly. Pull even worse and you might be in midst of a Sirocco (making fires less effective) or a Sandstorm (that basically reduces unskilled troops to staggering through the dust while better trained operators sneak past them) or, as we ended up in one of our playtest games, fighting through a BLOOD RAIN, a mix of the two that leads to some nasty close quarters fights.

With all this done, you pick your team up to the Capability value for the mission, pick your cards and begin to play. Each game will take around 30 minutes (we took about 50 in our first game as we were learning the rules) making it pretty ideal for playing over a lunch break. But what if you have more time?

Well, you can string them together into a full on Night Raid. Taking an evening to play through and comprising of either 3 or 5 games (1-2 Infil, 1 Action On and 1-2 Exfil), this is the main way to play the game. Now, wining operations will give you points but also potential very powerful Special Intervention Cards that sit in your hand for the rest of the Night Raid. Knowing you have the ability to control the Timeline (messing with the turn counter) or deny an enemy Fires card through jamming makes. At the same time, the atmospherics card you pick is going to last the whole time through, so you may need to plan around things like the Blood Rain.

Additionally, as each mission is a different engagement of a large force, there is no worries about injuries or the usual things that slow campaign games down. Lost a operation? Ah well, pick a new force, pick a new hand of cards and try again next operation. In our testing, it was funny watching my opposing player go from absolute elation at winning the first game to sudden concern once he worked out how many Mission Points I could snatch in the final games, despite having been bodied early on.

Much like with Necromunda and it’s campaigns, I think Night Raids is the way to play BPRE 28mm – all the joys of the main game but with the addition of playing the long game.

Game Thoughts

So overall, what do I think? Having managed to get a few games in, both playing through solo and against the Dastardly Regular Opponent, I managed to get my thoughts together.

Well first of all, lets say what this game isn’t. This game isn’t a replacement for Spectre or Sangin. While those games are multi-tools, providing access to a whole host of mission types and gameplay thanks to the piles of rules, Black Powder Red Earth 28mm is a really damn good screwdriver. It fits into the class of “Miniatures Boardgame” – it’s perhaps a step above playing on a fold out board with tile based movement but it definitely has the similar sensations. Between the small size of the arenas, a use of a pre-defined set of tiles for scenery and the low figure count, this would be right at home alongside the Dark Souls board game in your local hobby store.

That said, I think the game is fantastic. Razor focused on delivering close quarters and gripping firefights without being bogged down in minutiae, the fact you can play a game in a lunch break is pretty fantastic (and would have been perfect for when I was up in Edinburgh working). It’s easy to learn but still with plenty of depth. Even in our second turn, just after a Recce man breached and cleared a building, we were already getting excited about the possibility space.

In terms of downsides, as a miniatures gamer, I think the layouts are not the best. Overall they are very similar, to the point where after a while my Dastardly Regular opponent and I decide to just leave the arrangement in place rather than shift what felt like two buildings around. It might have been cool to see some layouts using less buildings but more low cover, shifting the style of play. If you’re wanting to play this with just the rulebook, I’d simply take the layouts in the book as guidelines and then arrange your own terrain into something that roughly equals the feel.

It’s also a game I’d be excited to see how it grows. With a powerful but simple core mechanic set, it would be pretty easy to add new units (perhaps local government forces) or even things like additional mechanics, adding things like stealth. Even after my first Night Raid, I was already thinking about how you might model other forces, always a good sign in a new system!

I strongly recommend having this game around. It’s ideal for a club night, something to break out if you’re missing a player for a bigger game or someone isn’t able to turn up. It’s also a great introduction into ultramoderns for people who maybe aren’t quite ready for something with the scale of Spectre, put much less of a mental load on your head if you just want to drop some tiny plastic bodies.

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Ah, I see you’ve spotted the fact this article isn’t over yet. Lets talk about the bit of this game I’m much less enthusiastic about.

Distribution

I have mentioned in the past that Black Powder Red Earth products are definitely boutique. With the expense of small production runs, some eyewatering shipping to the UK due to previous issues with past shipments going missing (and a guarantee that customs will get their blood money when they see the cost), all this adds up to explains why my copy of Hypernotes Ember is sitting without a hard copy of it’s Scorch counterpart. It’s also why I have greater understanding for all the guys in the US who complain about Spectre’s pricing and postage.

The good news for wargamers is that the basic rulebook is £25 in the UK, is on Amazon and is shipped by them (I even got mine next day). I think this is a fair price – there is a lot of work in the book and the system is definitely worth it (as this monster of an impressions piece should probably tell you). I feel like I’ve got plenty of value from the book already and as mentioned above, it’s a nice ruleset to have on the shelf ready to deploy.

At this point, I have to say that for the other bundles I’m working entirely off the images available on the BPRE 28mm site. I haven’t pushed the button on any of these so this is all working off information available from the BPRE 28mm webpage. As such, I’m no going to comment on things like material quality or whatever – it would all just be me talking out of my backside!

For $65, you can get a set of the Scorch Team figures. These are resin cast, multipart figures and from looking at them they are rather good casts of the Scorch team guys with a nice level of detail. The price works out at $6.50/£5+ each, dropping you well and truly into new model Spectre pricing (although with less broken gun barrel due to them being multipart).

If you don’t want to spend that much, it’s also worth mentioning that there are some other people already selling figures similar to this style (although not exactly due to the replacement of the Minimis in the Cold Harbor arsenal with the LAMG), especially if you have access to a 3d printer.

If you want to get the figures and the tokens, then you are looking at a jump up to $175. This is basically the “I want the rulebook now and I’m willing to wait for the rest of the game” or “I’m a $25 patron and got the book through that” bundle. In terms of tokens/cards, you are looking at a fair amount. As well as the cards in hand, there is a pile of tokens for Activation, grenades, objectives. And then there is the terrain – doors, building layouts, planters, air-conditioning units and parked cars all as 2D flat tiles.

Finally, to buy the whole bundle with the book AND figures AND tokens, you’re looking at a cool $200 USD. This is listed as “The Complete Target Package” except I see one tiny flaw with it – there doesn’t appear to be anything to be used to represent OPFOR. While I can perhaps excuse not including things like dice (they are relatively easy to find and frankly I’m getting sick of GW giving me more), not including anything to show for the Aayarians in a head to head game might cause a problem for someone picking up the box as a way to get into tabletop wargaming (which I think this game will attract from fans of the comic).

Now, it’s quite obvious why it’s this expensive. Black Powder Red Earth is proudly marked as manufactured in the USA, with none of the printing shipped out to China as is usually done by everyone else, from Kickstarter projects to even Games Workshop. And honestly, I can respect the team for sticking to their principles. It does come with the downside that this release is definitely among the more expensive on the market. And again another part of the boutique feel of the items that Echelon Software produces.

Final Thoughts

So for this reason, I’m left incredibly torn. I can full recommend picking up the rulebook for all the reasons I explain above. Go buy it, enjoy the sequence at the back and reading about Awbari and have the game ready to go for when you want to get the Ultramoderns on the table but don’t feel like all the rigmarole of preparing a Spectre or Sangin game. It’s fun, it’s quick and you’ll have a good time.

I’m less quick fire to recommend the larger bundles. To start with, I’d surprised you can’t just pick-up the cards by themselves – it seems like the type of purchase that would make sense for a miniature gamer just interested in the rules and with their own terrain.

I also have a bit of an issue with “the complete target package” when it’s missing half of the figures you need to play – Hongbin and Aayari are coming next year and there are no placeholders in the box to let you pick up and play. I have a feeling that the product as a whole may have been better served as a board game style release, especially through something like Kickstarter – provide the game as a box that’s good to go (complete with pushboard standees using the fantastic artwork you can see in this article as playing pieces) and then provide the miniatures, 3d terrain and any expansions as add-ons down the road or stretch goals. With a strong artstyle and a fantastic game, with the right word of mouth I could see this game doing pretty well. I did see some comments that a Kickstarter might be coming when the rest of the miniatures are ready, which would make sense, but doesn’t help someone wanting to get into it now.

This is going to be one that is very much a wait and see. I really hope that the game has the legs to stand on it’s own after the launch period and that Echelon keep it supported with the figures and maybe even gameplay additions (always gonna be extra taskings for Scorch to hit).

Anyway, I’ll see you guys in Awbari. Don’t forget to check those corners and keep an eye on the sky for any sign of lumps of Chinese metal flying towards you.

If you want to hear an alternative take on the game, the boys over at The Table’s Edge have done a special mini-episode on BPRE 28mm. It’s available directly from their Soundcloud or you can subscribe to them through the usual places – Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc

Not much hobby done as I spent a chunk of last week fixing the website again. I wrote a little bit about what has been changed up on my Twitter (and warning about what I think caused them). Fingers crossed this is the last time we’ll have this issue.

NEWS

Brigade Games are running a new Kickstarter that is perfect for anyone working on some action in South or Central America. Drug War Z is all about some zombie fighting action, but the figures could very easily be used for more regular missions. I’m definitely a fan of the Policia guys – this style of uniformed but less well equipped figure has plenty of uses.

UPDATES

The White Dragon Mastiff arrived! As you can see this is a lovely piece of kit (if a little delicate) and I’m already enjoying building it. It uses the White Dragon design of a hollow two piece design, much lighter than any similar. I’ve got my concerns about the scale (it’s 1/56 rather than my preferred 1/50) but we’ll see once I’ve assembled it.

Seeing as I love resin, I also ordered a Technical Charlie from Spectre (just to sate the completionist in me). Seeing as it arrived the next day (the joy of living back in England), I managed to crack it out and take a look. A full impression is coming but from a quick look it’s some wonderful Spectre design, with only minimal cleanup. The downside to it is that the rear cargo bay is fractionally smaller than the other technicals, so my modular weapons templates don’t work on it. Some work may be required…

Another element from Spectre was a very lucky ebay purchase. Thanks to a heads up from a friend, I managed to snag a pack of African militia I had been mostly missing from my Spectre collection. This was the support weapon pack for the Militia – an UZI carrying fighter, a well dressed man with a shotgun, a marksman with a Lee Enfield and an LMG gunner with a Bren gun. These figures have had some of the fine detail knocked off (as you might expect from a second hand figure) but still I’m very glad to own them.

A couple of years ago I made up this bingo chart to compare my collection against the releases from the original kickstarter. Since then, I’ve picked up a few more figures, either through Spectre re-releases (such as the Technical Charlie or the Warlord) or through ebay. As you can see, I’m slowly clawing my way to 100%. I’ll admit, the only figures I’m desperate for are the original PKM for the technical and the missing two figures from the Witch Doctor pack -The Bulletproof Militia and the sapeurs are perhaps a little too extravagant for my tastes – the African guys I’m focusing on will be much more focused on East Africa, far away from the cultures that the militia were originally inspired by. However, I’m kind of happy to be in the single digits for missing items

Finally, and on a more practical/civilised note, I finally got myself a dice tower. I’ve been wanting one for ages but never spotted the design I quite liked. But, while picking up the Infamy Infamy PDF (no intention of playing it but I like reading the Too Fat Lardies rules), I spotted their version of the Warbases design. It’s a great setup and I especially like the green baise surface on the top. Assembly was fun to work out and I have to admit, it is the most satisfying way to roll dice.

That’s it for this update, expect more updates next week!

You might have noticed some more posts are missing images. Looks like the gremlins have got back into the system and something is removing files from my uploads folder – the price of running a blog install for 10+ years. I’m going to spend some time hunting through it, making sure to get everything fixed up. So there may be some downtime over the next few days.

NEWS

White Dragon Miniatures are releasing their Mastiff! It’s finally up for pre-order and by the time you read this will be available to purchase at it’s full price. I’m really excited to pick this vheicle up – the mix of WDM’s vehicle production (resin but hollow to save on weight) and the bar armour should make it a lovely kit to build and use. More details when it arrives!

Footsore Miniatures have released the first of their Modern range in the UK. If you’ve followed SASM, then you’ll recognise them as the most recent sets of figure releases – vehicles and older figures will be following soon. I’m really interested in looking at them but the price is giving me pause.

It is quite a lot of money – the SBS set of six figures is over £30 for 5 figures (and a dog). It works out cheaper than ordering them from the US (and you have less concerns about them going missing in the post) but its far too expensive for me to justify sadly.

UPDATES

This week was mainly finishing off the last fireteam in my US Marine infantry squad. It took longer than planned but honestly I’m just grinding away at it all. I am happy about how they are turning out though – the USMC have been sat for far too long.

As mentioned in the article above, the next set is going to be the SMAW launchers for the USMC. I’m looking forward to these guys, and the urge to get them on the tabletop is increasing. Maybe I need to do some terrain for them to bust first?

That’s it for this update, expect more updates next week!