Some Cold One Knights history

A unit of Cold One Knights chasing some bretonian spearmen

The last weeks I busied myself a lot with the Cold One Kinghts of the past. I studied the Games Workshop studio army of the 4th Edition release and tried to get an idea how they built their Knights and how this fits into the history of the Dark Elves army release. I get several insights I want to share and discuss with you.

Back in the days of the 3rd Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle the Cold Ones walked on all four legs. This changed with the release of the 4th Edition Dark Elves to a more Raptor like appearance. This appearance was used by John Blanches artwork in the 4th Edition armybook which can be seen as one of the first concepts pawing the way for upcoming release. Also David Gallagher used a two leged variant when creating his Armybook cover in 1995. In contrast, some of the black and white art from Mark Gibbons of this armybook still used the four leged variant of the past. These artworks were updated with new raptor like art when releasing the tears of Isha Campain in 1999.
The models designed by Trish Carden were two leged raptors, which were liked a lot in the community. Consequently, the Cold One Knights become one of the most iconic units of this release. In addition the unit gets an impressive Command Crew and their release was supported by own tactical article written by Jervis Johnson in the White Dwarf #188. A General miniature mounted on a heavily armoured Cold One followed a month later. These models were some of the best of their age and used far into the 6th Edition. A lot of people in the hobby prefered the dynamic reptiles rather than the new, bulky, and cow like Cold Ones of the year 2001.

The release schedule

The history of the Cold One Knight release was a chaotic and a sad story and therefore was in line with the whole release of the Dark Elves in 1995. The White Dwarf #187 presented the second wave of Dark Elves and the first appearance of the Knights. Consequently, it also contained some Mail Order pages showing the released miniatures and their parts and bits. In this first reference the release included a standing and running Cold One body variant as well as four head and tail bits. The riders based on only one leg part which can be combined with two different torso and lance variants. The third wave of Dark Elves miniatures one month later included a single Cold One Knight in a blister. The Mail Order pages again presented the Cold One Knight parts and bits but with a different compilation missing one of the lance variants.

Another month later the Command miniatures of the Cold One Knights were released. The command crew included a Standard Bearer as well as a sword wilding Champion. The Mail Order page of the Cold One knights was updated with the new bits of the command figures including a new leg variant. This leg variant based on the existing leg bit but with additional repeating crossbow, bags and baggins. The missing lance did not appear again. Later, they stopped also the production for Head #3 and Tail #1 and both bits become very rare. In contrast to the lance, the head and tail bits appeard for some time in the Mail Order Flyers and Citadel Cataloges until they disappeared with the Citadel catalogue from 1998. 


                       A                                                            B

                       C                                                            D

                       Mail Order pages from White Dwarf #187 (A) White Dwarf #188 (B) and from White
                             Dwarf #189 as well as from the 1998 Citadel Catalogue (D)


The studio army

The first Knight as shown in the Dark Elves Armybook

With creation of the Dark Elves Armybook only one Cold One Knight was painted and ready to be shown on the Eavy Metal pages. In additon, the last page of the Armybook showed a picture containing everything painted before printing of the book. This picture also showed the three Cold One Knights representing the three miniatures representing the box art of the Cold One Knight box. Therefore, it looks like the Cold One Knights were finished late in the released schedule with a focus on finishing the three Cold Ones Knights needed for the box art. The box was finished as the Dark Elves Army release get its official presentation with the White Dwarf #187. It contains the necessary parts to build three miniatures and in addition some self adhesion banners for the lances and transfer slides for the shields. While lance #1 was part of one rider of the box art, the head #3 and tail #1 were not used in the builts of the first three knights. To my knowledge lance #1, Head #3 and tail #1 were dropped early and did not appear in the box. Therefore, their bits disappeard quickly after the upcoming production molds focused on the box content.

However, these bits appeared in an other of the early knights of the studio army. The so called "rare Knight" based on the standing Cold One variant with head #3 and tail #1. The rider also uses lance #1. This rider completes the early Cold One Knights using both body variants two times and used all four head and tail variants in mixture. Take a closer look at the studio builts, they initially used the dynamic tails for the running body variants and the static tails for the standing body variant. Same is true for the lance. Lance #1 has a pointing arm position and lance #2 has a bended arm position ready for impact. Consequently, the standing Cold Ones used lance #1 while the running variants use lance #2. The painting of the Cold Ones showed different shades of green. The Box art already featured a light green variant, a darker green variant and a bluish variant. The "rare Knight" used the same dark green variant as one of the Box Art Knigths. The Knights itself mixed purple and blue colours on their clothes as well as on their lance banners. The skull and the teared heart symbol were used alternately on banners and shields.  

Different pictures showing the "rare Knight"

With the release of the Command figures with the White Dwarf #189 the Dark Elf Cold One Knights get their Eavy Metal page. In addion, the already mentioned article about Cold One Knights tactics from Jervis Johnson was released. Therefore, a lot of pictures feature the Knights in all their glory. A closer look on the Command miniatures showed that again their built and paiting was very well planned. The Champion used the running Cold One variant again with a dynamic tail. In contrast the Stadard bearer used the standing variant used the rare tail #1. Both builds used the most impressive Cold One head which is a bit bigger in size compared to the other three variants. Unfortunately, both Command builts did not use the newly released leg part. 
The painting underlined their command status. Both Cold Ones were painted in bluish colours, giving these reptiles an older and  more veteran appearance. The elite position of the Command Crew was refelcted by adding more golden armour parts as well as some unique shield designs. Here, the Champions used again the skull motive with additional red horns and the Standard Bearer used a small shield with runes.   

Eavy Metal page of the Dakr Elf Cold One Knights

Beside the new Command miniatures two other Cold One Knighs pop up. These Knights strengthen the studio army to six Knights allowing to put a unit of eight Knights on the tabletop when using the command crew as well. In contrast to the well planned early Knights of the studio these late Knights were a bit different in their built and painting. One of the late Knights Cold One built was a copy of the bluish box art Cold One. This time it was painted in green with bluish scales. The other new Knights Cold One built was a copy of the light green box art variant but using a dynamic tail. Both Knight builts use the new leg bit for the rider with additional bags and a repeating crossbow.  

The flank shows the late Knights which appeard together with the command crew

In summary it seems that the Cold One Knights-release used a list of varing parts and bits which evolved during the release schedule. Some parts were dopped and some other appeared later. In conclusion, the studio army showed more variance as most of the players were able to put on their table in the mid 90s. When I started collecting this army in 1998, a lot of the bits had already disappeared. I learned later that collecting all these parts can be quite hard. As I was able to get head #3 and tail #1 after searching through thousands of Ebay and Facebook auctions I still miss a sign of lance #1. I don't now if this bit was ever released as it disappeared already one month after its release. If you have ever seen this lance I would be happy if you could drop me a message in the comments.

That is the story about the Cold One Knights so far. The next article will show how I try to rebuilt these impressive Knights of the past.

Kind Regards,
GeOrc