Dinosaurs and chariots

The large amount of different monster must be one of the things I really like about the Dark Elves. Not only do the monsters differentiate the Dark Elves from their more noble and feral brethren, they also look very cool. And the best thing about the Dark Elf monsters must be that they do not only feature large monsters, but that you can have some monsters in smaller games also. By this, I’m of course not referring to Black Dragons or Hydra’s but to the raptor like Cold Ones. The smaller, but not less dangerous, Carnivor related mounts that are used by the Dark Elf knights and chariots.

Although I didn’t choose this colour scheme, the blues and golds do give this army a unique character.

Of course, Games Workshop has made great strides in terms of model design. The original metal Cold Ones looked rather cool although they were a bit smallish. Then, already quite some time ago, GW released their plastic ‘fatty’ Cold Ones and compaired to the current Dark Elf range, these old plastic Cold Ones look rather pathetic and of course dumb. But then again, the Cold Ones suffer from stupidity in the game as well. Even though these miniatures might not be considered some of the biggest duds in GW model history, they do have a character of their own. And combined with a menacing Knight or sleek chariot, they do have some merits. Afterall, the new plastic Cold Ones might be much better miniatures, they are also a bit more ‘generic’ dinoraur like. Almost like the Velociraptors from the original Jurassic Park.

Dinosaurs and Elves, who ever came up with this idea should be awared a proper prize.

Like almost all Dark Elf miniatures I have painted, these guys were also part of a commission I got. That gave me little choice in the colour scheme and feel of these figurines. But I do have to admit that the colour scheme of my client is rather striking, with the deep blues and golden metals that add together really well. Looking back at these minis, I can see that I should most likely have added some washes to bring out the detail further. Although it might also be my camera I used in those days. It also got me thinking about the few Dark Elf miniatures I have laying around and the newer Cold One Knights that I have laying somewhere around. As I originally intended to auction these minis on Ebay or some similar site, I started painting them in the common purple GW colour scheme. But seeing these photo’s again I might just keep these figurines and come up with some wicked evilish new colours to paint them in. Time will tell, as there are so many games I still want to play, minis I want to paint and scenery I want to build.