Citadel Elric Kinslayer (1986)

Elric of Melniboné is one of the greatest characters in Fantasy literature, next to Conan the Barbarian, Gandalf the Wizard and a few others. He is simply a giant and an archetype for countless imitations who came after him, such as Daenerys Targaryen and her whole dynasty, or Geralt of Rivia.

Elric is oddly similar to Tolkien's Turin Turambar, another tragic hero with a noble pedigree, a complex relationship with his sister and a cursed black sword which ultimately kills him and everything he loves. Both were conceived separately: Tolkien wrote his stories first but they were published well after Moorcock's books, who in turn were inspired by Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword. Tolkien and Anderson had the same inspiration, and that's the saga of Tyrfing, a cursed sword from Germanic myth.

Elric's archetype is the cursed warrior/noble, unfit to be a hero were it not for his magic sword, for whose help he has to pay a dear price; it is an extremely popular archetype, especially with modern audiences. Unlike other characters before him, Elric was the first to draw a parallel between the black sword and the use of drugs, thus adding a new layer to the character.

This miniatures, sculpted by Jes Goodwin, was first released in the BC5 Eternal Champion Box in February 1986. Single character blisters were released in July through September 1987 to support the Stormbringer RPG that Games Workshop were reprinting under license from Chaosium. Elric Kinslayer is one of two sculpts made by GW, the other being Elric of Melnibonéin full armour. 

For the colour scheme, I went with that from one of my all time favourite depictions of the Albino Prince: the Dragon Lord.

Courtesy of R. Matthews' website.

Overall, I am very pleased: this miniature has been sitting next to my desk, already primed, for at least a couple of years and now it is done. This is probably my favourite paint job since the end of last Summer, so I hope to be back to high standards in the current year. I just need the inspiration and the right miniature...