- by Iain Wilson

When we were working out the look for the Kaigus Pact, I put together some test models to test out colour schemes. These let us see how colours would look on the actual models, and gave us a handy 'sketch' to pass on to the studio painter to work up the final versions of the models. Of course, this left me with a bunch of painted models sitting around, so I figured that I might as well keep going and turn them into a usable force, the end results of which you might have seen in the recently published battle report.

Here's a quick rundown of the models that make up the force!

The Kaigus Pact - Canto Melrahb

Click for larger image.

The commander of this force is a Biologis Curator of Preservation I named Melrahb. He's a largely stock model, although I replaced his staff arm with the one from the Proctat upgrade sprue, and beefed up his shoulder pads for some extra bling using some sliced up Krii carapaces.


Curator Melrahb.

A Muharis Sentinel was the first model that I put together to when we were testing the plastic sculpts. This model (on the left in the below pic) was painted with an Army Painter Ultramarine Blue basecoat and then a couple of layers of Blue Tone wash. The bulk of the force done later was done with a white base coat and then Speedpaint Beowulf Blue followed by a layer of Dark Tone to enhance the crevasses a bit.


Muharis Sentinels.

Muharis Sentinel Strongpoint units are great for splashing out on those extra heavy weapons. For the fleshy pink on these Brood Launchers (and also used elsewhere throughout the force) I used Vallejo Xpress Cardinal Purple, with a highlight of watered down white.


Muharis Sentinel Strongpoint.

The second of my Biologis models, the Curator of Dissolution Kaniima, features a reposed right arm, a staff from the Proctat sprue, and has his tentacle hand replaced with a claw hand assembled from some spare Tamakin legs.


Curator Kaniima.

I wanted this force to really lean into the whole Hypergenesis angle, so a unit of Biologis Attendants was a useful addition to accompany the Curators. Their fleshy orange parts, as with the rest of the force, we painted with Citadel Gryph Hound Orange over a white base coat, followed by a layer of Dark Tone to dull it down a little. Bone parts were a white base with a coat of Citadel Skeleton Horde.


Biologis Attendants.

My Tamakin are a bit of a mix of the plastic models and 3D-printed resin test models. It seemed a shame to waste the test models, so I wound up just building enough plastics to flesh out full units.


Ripper Claw Tamakin.


Dart Host Tamakin.

Krii are fun little models to paint. There's not much to them, but their distinctive carapace details really pop once you get some colour onto them!


Krii Vapor Thralls.


Krii Shatter Thralls.

And finally, Orakan Shield Thralls - once again a mix of resin test model (rear left) and plastic production model, so the colours don't quite match, but they're close enough... part of the benefit of an organic-based army is that everything doesn't have to look identical!


Orakan Shield Thralls.

If you haven't read it yet, you can see these models in action in the 'Enter, The Pact' battle report linked back up at the start of this article. You'll be able to buy all of these model sets individually soon, but in the in the meantime you can grab Kaigus Pact Starter Force box now from the Maelstrom's Edge webstore here. And while you're there, grab a copy of the Maelstrom's Edge V2 Rulebook!

What are you working on? We would love to see your models and terrain in the Comm Guild Facebook group!