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The T34/85 may seem like a hopelessly out of date tank when compared to a modern MBT.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.