Cynath Ch'Ihll The Bastard Prince, Disgraced Son of Naggarond

Hailing from one of the most affluent Dynasties in Naggaroth Cynath is one of the many illegitimate children sired by the Gorgon Queen and, until his disgrace, enjoyed every nightmarish depravity his name entitled him too. His father- sire remains a mystery even to the most gifted of intelligencers within the first city. Whether it be beast, mortal, or daemon, Cynath is burdened with the mantle of bastard and, according to the traditions of the Black House, may never be it's ruler. Young, capricious and vain, Cynath leads a private army of house soldiers at the head of his personal retinue of Cold One knights. 

Unable to take the mantle of Lord of the Black House, Cynath was marked for the life of an indolent Prince, taking whatever pleasures he could in what would be an inevitably short, violent life. One of the Black Prince's indiscretions earned him a temporary exile to the northern watch towers, a dead end for ambitious Druchii and quite often, a death sentence too. On one of the hunting trips that occupied his time in the northern way towers, Cynath discovered a golden mask fashioned in the rictus grin of a forgotten elven god. The mask spoke to Cynath and gave  allowed the Bastard Prince to dream the dreams of the dead god. 

Fuelled by hallucinations of a forgotten pantheon, Cynath lit the witch light of the towers and drove his host into the barren wastes. The host of the Bastard Prince now roams the Wastes, driven by mad visions of an alien deity. The penalty for this desertion is disgrace for the ruling house, but the Ch'Ihll dynasty is little affected by the actions of a bastard offspring. 

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This miniature is a continual work in progress. From the moment I bought him nearly fifteen years ago Cynath has led my Dark Elf host through trial, disaster and victory! This is the latest incarnation, the fourth generation Black Prince whereas the third was one of my very first blog entries. From the miniature's original appearance I always imagined him to be somewhat of a libertine; a being of such high social standing and personal wealth that his blood runs blue. He had a strange mask and a wonderful scowl, perfect for a leader.  

The choice to re-mount Cynath and his retinue of knights came after reading the Malus Darkblade books. The I imagined the creatures described being bigger and more ferocious than horses, but the current Games Workshop miniatures are quite small in comparison. The issue came to a head when I found the Fenrisian wolves I used to mount my dark riders were bigger than my elite cavalry's mounts!

When I imagine Nauglir I see great big lumbering beasts, slow to accelerate, but incredibly quick when they hit top speed. Not to say obscenly violent once they have the taste of blood on thier tongue. I started playing the game when a Cold one knight's charge was second only to a choas knight's. The combination of fear and 2 attacks made these mounts apex predator, but have receded in light of the super heavy cavalry ogres can field, the dread of a juggernought surge and the super enchanted chaos chosen knights. Gav Thorpe wrote that Nauglir with two attacks were too good for the gaming environment of the time (the druchii nobles riding them wouldn't be too impressed being out matched in combat by their mounts). 

Although I moaned and yelled and threw my toys out of the pram I could understand his point. I hope with the changes seen in 8th we will be seeing Cold one knights as monstrous cavalry with their second attack and frenzy, returning them to the forefront of the most devastating cavalry unit in the Warhammer universe. Until that day, when I put my models on the table I want to feel the substantial weight of metal. I want to see the massive killing bulk of these cold blooded creatures as they streak forward into the heart of the enemy line. I remember being absolutely terrified of my friends chaos terminator's because they were big, bulky and darkly painted. Logically, I knew I could starcannon them to death (back in the good old days when Ulthwe seer council was king), but they were under my skin and disrupted my normal thought processes. I think there is a psychological advantage in having game zone predators for the same reason.

While envisioning what my perfect Druchii force would look like, it wasn't Jes Goodwin's tremendous sculpts that was at the spear tip of my force. The crown in the House of Ch'Ihll has always been its cold one knights, and for this I need Nauglir worthy to bear Cynath to battle.  

I know size isn't everything, but it certainly helps! For a more thorough reasoning I wrote an entry on Warseer describing my feelings.

P.S Sorry for the background of this photograph. I've lost my nice blue background and when I tried to print a new one it came out in this streaked purple. A propitious sign I thought, until I saw the lines marring the background. 

LilLoser