Designing the new Insurgents

The Insurgent range has been a staple of Spectre Miniatures since the start. The generic mix of civilian and military clothing, plate carriers and balaclavas allow them to be used to represent a myriad of forces around the world – wherever you see Insurgencies, asymmetric warfare or conflict involving non-state actors, they usually follow the same rough look, give or take some elements.  The models can be painted in full camo, civilian clothing or a mix, which can dramatically alter the look of the models (after all, these guys could be anyone, including SF in less expected ‘Covert’ kit).

We wanted to add to and update this range, partly to improve on what we’ve done previously and partly to keep our models ‘Bleeding Edge’ and representing the changes we are seeing in the modern world today. The first decision was to move away a little from the obvious AK47/74, which is well represented and give the fighters something a little more interesting, but still realistic. The majority of the models have the Croatian made VHS2, which has been produced in vast numbers and supplied to the Iraqi armed forces (It’s also in use in Syria, West/Central Africa, and Eastern Europe). As expected, these have been ‘liberated’ and have ended up in the wrong, or unintended hands. We didn’t want them to look too uniformly armed and to keep the classic Insurgent look, so we gave couple of figures AK74s, with a more modern look (rails, compensators, collapsible stocks etc).
Another decision we made is to give them all Optics. Optics of various designs are extremely common in irregular forces now, with thermal scopes becoming not uncommon. This gives the player a little more of an advantage over ‘standard’ Militia forces, gaining the bonus to hit (we can leave the player to decide if they have batteries in them or even know how to zero or otherwise use them).

For the Support squad, we again wanted to do some different options. We’ve been asked a lot to make a model with the classic M60, so we figured this would be a good set to give its debut. Although the initial design and manufacture was in the 50’s, it is still being produced and is in use pretty much everywhere you can think of, by both armed forces and various
non-state groups.

The two RPG’s were also a good opportunity to give Militia forces some serious force multipliers. The PG7-VR Tandem Warhead is a model we’ve been wanting to make for a while. Although pretty outdated now, it’s shown up all over MENA – posing a threat to most heavy armour. It's pretty heavy handed for Spectre: Operations, but impractical and inappropriate use of small arms never hurt anyone. Speaking of which, the TBG-7V Thermobaric warhead should be approached much more seriously in games. It’s more than capable of destroying light armour, fortified positions, and any infantry unfortunate enough to be in its vicinity. The variety of RPG warheads we are starting to represent on miniatures accurately represents their prevalence in the modern world and the ever evolving, or otherwise unpredictable threat faced on the battlefield.  

As with the infantry squad, we felt we couldn’t leave out the classic PKM, this particular model also has an optic for potentially more accurate fire support.

The Marksman model has a FAL battle rifle (partly because I am fond of this weapon). Despite its age, it is still frequently encountered. It’s stopping power and range make it an ideal marksman rifle. This particular one has a suppressor (possibly DIY manufactured) and a long range scope. Marksman rifles are a great addition to any force in Spectre: Operations, giving you the ability to effectively control areas of the tabletop while on overwatch)