Escape from the dark. Einar's saga chapter eight.

When Einar regained consciousness he found himself lying on the floor in a filthy and very dark room. The unbearable pain on his head grew even worse when he remembered how his childhood friend Fafnir had died in the hands of that troll. He was in Valhalla now and he should be avenged.
There were muffled voices gossiping in the dark, but when Einar raised his head they silenced, and then he felt some eyes fixed on him.

There was his friend Rialto, thanks to Ymir, and next to him two miserable dwarfs with long beards and fire in their eyes, gazing at him fiercely. They quickly stood up and introduced themselves as Brythnot, chieftain of the Eroded Rock Clan, and his assistant Uri, a dwarf warrior. They told Einar they were the last survivors of a war party sent to recover Soul Reaver, his lost sword; but they were ambushed and captured by the Red Sun Dwarfs, and give them as a tribute to the lord of this dungeon, a powerful wizard who was also very interested in Einar's sword.

From the Dwarfs' tale Einar learnt that Soul Reaver is a very powerful tool that the Undead Lord wants it to unite the evil forces and make a total war crusade against the civilized nations. The sword was on his way when Einar's party intercepted and snatched it from those evil Dwarfs.

Thank to the all the gods that the master of the dungeon was out on a trip, but he was to return soon. Brythnot and Uri sworn in front of Einar to help him to retrieve Soul Reaver and keep it away from the Lord of the Undead. Rialto told them he can easily open the door of the cell and so they plot to escape that night, before it was too late.

After many hours of waiting, Einar, Rialto and the Dwarfs finally came out from their cell and went straight ahead, ignoring lateral doors without knowing exactly where they are and where was the exit.

All pictures are clickable

They hastily opened the door in front of them and bumped into one Black Orc and one Orc archer who were on sentry duty. With an animal shout Einar charged them and they dropped their weapons and routed in terror without even thinking of sounding off the alarm. Einar's group kept striding forward to the next door; behind it there was a narrow corridor with a hidden trap in it, but the expert eyes of the Dwarfs quickly detected and disarmed it.

Then they entered into a new chamber with some tombs and coffins, and boxes full of skulls; but without any living creature to be afraid of.

After that, they faced a new door in which Rialto had to use all his ability to open it. Once they trespassed it, they reached a great room panelled with shelves and shelves of rare books, and in the centre, an altar covered with black stains of victims' dry blood. They could also glimpse in a square on the floor their lost equipment, and Soul Reaver! But there was something else in the room...

Maybe the Lord was not at home, but he had left a guardian dog. From the dark shades of the front wall emerged a terrible monster. It was like an Ogre but with the body of a dragon. Uri muttered in fear its name, an Ogre Dragon. They were doomed.

Without uttering any sound, the terrible creature jumped onto Brythnot, swinging his brutal two handed axe towards him, but Brythnot reacted on time and evaded the hit by stepping aside. Rialto let slip a moan of pure terror, but Einar got over and charged the monster, with Brythnot and Uri who, jumping onto the altar, managed to hit the dragon's spine and stun it while the other distracted it. The creature fell back in surprise and then Einar delivered such a killing stroke upon it, that all its armour and hardiness could not stop it!

The group stood in silence around the agonizing monster, still not believing what they have done. When the creature finally breathed its last liter, they run for their things. Einar drop the rusty Orc scimitar and took up his sword again, whereas Rialto found many many interesting books, and among them, the one he was looking for. Brythnot discovered a magic axe of ancient Dwarf manufacture.

When they exit to the next room they realized it was the one where they had fallen in ambush. From there they could find the exit without further trouble and fade away in the dark of the night.

Well, Einar and his new group managed to escape from prison and with the sword, but still they have to avoid pursuit and capture. They run as fast as they can towards the Border Kingdoms.

Einar is now Rep 5 as he had to Cheat Death in his last encounter. His Hardiness has also fallen down to 3 due to his severe wound and conditions in prison. His Social Standing has also dropped to 8 as it was not very popular Fafnir's death, nor being captured by Orcs.
Brythnot raises his Rep from 5 up to 6 as well as his Hardiness to 2. He also found a magical weapon with a +1d6 in melee. Uri raised his Rep to 5. Both Dwarfs are stumpy, stubborn and has developed a hatred against Orcs (as if Fanatic all melee turns against Orcs).

La Blau with Magic Wash.

I just finished painting a squad of the Blue Division with the Magic Wash. I made them with half box of Warlord German plastic soldiers as they had the same unifom and equipment.
I block painted them and then washed them with the Magic Wash mix. The result is OK but I think this technique gets better on smaller scales like 1/72 th or even 15 mm.
They will soon see some action fighting against Communism in Russia! Here you can see some pictures of them. Pictures are clickable.

Acabo de terminar de pintar un pelotón de la División Azul con el Magic Wash. Los hice con media caja de los soldados alemanes de plástico de Warlord ya que usaban el mismo uniforme y equipamiento.
Los pinté con color base y luego les pasé la mezcla por encima. El resultado no está mal pero creo que esta técnica funciona mejor con escalas más pequeñas como el 1/72 o incluso los 15 mm.
¡Pronto entrarán en acción luchando contra el Comunismo en Rusia! Aquí pueden ven algunas fotos. Si pinchan en las fotos se ven más grandes.

Sargeant and Corporal. Sargento y cabo. Assaulting troops. Tropas al asalto.

Two Mg34 teams. Dos grupos de Mg34.


Group picture. Foto de grupo.

Magic Wash

I've been using wood stain to dip my miniatures for a time, but I haven't tried the Magic Wash with the Johnson floor wax so far, basically because that product does not exist in Spain. Now I have to paint around 80 Valiant German infantry to play DH&CF7B mainly, and the brown dip does not look OK on the German uniform IMO, so I decided to look for a floor wax to try to make a Magic Wash with black ink.

Llevo usando el dipping con barniz tintado desde hace un tiempo pero nunca he intentado el famoso Magic Wash, básicamente porque en España no se vende la cera acrílica para suelos de la marca Johnson. Ahora que tengo que pintar dos cajas de alemanes de Valiant para usarlos principalmente con Disposable Heroes, y que el dipping marrón no me gusta como queda con el uniforme alemán, me he decidido a buscar una cera que sirva para hacer un Magic Wash con tinta negra.

After looking in all the main shops in my town, I entered in Mercadona and there I found colourless brilliant floor wax by Bosque Verde. Next to that product there was Johnson soap for wooden floor, and the shape of the bottle was identical to the other one. Then I read the small print at the back of the bottles and noticed they both were made in the same factory in Valencia. Then I thought that maybe the Bosque Verde floor wax was a white brand of Johnson floor wax for Mercadona, that they were the same wax; so I bought one bottle for just two euros and run to try it at home.

Después de patearme todos los grandes comercios, acabé en el Mercadona de al lado de mi casa, y allí ví la CERA Autobrillante Incolora para suelos de Bosque Verde. Al lado estaba un jabón para parquet de la marca Johnson y la botella era exactamente igual a la de cera, así que leí la letra pequeña y descubrí que ambas se hacían en la misma fábrica en Valencia. Entonces pensé que quizás la cera Bosque Verde era una marca blanca de Johnson para Mercadona y me compré una botella por dos euros y volví a casa corriendo a probarla.

Once at home, I hastily block painted two Valiant German riflemen and then applied on them a mixture of Bosque Verde floor wax with a few drops of the old GW's black ink, and here you can see the results.

Una vez en casa pinté rápidamente dos alemanes de Valiant con color base y luego les apliqué una mezcla de cera con unas gotas de tinta, y aquí pueden ver los resultados.

I do not know if this wax is the same that Johnson's but I do not care as I am quite happy with the result and I am going to use it to paint all my Germans in one go! Now I must find the exact mixture of ink and wash, and maybe use lighter colours, especially for the uniform and the helmet.

Yo no sé si esta cera es o no la de Johnson pero la verdad es que me da igual porque me gusta como han quedados las miniaturas, y así es como voy a pintar el resto de una patada. Sólo tengo que encontrar la mezla correcta de tinta, y quizás usar colores más claros para el uniforme y el casco.

Down into darkness. Einar's saga chapter seven.

Einar, Fafnir and Rialto are travelling East, deep into the land of the Orcs, avoiding the evil Dark Elves and towards the Border Kingdoms. They travel keeping low profile and avoiding all contact with the Orcs, but as they cross the border and progress into the country of the Orcs, Rialto becomes restless, and when Einar inquiries about the matter, he confesses that he joined him as a mean to travel safe and retrieve a very important arcane tome lost in the hands of an Orc raiding party. He then asks Einar for help to find it as he feels it is near.

Einar feels a bit treasoned but also feels in debt with Rialto for helping him to get his sword, so he decides to help him in the end. They start to search the area and soon discover a hidden corridor that goes down into darkness.

As usual all pictures are clickable.

As soon as they entered they sprung a trap, but they managed to avoid any harm. Then the corridor turned right and they spotted a door at the end of it. The door was locked but Rialto, a resourceful magician, picked the lock easily.

Beyond the entrance they could see what it looked like a sentry room, but it was empty. The chamber had another trap and three closed doors. Rialto quickly pointed at the central one, a thick door made of stone. This one was also locked and proved to be more difficult to open, but again Rialto picked the lock without much effort.

Then they entered in a new corridor wich also had another door at the end. As they advanced towards the new door, Einar wondered in surprise why they had not met anyone so far; where the hell were the Orcs?

The group commenced to relax as nobody appeared; with a bored expression on his face, Rialto started to pick the lock of the new door once again. But Alas! Suddenly they met face to face with a huge band of Orcs, and with some Trolls too! They were waiting for them, it was a trap!

Einar reacted faster than anyone and led a charge against the brutes. He engaged with one Black Orc whereas Fafnir charged the Troll to his left. Rialto casted a domination spell on the Troll to the right, and convinced him to attack one Black Orc next to him. Pushing back and forward and exchanging blows fiercely they tried to kill each other, but the lack of room avoided any serious injuring.

One Orc close to the door tried to escape and sound the alarm, but Rialto spotted him and swiftly kill him with a "Steel Wind" spell. Another Orc joined the enraged Troll of the left to help him killing Fafnir, who managed to slain him in return but at the cost of losing all his Hardiness.

A new Orc tried to sound the alarm and this time Rialto could not stop him. Then the Troll engaged with Fafnir, released a devastating blow that almost ripped off Fafnir's head, smashing him against the wall instantly dead! Rialto, shocked in horror, tried to dominate the Troll, but he was not concentrated enough and suffered a backlash, falling to the ground out of combat.
Einar killed another Orc but then he was totally surrendered, outnumbered and outmatched.

A tremendous hit on his head left him unconscious and out of combat. Einar and Rialto were taken prisoners then and locked up in a deep and dark chamber.

Well, what can I say? This was totally unexpected. I painted a whole dungeon with lots of furniture and I have not been able to use it properly because the suckers fell in ambush too soon. Now what? All these months of Einar travelling distant lands, fighting fearsome enemies, losing dear friends and comrades, and finally getting the sword of his prophecy, for nothing?
We will see it in the next chapter ;-)