{"id":26628,"date":"2023-06-04T11:08:42","date_gmt":"2023-06-04T10:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/?p=26628"},"modified":"2025-03-08T09:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-08T09:28:50","slug":"the-news-stand-collating-spectre-intel-patreon-finale-and-moving-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2023\/06\/04\/the-news-stand-collating-spectre-intel-patreon-finale-and-moving-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"The News Stand: Collating Spectre Intel – Patreon Finale and Moving Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From the cadence of these posts, you might guess that Spectre is having a little bit of a resurgence at the moment. With the return of the lead sculptor fresh off work on some of Necormunda’s latest releases and the announcement of a new Version 3 of the rules, they have managed to regain some element of the momentum they lost over the last year. Following on from last week’s releases<\/a>, we have been given some more insight into the goings-on behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First up, let’s talk about the open wound that is the Spectre Patreon. There is going to be a longer article covering this soon you guys thought I’d forgotten about that huh?<\/em><\/sup> but some news has come up over the last day or so that really puts it in context. Boy, I hope you like screenshots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Patreon officially ended back in March, with one additional month to allow people a final chance to get the released files. There was also mention of a final set of commissions that needed to be delivered – these were figures that had been designed by people who paid at the \u00a3150 a month tier (which is a pretty good rate for a custom figure). These figures were not released in either March or April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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However, the reason for mentioning this now is that Patrons who hadn’t unsubscribed found themselves being billed for May, without any updates to explain why. It took until the 3rd of May to actually send a message out to Patrons (the timing of which makes me believe someone may have forgotten to put the pause on the Patreon for the next month until it was too late) and as you can see from the message above, it gave a rough timeline<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And then May 30th rolled around with no sign of releases or even any previews. Another patron-only post (included above and snapped on the 30\/05\/2023) did come out promising releases by the end of the week but that did push it outside of the May timeslot that many people had been billed for<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Friday, however, we got an update – the final commissions are coming this month and will be public posts (meaning no need to sign up for Patreon). And hey, an extra model too. Now, I will raise the question as to why Spectre hasn’t simply decided to distribute these final free figures through the Spectre website (a platform they have complete control over rather than using an arcane system of tiers) but as a final update, we should be getting these final figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is only a preview of how this Patreon has been run – slapdash and put together at the last minute. As someone who completely missed a week of Secret Notes from the Hobby Desk, I know how easy it is to miss Patreon content drops. But that said, it’s a different matter when some people are paying \u00a315+ a month in some cases and end up receiving nothing new at all. The tiers don’t technically promise new figures every month, just access to them, but it is one more element that leaves a bad taste in your mouth around this affair. Hopefully, the releases in June (assuming they are released in June) are good enough to make up for the process and we can finally put this whole thing to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With that mess put to one side, let’s talk about some more positive things – what’s coming up. Spectre has set up a Discord<\/a> to allow better communication with the fans. So far it’s a little on the quiet side (and without signs of a moderation team) but it does include a previews section, letting Steve show off the 3D-printed test masters of things he’s been sculpting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We have a new officer for the SWAT range. This is one of several Law Enforcement groups that were promised in the blog post back in April, accompanying the FBI Agents, FBI Hostage Rescue Team and US Marshalls. Alongside this figure, Spectre mentioned that they are taking advice from a Sergeant in the Central Texas area to help nail the details and I’ve got to say it’s looking pretty good. I’m a big fan of just how much gear this guy carrying, complete with the stacked mag pouches and the piles of belt tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an aside, the figure does show some 3d printing markings with obvious layer lines. In some of the comments, it’s been clarified that these figures are not the ones used as the master for the metal casting but simply just for scaling and checking the details. There have been some layer lines on previous 3D sculpted releases, so hopefully, the master is a little crisper and doesn’t detract from the rather excellent details on the figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, the Law Enforcement team will need a Criminal Element to deal with. Earlier this week we got a trio of figures shown off for criminals. They are very much the balaclava and jacket-wearing thug variety, with the mix of a sawn-off shotgun and an AR offset by the figure wielding a sledgehammer and ready for a smash and grab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Law Enforcement and Criminal Element always felt like a range that was in need of expansion, and based on the details we’ve had it seems like we’ll be getting some very varied groups for each side. Stand by for more info when we get it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, we have Big News about the next set of rules from Spectre. In a blog post on Friday<\/a>, we got a pretty major view into just how the game plays, as well as plenty of lovely photos of Spectre’s gaming table (and those tetrapods that look rad as hell).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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At some point, I’ll collate the info together to do some digging through it but the big thing first – Spectre is moving away from the D6. Much like several other ultramodern rulesets that have come out in the last few years, the old six-sided die has been abandoned in favour of the large probability space of its ten-sided cousin. It’s a sensible decision and will do a very good job of making sure it’s distinct from its previous iteration and its descendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post is well worth a read as I think it gives a sense of the type of game that this new version. They are quick to talk about making a “modern feeling ruleset”, focusing on “selecting the right kit for the mission” as well as each of the tiers having a better sense of dealing with the Stress of combat. I’m interested to see the actual flow when it gets revealed, but in the meantime, I’m cautiously optimistic about just what they are putting together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Phew, okay, that was a lot from Spectre this week. With them moving into this new era, I’m really hoping they can learn from the mistakes of the last few years and push forward, taking advantage of the new sculpting tools and then proceed to launch a successful ruleset that brings new ideas to the hobby. For all my concerns and misgivings, and despite how far other companies have encroached on their territory in the last few years, Spectre could still play an important part in the Ultramodern hobby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the cadence of these posts, you might guess that Spectre is having a little bit of a resurgence at the moment. With the return of the lead sculptor fresh off work on some of Necormunda’s latest releases and the announcement of a new Version 3 of the rules, they have managed to regain some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":26648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1115,903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-news-stand","category-wargaming"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Michael Charge","author_link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/author\/chargedog\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-5.jpg","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/image-5.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["The News Stand<\/a>","Wargaming<\/a>"],"unlinked":["The News Stand<\/span>","Wargaming<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"3","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 04\/06\/2023","modified":"Updated on 08\/03\/2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 04\/06\/2023 11:08 am","modified":"Updated on 08\/03\/2025 9:28 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pvEn5-6Vu","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26744,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2023\/06\/16\/the-news-stand-spectre-vbss-commission-released-for-free\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":0},"title":"The News Stand: Spectre VBSS Commission Released For Free","author":"Michael Charge","date":"16\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Following up on Combat Octopus's 2nd VBSS release, I was approached by Paul (Paulidus on the Ultramodern Discord) messaged me about the set of VBSS figures he had commissioned from Spectre via their Director tier on Patreon. Paul has a keen interest in the 1980s\/1990s tactical chic (and will not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News Stand"","block_context":{"text":"The News Stand","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/the-news-stand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Patreon_post_image-19.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Patreon_post_image-19.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Patreon_post_image-19.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Patreon_post_image-19.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Patreon_post_image-19.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25941,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2022\/10\/06\/october-2022-patreon-update-time-for-spooky-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":1},"title":"October 2022 Patreon Update – Time For Spooky Season","author":"Michael Charge","date":"06\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's do a little round-up of the Patreons I'm currently backing that play into. I'd usually include this in my main update post but frankly, it keeps getting longer and longer to the point where it overwhelmed the main update. By putting it in its own post (and delaying it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Features"","block_context":{"text":"Features","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/features\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/PatreonUpdate-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27658,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2023\/11\/13\/the-news-stand-12-11-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":2},"title":"The News Stand: 12\/11\/2023","author":"Michael Charge","date":"13\/11\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This week, in its new slot of Monday lunchtime (weekends are getting increasingly busy), The News Stand is taking a look at a WHOLE load of Spectre as well as a few other things that came in. Look, there is a lot for Spectre and I really shouldn't have missed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News Stand"","block_context":{"text":"The News Stand","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/the-news-stand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/TheNewsStand13.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/TheNewsStand13.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/TheNewsStand13.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/TheNewsStand13.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/TheNewsStand13.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30365,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/12\/09\/the-news-stand-09-12-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":3},"title":"The News Stand: 09\/12\/2024","author":"Michael Charge","date":"09\/12\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A little bit quieter this week but we do still have a few cool things to preview from a whole bunch of the usual suspects - Spectre, Combat Octopus, Goggles Miniatures and more!","rel":"","context":"In "The News Stand"","block_context":{"text":"The News Stand","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/the-news-stand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheNewsStand66.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheNewsStand66.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheNewsStand66.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheNewsStand66.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/TheNewsStand66.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31595,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/05\/28\/the-news-stand-28-05-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":4},"title":"The News Stand: 28\/05\/2025","author":"Michael Charge","date":"28\/05\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A day later but not a single dollar short! This week's edition is packed full of all the good stuff you expect from the end of a month - new releases from Spectre's Patreon, previews from all the Patreons you can shake a stick at and even a time-limited offer\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News Stand"","block_context":{"text":"The News Stand","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/the-news-stand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TheNewsStand87.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TheNewsStand87.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TheNewsStand87.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TheNewsStand87.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TheNewsStand87.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32489,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/28\/the-news-stand-28-10-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":26628,"position":5},"title":"The News Stand: 28\/10\/2025","author":"Michael Charge","date":"28\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This week's post might be a little on the brisk side, as I'm in the middle of a busy time at work. However, that doesn't stop me from bringing the news in the Spookiest of seasons, and it seems a few of the usual companies are in the right mood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The News Stand"","block_context":{"text":"The News Stand","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/the-news-stand\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheNewsStand107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheNewsStand107.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheNewsStand107.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheNewsStand107.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/TheNewsStand107.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}