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The Trinavarta

Build Experience

The Trinavarta was, thankfully, a very pleasant surprise, going into the build my main concern was balance; big heavy wings and having the entire model supported by the flowing cloth made me slightly nervous but the model was well balanced and the cloth supports were strong and robust. There was also good contact to the base so that once it was glued in place I had no fear of holding the model by the base.

The wings were another potential worry. Multi-part wings can easily become a nightmare of alignment issues and visible seams. However, these pieces slotted together remarkably well. The joins felt natural, the shape held exactly as intended, and I never found myself fighting the kit.

Most importantly, apart from a slight struggle with the armour around the waist this is not a fiddly model. There were no frustrating ball joints or awkward pose decisions. Everything had a clear place, and the entire assembly process felt smooth and intuitive.

Overall, this was simply a really nice model to build.

Credit: Josh Cornford

Painting Experience

As someone who doesn’t consider themselves a particularly skilled painter, I love painting wings. The models detail and texture does a lot of the heavy lifting, allowing for simple techniques to produce strong results. My approach was straightforward:

Wet blend from a light brown to a very dark brown (almost black).
A wash (although if you use a contrast paints like me this can be skipped).
Gradual dry brushing with progressively lighter browns.
Very light dry brush of gold.

This let the natural textures of the plastic come through beautifully and produced a finish I was genuinely very happy with.

If you choose to completely build the model before paint (like me) then there are some areas between wings or around the torso of the model which can be difficult to access, and I could see merit in painting some pieces before assembly.

Overall I think this was a lovely model to paint and I believe if you take some time and make the wings look special then you can keep the body simple and still get plenty of compliments on the table.

Credit: Josh Cornford

On the Table

With a move of 8, flying and the Sabhagrih (melee) having unstoppable rule it doesn't matter where your opponent hides no one is safe. Mobility is extremely powerful especially for monsters, and the Trinavarta will be a threat all over the board.

Both the Chandavat (ranged) and Sabhagrih (melee) have a lot of output but nothing in armour reduction which means you’ll have the think carefully about the best enemy regiment to target. They will be a big threat against the W'adrhŭn, Nords and other SK but could struggle with Dweg, City States and 100 Kingdoms as they have quite a selection of D4 regiments.

Loose Formation is a great addition, monsters naturally attract ranged attention due to their threat and size, this heavily punishes that and adds real value.

For the Trinavarta Chandavat (ranged) elemental conduit and a free additional spell means that they can generate 2 ritual tokens in a turn which is very good, and adds to its value in your list.

There’s also the faction context to consider. Air Elementals are not particularly common at the moment, which may limit the Traveller’s immediate presence in competitive lists. That said, evolving list construction and more players experimenting with multi court lists could easily increase its relevance in the future.

Overall, the Traveller feels fast, dangerous, and potentially devastating in the right matchups.

The Marid Sahar

Build Experience

If the Trinavarta was pleasant, the Marid Sahar were downright effortless.

These were among the easiest models I’ve ever assembled. The parts fit cleanly, the build was intuitive, and there were no awkward steps or structural concerns. Regardless of where one lands on the aesthetic debate surrounding these sculpts, from a hobby perspective they are refreshingly painless.

As someone who cannot wait to get the models on the board simple builds are underrated, and these kits absolutely deliver on that front.

Credit: Josh Cornford

Painting Experience

This is where the Marid Sahar truly excelled for me.

My painting approach was deliberately simple:

Basecoat the entire model in a deep sea blue.
Dry brush progressively lighter, with lighter sea blues until you reach white. (I believe I used three blues).
Paint the characters, personally used green ands gold as it stood out while also working well with the blue.
Base using Vallejo water effect and snow effect for foam.

That’s it.

The layered dry brushing produced a convincing aquatic gradient with minimal effort. The sculpt’s flowing shapes lend themselves perfectly to this method, making it extremely forgiving for less experienced painters.

For the bases, the water and snow effects do all the heavy lifting giving your model a very good finish with minimal effort of time.

These were some of the simplest models I’ve ever painted — and the results were far better than the effort would suggest. As someone who prioritises playing but still wants painted armies, this kind of kit is ideal. Low effort but high visual effect.

Credit: Josh Cornford

On the Table

From a gameplay perspective, the Marid Sahar look exceptionally strong.

The standout feature is their free spell action, being able to move, shoot and cast is incredibly powerful. Not to mention the water spells become stronger as they target the same enemy regiments this creates strong internal faction interactions and rewards coordinated play.

Move 7 gives excellent mobility, and will make some one of the faster units on the board.

Everything about the unit suggests efficiency and high output exactly what you want from a ranged element and I could see them slotting comfortably into mixed court builds.

The rest of the water elementals haven’t been released yet but there is a lot of excitement for water court lists using a sorcerer as the warlord, this regiment would be a fundamental part of that list and a large part of it’s strength.

If you haven't already I'd highly recommend picking up these models, fun to paint and competitive enough not to sit on the shelf!

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Tags: Conquest | Sorcerer Kings