Adventures in Wargaming
Way back in April 2021, Anthalonica Wargaming managed to fund a Kickstarter called Bobbies, Baddies and Bootnecks. Designed to rapidly expand the offerings of Anthalonica from the initial release focused on British Police, the Kickstarter offered up 4 squad packs as the starting point before broadening out into a whole HOST of new additions. Ranging from French … Continue reading SITREP: Bobbies, Baddies and Bootnecks from Anthalonica
Welcoming a new range to the world of Ultramodern Wargaming is always fun, getting to take a look at new models, new styles and really dig into them. Alan from White Dragon Miniatures, a scrappy new company from Nottingham, very kindly sent me a pack of goodies. Contained within was a selection of models from … Continue reading Range Impressions: Courage In Contact
IT HAS BEEN 10,000 YEARS! Okay well actually more like four since I first heard (over several glasses of beer in the Fox at the Excel) someone saying the magic words for the first time. "What if there were figures that came as both covert and overt versions so you can toggle between them during … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre’s Covert/Overt Figures
After the drought of last year (a combination of many mostly obvious factors), Spectre is back with a second release of this year, bringing out a rather high tech (and better trained) set of additions to the Insurgent range. These guys are inspired by a collection of groups that have sprung up around the War … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre’s PMC Insurgents
Yep, it happens to the best of us. Eventually anyone playing Sci-fi or Fantasy finds themselves looking at Chaos Warriors and reflecting on just how cool they look. They combine the glorious appeal of knights in armour but with that dark fantasy baroque look that means they just drip with character. They are the warriors that burn down the hero's village as child, thus setting off the story. They are the Dark Figures that chase your heroes across the plains, slaying anyone in their way. And right at the end, they are the army you fight through to take on their leader. As you might guess, I adore the artwork and mental images, even if the normal models (released back in Warhammer Fantasy Battle days) are very static/designed for ranking up. Seeing as I'm now working on very small (honesty) fantasy collection, and after seeing the Underworld Warband back when it was announced, I decided that these much more dynamic warriors were exactly what I wanted. Each of them looked like a real threat, a champion of the dark gods assembled alongside allies and rivals to take the fight to the enemy. What better troops to follow my Chaos Lord (who I've designed as some kind of Cursed Warrior/Undying King) than a collection of highly skilled individuals who just happen to be able to work together.
A little delay on writing this one, but I finished off painting up the release of Spectre's Delta Force guys from earlier this year. The first major release of 2021, these guys were definitely packed full of cool details and gear to paint and I had a pretty good time getting into them. While also … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre’s Delta Release
A wise man once said - "You will never have enough insurgents for wargaming". And it's kind of right! With such a variety of groups around the world, as well as the breadth and depth of equipment available to them. Due to this, ranges listed for Ultramodern can only go so far before you start … Continue reading Impressions: Gringo 40’s NVA – MENA Style
I've got to admit, there is something about using Private Military Contractors in-game. Maybe it's the flexibility of the models, maybe it's the ease they can be added to any theatre or the extra punch they add to the force with their training. Or maybe I just like the stereotypical plots which end up with … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre Contractor Ops
Ultramodern war, especially in the last few years, has been marked with several iconic items. MRAPs, quad eye NVGS, the list of equipment that screams out this current time period. But I think the one that a lot of people think of has to be the unmaned vehicles. Be it an off the shelf quad … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre Miniatures Drone Systems
To say I have an interest in Black Powder Red Earth is putting things mildly. I think it's an incredible series that, despite having a few issues with the pacing sometimes, details the activities of a PMC named Cold Harbor operating in international hotspots, all detailed in a striking (and sometimes very unpleasant) art style. … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre Miniatures Ember Team
A frequent question people have when starting to collect Spectre figures is which range to get first. For those wanting their own tiny Special Forces team, the Task Force Operators range is obviously the first stop. However, for sheer versatility, I really have to recommend the Tier 1 Operators. The common identity to all these … Continue reading Range Impressions: Spectre Tier 1 Operators
One thing that's great about wargaming is just how broad you can be. From 54mm games where players control single figures, all the way down to tiny scales where you are basically playing with painted pins to represent your armies of soldiers, there is something for everyone. And even within relatively niche periods, such as … Continue reading Impressions: Spectre S.W.A.T.
Although wargaming for most is focused more overt actions (complete with all the firepower you might want), for most of history covert action has played an important role. TV, films and games are filled with deeds of low profile agents fighting wars in other people's countries where they are not supposed to go. The frequent … Continue reading Range Impressions: Spectre Deniable Operators
When looking at most people's collections, it's safe to say that Western SOF units make up most of them. However, for players looking for something different to bring to the table, the Russian Spetsnaz provide an elite force with some changes that make them visually and doctrinaly distinct. Spectre currently have a large range of … Continue reading Range Impression: Spectre GRU Spetsnaz
When going back to do my Range Impression on the Empress SAS, I found myself delving into the release history of Empress. Which of course reminded me of their second release set, the US Army Infantry. Having just finished the Strykers, now seemed the perfect time to get the last couple of figures finished and … Continue reading Range Impression: Empress US Army Infantry