{"id":29234,"date":"2024-08-05T21:07:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T20:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/?p=29234"},"modified":"2024-08-05T21:07:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T20:07:16","slug":"the-news-stand-05-08-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hntdaab.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/05\/the-news-stand-05-08-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The News Stand: 05\/08\/2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This week’s edition is packed full of great updates from all the usual folks – Spectre drops a massive pile of updates, Black Hills releases Bundeswehr Airborne, Combat Octopus gives us more toys, and Modern Miniatures has some new pieces to play with now and more coming soon!<\/p>\n\n\n

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As always, thanks to the News Fans and other patrons over on the ChargeBlog patreon<\/a> for buying my time to make this wrap-up each week. If you like these roundups and find them useful, why not chip in on the Patreon<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Spectre Miniatures Drops Previews, Oh So Many Previews<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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First up, Spectre Miniatures<\/a> has dropped off a new Roadmap for the rest of the year. You may remember we got a Spectre roadmap back in March 2023<\/a> which was, to put it mildly, ambitious (as well as doing the old trick of hiding things behind codenames). Well this updated roadmap is only covering the rest of 2024, and includes quite a few new additions. First up, the big item at the top is Spectre Operations: Frontlines – this is the first full-size supplement for Spectre Operations, adding new rules for Trench Warfare, expanded Drone Rules and expanded advanced vehicle rules. The rest of Quarter 3 sees a refresh of the Task Force Nomad range, as well as expansions to the US and UK Law Enforcement ranges. There is also going to be a full UK Armed Forces Range. Quarter 4 is a little more nebulous with mentions of ranges in MENA, Asia\/Pacific and (eagerly awaited by some people) a return to Africa<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest thing however is Spectre Operations: Out of Time. This is the name for a series of historical supplements for Spectre Operations and, as the tigerstripe should have given us the clue, the first era is going in to be Vietnam. It’s going to be both a supplement and an attached figure range. No specific dates for this release except later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, remember with all roadmaps they are but guidelines. However, what I would say is that this roadmap seems a little more concrete than the last one. This roadmap is not 100% complete, as there are other releases that have been kept under wraps, but it’s a good sign to see that Spectre has lots of stuff in the pipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s even better to see how many of these future releases are actually already in preview form, and we got a full treat of them last week. First up, we have an update to the Task Force Nomad figures, and more importantly what looks like an update to one of my favourite figures from that range, the female undercover agent. She’s been joined with another figure ready for urban undercover operations and both have been upgraded with the Flux Raider. As I’ve been experiencing in the latest Ready or Not update (or in BPRE: Phase Line) the Flux is a handy upgrade to a pistol to turn it into a concealable and stable platform, allowing for the mounting of optics, lights and suppressors along with the spare magazine. It’s ideal for anyone wanting something they can stash in a bag before breaking out when things go active. These two will be awesome for sneaking around in urban terrain, either in some small games or as a covert element alongside your assaulters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Speaking of Ready or Not, veterans of 213 Park Homes might recognise the vibe of these two characters that will be coming as some criminal fighters. You can see they have captured that run-down look, complete with holes in the clothing, bare feet and haggard bodies and faces. I also like the detail on the M4 – you can see the grip the shooter has is far from professional, sticking his thumb through the carry handle while gripping the magazine well. It will be interesting to see what the rest of this set looks like but it’s definitely a rich area for some very characterful figures. Also players like myself who aren’t particularly interested in cops and robbers could still probably use some of these guys for militia or other poorly equipped fighters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the other side of the board from the criminals, some additional law enforcement figures are on the way and bringing you some Texas Rangers. These guys wouldn’t be the first Texas Rangers they have done (a show exclusive figure for Millenniumcon 2018<\/a> takes that award) but these guys are a little more ready for action. One of them is a little more ready for the investigation side, while the one on the right has grabbed his gear and is ready for action, having thrown his plate carrier on and grabbed his M4. Again, these guys are looking cool and it will be cool to see what else will be coming alongside this pair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, and in complete contrast to some of the other previews which are literally a man with a gun and not much else, we have a brand-new Unmanned Ground Vehicle. This is the THeMIS, a UGV that has been used on operations in Mali and have been sent to Ukraine. Those however were the Logistics versions designed to supplies and CASEVAC – this is instead the combat version, mounting a Protector RWS and ready to provide automated fire support. This will play into the updated Drone rules mentioned as part of Spectre Operations Frontlines and seeing such a large unmanned vehicle is an interesting tweak. Part of me does hope we see the logistical version as well, although I mostly blame this for using the M.U.L.E. from Advanced Warfighter 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Badger 3D Ceases Trading<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bad news that I forgot to include in last week’s news post. Badger 3D, <\/a>a UK-based 3d printing company has unfortunately had to cease trading. Based on the announcement on their website, this is not a simple “decided to wind things down”, especially as Administrators have been mentioned. Anyone who has placed an order with them should probably look at getting a chargeback rather than expecting a delivery. I had always assumed that Badger 3D was doing well based on how much they came up in discussions and as well as printing other people’s models (such as Guaro3d’s), they were also making their own models such as a collection of British Army vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BobMack3d Sashes Through Goals for World Revolution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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For probably the last time, I have news on Bobmack3d<\/a>‘s latest Kickstarter “World Revolution”. The Kickstarter finished off on the weekend and managed to raise $21,706 and hit 1085% funding. There is a little bit of shenanigans due to the total cost including the funds doing to Flank March for the crew figures but this should hopefully mean that the final stretch goal, the early model T-72 Ural, will also be included. This is great news for everyone who backed (including me) and is the most successful Bobmack3d Kickstarter so far. The next stage is to wait for Kickstarter to hand the funds over and then hopefully we’ll get the final models in September<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fire! Modern Combat Shows Off More Of Their Upcoming Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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