The Drukhari release in tenth edition sees an important member of the Commorragh dramatis personae finally receive a Citadel miniature while there is a glow up for Kabal overlords; in this article we’re going to take a look at the new Lady Malys and Archon models, how they look, assembly tips and how we painted them.
Before we dive in, we’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with preview models for these releases for review purposes.
Lady Malys
Sky Serpent: The Mazeweaver, as Lady Malys is now known is a phenomenal sculpt with options available in two head options and two base ruins. She’s tall and imposing and it took me a little while to understand the pose as I felt that perhaps if she was twisted to the side she would be more dynamic but she is even better in the flesh with a lot of stunning details such as the fangs on her helmet, the spiked tail on the back of her armour while the GW design team lifted the Djin Blade design from the 2010 Codex to create the Lady’s Blade.
I found her okay to build although would recommend spending time on her legs to ensure they fit and I now regret not using the veiled face option!
Liam: The model is very cool. It has a couple of neat options, the pose is good, in general the finished product rules. However, it has one of those modern builds like the Lord of Poxes where at points it’s held together by sheer force of will. The right leg in particular just doesn’t seem like it wants to fit unless you get it just so, and was very fiddly. The end result is a really nice piece, but you do wish someone had been a little kinder with the CAD file.
Wings: This was one of the scariest model builds I’ve done for a while – the kit is super cool, and very clever, but some parts are extremely fragile and delicate, and I was constantly afraid of breaking her (and had to do a frantic rescue of the alignment of her right leg and how it interfaced with her armour). I have not quite finished painting her, but that is going super quickly, the model is very well designed from the point of view of accessing all the pieces, and sells how awesome the character is via the dynamism and elegance rather than just piling on superfluous detail.
Archon
Sky Serpent: The Soul Trap is back baby! The much maligned Archon has received a glow up which takes cues from the 2010 version alongside a plethora of options.
Representing the Archon’s varied arsenal is a Huskblade, Agoniser, Power Weapon, Blast Pistol, Splinter Pistol and the Soul Trap; you also have three head options, two body plate options and two belt options so you can create your own unique Archon. Similar to the rest of the Drukhari range, it is easy as ever to swap heads and weapons too.
The Archon was very simple to build and I think took me 15 minutes in total and the arms and heads would be relatively simple to magnetise. With the Soul Trap and Huskblade being the stand out wargear options (and look the coolest!) these will be seen the most on the battlefield.
It’s worth noting that the Archon is currently only available in the Realspace Raiders Battleforce but this is a fantastic purchase for any new Archons with a lot of viable units in the set.
Liam: Praise Khaine, the terrible old Archon is gone. In its place is this beauty, harkening back to the 6th edition version. Unlike Malys, this one is a dream to build. As Paulie mentions, the arm joins are flat, so you can easily swap in bits from other parts of the Drukhari range too, or use different heads. You don’t really need to though – what’s in the kit is great and very characterful. You’ll almost certainly see these with the soul trap 99% of the time, both because it has great rules but also because it’s very cool, but the alternative builds look good too.
Wings: Yeah, I can only echo what the others have said – this is probably the best replacement for a “modern” GW plastic kit they’ve ever done, and whips in every way. I should also stress – there are two more heads, and several more arm options, but we’ve literally all picked the same options (which are, to be fair, the best). You can see that the customisation goes as far as different options for belt detailing – I’ve gone for the shattered soul stones instead of the meat hooks.
Painting the Models
Sky Serpent: With the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue coming to the fore I decided to take a break from my usual orange Sky Serpents and paint Malys and the new Archon in the Lady’s colours.
I used the Hand of the Archon colour scheme from the Citadel App as inspiration, adding a darker base colour and a lighter final highlight – Night Lords Blue, Kantor Blue, Alaitoc Blue, Hoeth Blue and Baharroth Blue.
If I was to paint both models again I would look at adding the capes later as it is hard to reach them.
Liam: I only got the Archon done in time for the article, mostly in a mad rush right before the deadline.The good thing about this model is that it’s very clean and open, so painting it is delightful – everything’s easy to get at and there’s sufficient detail to be characterful without being overwhelming. I went with my usual Kabals scheme of sky blue and red, and I’m pleased with the result.
Wings: I’ve used the same scheme as for my Incubi, which is:
- Prime Black
- Armour Base
- Incubi Darkness
- Wash Drakenhoff
- Drybrush Sybarite Green (followed by a few tidyups with the same)
- Light Brass (Shoulders, Mask)
- Runelord Brass
- Wash Agrax (slightly thinned with medium).
- Dark Bronze
- Balthazar Gold
- Wash Seraphim Sepia
- Add a bit of Warplock Bronze in the middle of the tassets to add a deeper colour.
- Purple
- Naggaroth Night
- Wash Druchii Violet
- Highlight Xereus Purple
- Edge Genestealer Purple
- Horns
- Grey Knight Steel
- Wash Drakenhoff
- Drybrush very lightly with Stormhost Silver
- Gem mounts and detailing
- Retributor Armour
- Wash Darkoath Flesh Contrast
- Paint gems Stormhost silver
- Lightly apply various thinned Contrast for the colours.
The new bits were the Soul Trap and the Huskblade. For the Soul Trap, I nicked my Necron glowy metal recipe, which was:
- Grey Knight Steel
- Wash Drakenhoff
- Wash thinned Ork Flesh Contrast
- Wash the top in Tesseract Glow
- Drybrush the flames with Moot Green > Flesh Gitz Yellow.
The Huskblade was a new experiment, which went:
- Two and a bit coats of Wraithbone to get a smooth base on top of the black prime.
- Wash Carroburg Crimson
- Wash Seraphim Sepia
- Drybrush Ushabti Bone
At this point, I contemplated the result, saw that it was good, and called it a day.
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