Spectre Miniatures Shop Live!

Spectre Miniatures have launched their web store having successfully concluded the Kickstarter. The website is very smooth and good looking with some fantastically posed and photographed scenes- all very inspirational. This is a very exciting day if you like ultra-modern wargaming, as I think Spectre will become one of the big names in the genre, along with Empress and Eureka. 

Well done to everyone at Spectre Miniatures. 

Reinforcements arrive in the Post!

Look what was waiting for me when I got back form work yesterday! The produce of backing Spectre Miniatures Kickstarter earlier this year. They are a little bit later that expected, but here they are. 

I have to say I am impressed. Sculpting-wise and scale-wise that compare well with Empress and Eureka, and should blend in with those ranges seamlessly. They lack the dynamism and sharpness of Hasslefree and Statuesque Miniatures, but they are a good match scale-wise for those ranges. The casting is good, with virtually no mould lines and flash, and as far as I can tell no defects at all. 

As I understand it Spectre Miniatures will soon be opening the shop to the rest of you guys who never got round to backing the Kickstarter (shame on you). I think these figures will be a welcome addition to the market, and will fill out some of the gaps in Empress and Eureka's ranges. 

Heavy Armour for PRA

The jungles of Zugando are vast and can conceal much from the watchful eyes of the US drones and spy satellites. The I-COZ intelligence analysts know that the PRA have a number of battle tanks captured or else defected from the Zugandan Army. As yet they have not been able to destroy any of these armoured vehicals and the Special Forces operating in the area have been given the task of finding the tanks and then marking them for destruction by the USAF and RAF. 

The T34/85 may seem like a hopelessly out of date tank when compared to a modern MBT. It dates back to the 1940's and is a relic of the cold war, but in Zugando, where modern MBT's are something of a rarity, and most forces lack any weapons more powerful than an RPG-7, the T34 is still a force not to be taken lightly. 

This T34-85 is a Bolt Action figure from Warlord Games. It is a very neat plastic kit that was very easy to put together and nice to paint. 

PRA Fighters in Seatown

There is never enough time to paint everything, and these guys have been languishing in the depths of a lead mountain for too long...time to get some paint on them and give the Peoples Resistance Army of Zugando a bit of love. 

There is more to follow as soon as I can, including some more soldiers, heavy weapons, and even some armour- in the form of some T34/85 the Russians sold the Democratic Republic of Zugando. While they may be decades out of date they are the best MBT you will find in this part of Africa, and are good enough to give an unsuspecting  USMC squad a bad day.

(click the Work in Progress Tab at the top to see more)

USMC Squad on Patrol

The US have withdrawn a large number of their personal from Zugando, but the USMC and some special forces maintain a presence. The USMC are tasked with protecting the US embassy and certain key instillations (Most conspicuously the airport in Victoria Town) and in support of the Navy Seals and USSF who are actively engaging the PRA, 

I apologise for leaving it so long without a post, but I have been furiously paint Napoleonic eras figures for the last few months. Luckily I found time to paint some of these guys that have been sat on my painting table for several months. These are the Empress Miniatures USMC from their resent Kick Starter. I went a bit overboard and bought enough to field a full platoon (that 12 fire teams, HQ and support). Luckily I have a fairly quick and painless way of painting these guys so I can easily knock out a fire team in a few hours.

The two pictures at the bottom are Eureka Miniatures USMC Recon. They are, in my opinion, slightly better sculpts, because they look more dynamic, but I am very satisfied with the empress ones, and the two ranges are very compatible with each other. 

28mm Scale Comparison Shot for Modern Wargaming

I hope this might be helpful- here are some caparison photos of some of the figures in my collection.

Scale is a weird thing, as many different manufacturers have different ideas f what a 28mm figure should look like- as you can see these minis are all roughly the same size, but the difference in sculpting style, bulk and weapons size makes the world of difference- at the end of the day it's just down to preference. 

(R to L) Eureka, converted form Studio Miniatures plastic zombie, Black Cat Bases, Spectre Miniatures, Britannia Miniatures. 

Copplestone Castings, Warm Acre, EM4 Miniatures, The Assault Group, BritainiaMiniatures, Fenris Miniatures

Fenris, Spectre, Coppleston Castings, EM4, Warm Acre, Hasslefree

Empress, Hasslefree, Spectre, Eureka, The Assault Group,

I hope you fight this helpful.

Spectre Miniatures Goes Live!

Just a quick heads up, the Spectre Miniatures Kick Starter went live today, and I am already a backer- I have pledged at Contractor level, but will be looking to increase this if more cash becomes available.

The prices are good, averaging about £2 per model, and that includes postage. The KS is set up so that you can order the number of packs you want, and not that you are tied in to buying any particular bundles, so if you only want say Special  Forces, PMC or CIA, then you can buy exactly what you want. This is sensible because their will be many collectors who don't need the African troops (obviously I do) then they can tailor the KS to their own needs.

There are a few stretch goals that look rather interesting too, and a KS exclusive mini called 'deniable asset' and anyone who pledge get a PDF version of the rules too- so that's handy. 

More Spectre Miniatures: Kick Starter Approaches!

Here are a few more pictures of the forthcoming figures for the Spectre Miniatures Kick Starter due to start 1st May. As you can see, they are rather nice. If I could have commissioned someone to make a range of figures for my personal amusement, then it would have probably looked a lot like this range, the more I see the more excited I get. 

Here is a link Spectre Miniatures

CIA Operator In Seatown, Northern Zugando

Chuck 'Mustang' McLean is a CIA intelligence operator in Zugando. He travels under the pretence of being a freelance photo journalist: something the other photo-journalist resent because they believe- quite rightly- that it puts them in danger. His job is to handle a number of local intelligence assets in Northern Zugando, and in particular in the PRA held city of Seatown. It's dangerous work, and Mustang never travels unarmed. 

This model is 

from the new company Spectre Miniatures...as yet unreleased. I managed to pick it up at Salute 2014, just last week, off the guys form Spectre, who were promoting their new modern African wargaming Kick Starter (due to start 1st May). I just did a quick 30 minute paint job on it to get it ready to photograph, because I am busy with the Lead Painters League. 

It is a lovely model- well sculpted, realistically proportioned and without any tag or casting lines on any sort: I literally painted it as it was- no prep at all! 

If this is the standard of Spectre's work- we are in for a treat!

Spectre Miniatures News

Spectre Miniatures have just published a new picture on their Facebook page of a PMC- very nice!

Also- I have to issue an apology for giving duff information- The Spectre Miniatures Kick Starter is starting on 1st May (not 31st as I said in the previous post). This is bother good and bad news- good because it means I wont have to wait as long, and bad because that means I have less time to scrounge the money I need to max out on this Kick Starter!

Salute 2014 and Some Exciting News

Yesterday found me at Salute 2014. 

I had a great day spending too much money on little bits of lead and plastic. For my Zugando stuff I picked up some T34/85's from Bolt Action which will be ex-soviet union army surplus in the service of the PRA and Zugandan army (something for the Nigerian Army T55 to shoot at!). In addition I bought two African Militia operating a DshK HGM on an AA mount- which should deter those pesky I-COZ helicopters- from Eureka Miniatures. I have also just received  (in the post) a lot more PRA 'regular troops' from the Assault Group, so it looks like the PRA should be receiving an influx of reinforcements soon.

A DshK HMG- not helo friendly!

Salute gave me the first opportunity to play Skirmish Sangin- I only played for about 1/2 hour, and the pace was a little slow as they demonstrates had to explain the rules, but it seems quite fun for a small scale skirmish game (about 6-10 models aside). It is something I would want to try again and there is certainly nothing in the rules that are specific enough to the Afghan Theatre that would mean I couldn't transfer the Action to modern West Africa. 

Skirmish Sangin now has a UK distributor lined up and will be producing their own range of New Zealand army figures that look very comparable with Empress Miniatures modern range. 

The guys from Skirmish Sangin have come over from New Zealand to promote their game at Salute and rather than ship a game table across the world they knocked together a quick table form carpet tiles and mats the bought from B+Q. I think it has worked a treat- a quick and easy method of getting a gaming table together. 

I saw some very lovely gaming tables there- no quite as many as previous years perhaps, but this one stood out as excellent. It was a battle from Red Star Miniatures representing the battle of Dien Bien Phur- in Indochina, 1954. It is an excellent example of a jungle board- and I would love a board like this for Zugando.

I can dream...

In Other News..

A new company announced it's presence at Salute- Spectre Miniatures are going to launch a Kick Starter, starting 31st May, to produce their range of modern wargaming minis. They have 70+ minis sculpted and ready for casting. Like an idiot I forgot to photograph them but I can assure you they are lovely- they are comparable in site and sculpting style to the modern being made by Empress and Eureka- so that is cool. This is a Kick Starter I will certainly be backing to the hilt- I better get saving!

Here is a link to their Facebook site. 

CIA "Wet Team" Operative In Zugando

It's been a while since I posted, but mainly because I am waiting for my USMC to arrive from the Empress Miniatures Kick Starter. In the mean time I had this figure in my to-do pile an thought it was worth getting done. 

The CIA are active in Zugando, attempting to gather intel on the PRA and terrorist groups who might threaten the US and their allies. They also have an undisclosed number of 'Wet Teams' operating in the country. These specialist operators are nearly all ex-special forces, and can be called in when the CIA need to get their hands bloody. They work independently, but in support of, the US Special Forces, and their actions are highly classified and covert.

This figure is from Hasslefree, and is just exquisite. I knew I had to have one- unfortunately the HF figures are expensive, and so I can't afford to do many- my plan is to do a fire team of four. I painted it in a fairly generic colour scheme- no badges or identifying features. I chose a muted colour scheme inspired by Strike Back and Call of Duty. 

The rather cool atmospheric photograph was a total fluke, as I took it in my lounge in just the electric light as the sky was so grey it might as well have been night time.