One of the biggest bombshells to hit the Warmachine world in recent times was the announcement that we were getting six new Novice Warcasters as part of the rewards available from the Warmachine Tactics Kickstarter. Of course, not everyone was able to participate in and/or support the Kickstarter, but the good folks at Privateer have made sure that no-0ne’s being left in the dust. While there were special sculpts made available as Kickstarter rewards, this month we get to place our grubby mitts on general release versions that have been added to Privateer’s ongoing catalogue of niftiness.

Today we start with Kovnik Andrei Malakov.

Kovnik Andrei Malakov, the arrogant twit who barely managed to salvage his position in Rites of Passage, comes in five pieces.

Malakov is one of the lucky few Novice Warcasters who comes with his head already squarely secured on his shoulders. The same can’t be said for whosever shoulderpad he’s standing on. That dude was likely a lot less lucky.

One hip is noticeably bare, but that’s because it’s got its own separate armour plate and the holster for his hand cannon. It comes with more rivets! Yay!

The backpack is a compact example of Khadoran mechanical engineering. Single exhaust, much more straightforward and efficient than those filthy Cygnaran dual exhaust packs.

The left arm proudly bears aloft his Hand Cannon, promising loud and noisy death to any pigeons that happen to be flying directly overhead. An unkeyed socket means you have some leeway to rotate the arm should you wish.

His Mechanika Blade, however, spells doom for gophers. As with the hand cannon, a simple round knob means the sword arm can be angled somewhat.

Proudly mounted on his Dragon Forge resin base, Malakov is prepared to join the Old Witch in her expedition to Zu. Sure, he’s not in the theme force, but he might just tag along anyway.

So many rivets… and I just can’t help myself, I *have* to pick them all out individually…

Part of me wonders if I went with yellow armour because my diet is custard deficient. I should look into that sometime. I really do like this sculpt of Kovnik Malakov, perhaps more than anything else the little pinky finger. Bonus points to the first person who replaces the hand cannon with a teacup.

Kovnik Andrei Malakov is a July release Novice Warcaster character solo, ready to fight for the Motherland. He’s probably standing around imperiously at your distributors just waiting for your store owners to bring him in. Just for you.