{"id":28977,"date":"2024-07-07T17:18:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T16:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/?p=28977"},"modified":"2024-07-08T20:37:29","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T19:37:29","slug":"sitrep-remastering-the-criminal-heavies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/07\/07\/sitrep-remastering-the-criminal-heavies\/","title":{"rendered":"SITREP: Remastering The Criminal Heavies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week Spectre released three sets of figures that seemed familiar but different. Taking the original 3D sculpts of the Aftermath Killteam, the Agents QRF and the Criminal Heavies and polishing them up after several years of improvements and planning (as well as changing from metal production to resin allowing for some adjustment). I never picked up the Aftermath Killteam nor the Agents QRF as they landed when I was too busy looking at the various 3D-printed alternatives. But the Criminal Heavies on the other hand was a set that was right up my street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I got my set back in 2021 and swiftly (ish) painted them up as one of the various Bazi Special Forces I working on at the time. The combination of high-tech guns, lightweight rigs and those ballistic face masks grabbed my attention. Of course, they were not perfect – the raised FAL on the team leader ended up arriving bent roughly 140 degrees back on itself, forcing a clip and presumably a tax stamp to whatever the Bazi equivalent of the ATF is. These figures have ended up seeing some gameplay in their high-end operator role and I’d say are my favourite figures Spectre has produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Because of that, I was surprised to see them appear on the list to be redone. However, I’m upgrading to a new scale and, especially after the first preview, it suddenly made a lot of sense to get my hands on the new and updated version. Plus, it gives me a chance to take a look at the specifics of what Spectre has been up to as well as the improvements we’ve seen along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Putting the figures out in Chitubox V2.2 (side note: definitely worth the upgrade) you can immediately see the first change. These guys are definitely much more deserving of the name Criminal Heavies – everyone is kitted up with heavy armour, including some addon pieces such as neck, shoulder and groin protectors. The style of chest armour has been swapped from high-speed jump carriers and slick pouches to solid bests and bulky pouches. There has also been some changes to the clothing – the integrated kneepads are larger and more accurate to the real clothing items, swapping the deeply recessed pads out for something closer to the real-world inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can see it better when you put new and old figures directly next to each other. Ignoring the change to the mounting points on the feet (the large single puddle base replaced with the smaller foot pieces that have become Spectre standard), you can see the changes across the entire figure. Things like clothing creases and folds (the things help add texture to the model and make painting a lot easier for people, have been repositioned, looking a lot more natural, especially on the back of the trousers and the balaclava. There has also been an increase in detail on the backpack as well, with the closing mechanism on display. Finally, there have been some slight refinements on the pose, especially with the open hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also another, more mechanical, change with the two “specialist” figures that bring the heavy firepower. In the original release, the shotgunner and grenadier were armed the same way as the rest of the squad – full-length suppressed assault rifles with a drum mag. Although good for consistency as a whole squad (something I’ve grumbled about with other releases being too quick to add random extra weapons), they would be incredibly bulky weapons to be using as a secondary with something like the M32 MGL, let alone the potential ammo weight. For this remaster, these two specialists have had their AKs swapped out with the CZ Scorpion, mounting a suppressor like all the other primary weapons in the squad, and with the stock folded for ease of use – in addition, the mag pouches on their armour have been changed to the scorpion style mags. I think this shows, like the changes to the body armour, some extra time being spent considering what the squad is designed to show and how they would work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These guys aren’t the only ones to have their weapons standardised. In the original set there was a mix of suppressed AKs and suppressed AR15s. Now though, it seems this crew has gone in with the upgraded AK route, as both of the riflemen (aka the guys not running special weapons) are now rolling with the Kalashnikov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, I think the remaster of these guys, looks really well done. This second version fits more with the theme of the pack name, looking like the heavily armoured bank robbers you see in films with a few other minor tweaks to make them feel more realistic. There are also mechanical improvements that come from an extra few years spent working as a 3D sculptor, making more figures and deciding what works and what doesn’t. I believe some of the other remastered sets are less about changing the figure and more about taking advantage of the shift to resin, adding the extra details that would have caused issues when creating a mould for liquid metal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, I think in this case especially, it can be said the the remaster has changed the feel of the figures, narrowing their scope to the initial intention but losing something of the original. The lighter-weight look allowed for them to fulfil roles outside of purely heavily armoured bank robbers – for example, it’s harder to visualise these guys being used for the unusual Special Forces guys I ended up painting the originals as. We’re actually going to see the opposite of this change with the upcoming Agent’s Crisis Response team<\/a>, as they are moved away from being heavily inspired by the Division 2 and much more general-purpose armed low-profile operatives. It would be nice if the original figures for sets like this would still be available one day, perhaps in a limited-time trip back to the vault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step will be getting the new figures painted up, and I’m still deciding exactly how they are going to be coloured – perhaps a close-quarters version of the original team?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week Spectre released three sets of figures that seemed familiar but different. Taking the original 3D sculpts of the Aftermath Killteam, the Agents QRF and the Criminal Heavies and polishing them up after several years of improvements and planning (as well as changing from metal production to resin allowing for some adjustment). I never […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":28996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1093,1069,903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sitrep","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\/2024\/07\/SITREP.jpg","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SITREP.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Features<\/a>","SITREP<\/a>","Wargaming<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Features<\/span>","SITREP<\/span>","Wargaming<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 2 years ago","modified":"Updated 2 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on 07\/07\/2024","modified":"Updated on 08\/07\/2024"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on 07\/07\/2024 5:18 pm","modified":"Updated on 08\/07\/2024 8:37 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pvEn5-7xn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28930,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/07\/01\/the-news-stand-01-07-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":0},"title":"The News Stand: 01\/07\/2024","author":"Michael Charge","date":"01\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the start of a new month and we have a pile of new releases from Spectre, plenty of final previews from the host of Patreons and more! Hell, we even have some cool things coming from my favourite 6mm sculptor, so read on for more! As always, thanks to\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\/2024\/07\/TheNewsStand44.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheNewsStand44.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheNewsStand44.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheNewsStand44.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheNewsStand44.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25243,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2022\/02\/28\/sitrep-ooops-more-bazi-sf\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":1},"title":"SITREP – Ooops, More Bazi SF","author":"Michael Charge","date":"28\/02\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing as I spent most of the month writing rules, writing articles or 3d printing things, I realised I should probably actually finish painting something before the month ends. My eyes settled on the Combat Octopus KSK figures I had on my desk which I assembled back in December and\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\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/DSC00254.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12823,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/06\/10\/sitrep-bazi-sf-and-officer\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":2},"title":"SITREP: Bazi SF and Officer","author":"Michael Charge","date":"10\/06\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight's work on the Twitch stream was a twofer - two more figures for the Bazi Military! The two figures in question are the Adepticon Special from Spectre and the Hammerhead free model from a few years ago. Each takes a different role in the military - the Adepticon special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SITREP"","block_context":{"text":"SITREP","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/sitrep\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/IMG_20200610_232805.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29032,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/07\/15\/the-week-in-chargeblog-14-07-2024\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":3},"title":"The Week In ChargeBlog: 14\/07\/2024","author":"Michael Charge","date":"15\/07\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Editor note - there are currently 9 draft SITREP posts sat on the blog. The idea behind SITREPs was originally to write them as fast as possible and get them out, keeping the blog humming along and mapping my own hobby work to posts. The problem is that I take\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\/2024\/07\/TheWeekInChargeBlog01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheWeekInChargeBlog01.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheWeekInChargeBlog01.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheWeekInChargeBlog01.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TheWeekInChargeBlog01.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14295,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2020\/10\/06\/sitrep-a-few-marines-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":4},"title":"SITREP – A Few Marines More","author":"Michael Charge","date":"06\/10\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing as I'm now back into full on local lockdown, biweekly Monday wargames with Dastardly Regular Opponent have been swapped out with painting sessions on the internet. And so as part of this, I've been continuing work on my Space Marines! After doing my test model, I spent my first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "SITREP"","block_context":{"text":"SITREP","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/category\/wargaming\/sitrep\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/PXL_20200922_102611292.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23845,"url":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2021\/10\/20\/sitrep-all-prep-all-the-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":28977,"position":5},"title":"SITREP – All Prep, All the Time","author":"Michael Charge","date":"20\/10\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Oh boy, hobby time today was a whole bunch of prep work. Main one was sorting out my scenario for tomorrow (Big Bad fight time!) which is going to be something exciting. As this is a main character, he is going to be an absolute nightmare in combat - hopefully\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\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/PXL_20211019_223921962.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28977","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=28977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}