Named in honour of a clade of Terran war demons cited in ancient religious texts preserved only in the most fragmentary of historical records found only in the deepest or most esoteric of data-vaults, these unusual cybernetic servants of the Omnissiah are very rarely seen upon the battlefields of the 42nd Millennium, and are believed by those who claim to know such things that they are a somewhat-heretekal invention of Forge World .
The bastard lovechild of the concepts of Skitarii and Thallaxii, these mighty mechanical warriors tower above most others they might share a battlefield with, a height granted by their primary means of locomotion - a giant gyroscopically-stabilised monowheel.
Only the most successful and vicious of Skitarii are selected to enjoy this upgrade, and are grafted into a suit of power armour much akin to that worn by their distant Thallaxii brethren, or their even more distant Astartes kin, and are mounted upon a single wheel almost as tall as a standard Mars-pattern Skitarius, enabling them to roll across the battlefields at unbelievable speeds and maneouver around obstacles with uncanny accuracy. This wheel is driven by a complex high-torque electro-motor capable of reaching high speeds from stationary in unbelievably quick times, but which can also perform the most minute and precise of motions to allow the Makhai to remain effectively stationary, though a Makhai unit possesses a pair of robotic stabilising legs which can either be raised to allow for ease of movement across terrain or can be deployed to provide a more stable firing platform if needed, or to assist in making tight turns around obstacles, before the unit rolls away again.
Should additional thrust be required the Makhai can lean forward and engage their powerful jump pack to reach tremendous speeds, else use that pack to vault over any obstacle in their path before laying waste to the enemies of the Omnissiah and rolling away in victory.
Seen to be equipped with a wide array of weaponry suited to fast-moving shock-and-awe tactics, from conventional bolters and plasma weapons and similar to more esoteric weaponry as befits their origins, or combinations of short range weaponry, shields, and power spears or arc lances similar to those wielded by the Hoplites of the Secutarii, the Makhai are powerful warriors of the Omnissiah indeed.
Okay, so this is another little kitbash project I'm throwing up here. I bashed together something very similar to this a year or so ago just for my own use, before I started uploading on here, but it used a lot of others' paid content in it so I didn't upload it so as not to get on folks' bad side. I've decided to redo it though, so here y'alls go. As far as I'm aware all this stuff was sourced for free on here, again I've not designed anything from scratch because I don't know how and don't have the time or inclination to learn. I've far too much stuff to paint up now as it is without finding other reasons to procrasturbate over it.
There's 5 different wheels, each in 5 different positions - upright, angled forward as if accelerating, angled back as if braking, and banking left and right while turning. Separate torso which allows for some fun posing to really convey a sense of motion, and three head choices based on what looked best to me from my selection of free heads. The legs are separate too so you can position them as you want, again it can convey a sense of movement better. Or don't use them at all and just have the wheel - I could never really decide if they looked better with or without, but you don't have to use them if you think they look goofy. Then there's loads of weapons - rifle sized, smaller one-handed sized guns, 2 shields in 2 poses, and a power spear and an arc lance. Most options should fit together but a few might not.
Skitarii-for-scale not included.
Hope you enjoy. I enjoyed making it all anyway.
