Qapu Khalqi Buying Guide: Model ID, Retail Availability and the Second Hand Market.

So you’ve decided to jump into Qapu Khalqi, but you’ve seen that note on the Army App that says “Playable but out of catalog” and are wondering if you’ve made a terrible mistake. 

Fear not! Ol’ Husam Diomedes is here to steer you right.

First and foremost it is always worth remembering that Corvus Belli has a very forgiving proxy rule, when it comes to playing in official tournaments (when it comes to playing casually do whatever the hell you want.) So long as the model you are using to represent the unit profile you are using matches in terms of Silhouette/base size you are golden and can use any Infinity model you like. 

This is important for us QK players, but also for everyone else. No faction has a complete range of every profile available to them, so proxying to one degree or another is inevitable. If you want to play QK, but are not a capital “C” Collector, like me, then just use whatever you have to hand and enjoy yourself.

All that said, there are some very very good Qapu Khalqi models to be had, and ways to have them for the keen collector. At this point we turn to the excellent Infinity Unit ID Assistant Sheets for QK, as produced by my Infinity pal, superb painter and all round great guy, Kasperov Malthausen. You can find his work on Facebook and Instagram. It’s well worth a look. Kasperov has produced unit ID sheets for all the factions of Infinity, which are a great aid to players old and new.

You will notice that I have put up two Unit ID Assistant sheets. I have done this so as to cover almost all the possible variants of QK models that you might have the good fortune to find (not including some of the truly ancient and at times heinous models.) 

The first sheet contains all the most up to date versions of QK units, with the highest number of models you can buy at retail today. The second sheet contains older models that, while out of production, can still be found on the second hand market.

The first thing to point out is that it is possible to buy at least one version of the vast majority of Qapu Khalqi units. Recent additions, thanks to the introduction of the Reinforcements game mode, mean that it is now possible to buy at retail an Al Hawwa hacker, which has been long out of production. The same goes for Sekban, Hafza and Azra’il.

However, when playing QK there is a strong chance you will want to field multiple Sekban, Hafza and Al Hawwa, perhaps even Azra’il. This is where our second Unit ID sheet comes in. You will notice that there are old versions of all the units listed in the previous paragraph and if you wish to supplement your Reinforcements boxes these examples are worth seeking out. 

Unfortunately there are some units that are both important to the faction and out of production, or currently without a general release or any kind. Chief among those is the Djanbazan Tactical Group. These mean SOBs are close to a lynch pin unit for the faction as they are you only source of Multispectral Visor Level 2 (MSV2) and thus are necessary in some match ups. They are also good in general and the most recent models are cool AF (see above.) 

Alongside them are the less important, but no less cool, KTS, Kaplan Tactical Services. I know they sound a bit like a K-Pop band, but they are in fact your competent “good guy” mercenaries. They all come packing mimetism -3 and a wide variety of weapons and skills. It’s a shame they have gone OOP because their fireteams recently got a boost with the addition of a new unit, the Korsan, but alas, Corvus Belli can only do so many things at once.

Scarface and Cordelia are also, sadly, OOP and you might really want them. They are definitely a taste pick, but when Scarface goes off he goes off big. Poor BS, for a TAG, but excellent CC ability, for a TAG means you want him running in up close and personal and putting the hurt on everything around him. The dynamic duo only recently went OOP, so there is a chance a resculpt is on the way, but don’t hold your breath. Or if you are reading this from the future perhaps there is already a resculpt out! Isn’t time a wonder?

[Edit – Thanks Burlesford!] It is also worth noting that one of the Odalisque sculpts has also gone out of production. There is an old box from N2 that CB still produce that should have everything you need, but there was until recently a more recent single mini with Spitfire that was remove from the catalog, probably due to redundancy. Hopefully some new Odalisques will come along in the not too distant future, but again, don’t hold your breath!

Finally the Beasthunter, a very useful and cheap DZ defender, or camouflage infiltrator, has no general release model yet to speak of (but there surely will be one in the future.) However there are a number of variations you can buy second hand from people who kickstarted the TAG: Raid boxed game, by Corvus Belli.

So, despite a lot of QK being available to buy now, if you like collecting, are a completionist, or don’t want to proxy if you can help it, the second hand market is where you need to go next. My advice in that regard is, in order of priority, as follows: 

• Ask around your local community. Infinity has a very welcoming community and people are regularly looking to move on models they no longer want. There might be someone near you willing to make a reasonable deal for someone wanting to get into a faction they too, at one time, liked enough to collect.

• Trawl the online shops of the game stores in your and neighbouring countries. There are hidden gems to be found, if you are lucky. The old Qapu Khalqi starter box particularly is a great set to pick up, if you can find it.

• Ask around on Facebook and Discord miniature buy/sell/trade groups. This method is perhaps the most reliable, but it can also be the most costly. Models like the Azra’il Feuerbach and AP HMG can fetch many times their retail value so be mindful of what you are agreeing to buy (keep a sharp eye out for recasts) and how much you are able to spend. 

I hope this assists you in your quest to collect and play Qapu Khalqi. Keep your chin up and your eyes sharp, and don’t get downhearted if you miss out on a deal, there will be another one along before you know it.

May Allah the Great and Merciful guide your steps in (tabletop) battle.

Husam Operative Diomedes x