Download the big man's rules.
I've had the idea of Gorgonok for years. Originally, he came about because with the endless fawning over Archaon, I really wanted to present a character for the Beastmen who could be seen as a monstrous, all-powerful threat. I wanted a guy who wasn't going to crawl to some Gods-pampered three-eyed idiot but would prove that the Beastmen could get it done. I used the GW Doombull model to represent him, but let's be honest... that model's so-so. I spent a long time thinking I was going to have to just deal with that, until Zealot Miniatures released their beautiful new minotaur models. This model is the 'Minotaur General'. Incredibly, he will cost you exactly the same as GW want for their Doombull. And this model is incredible..
Look at the speed and power of this bloke. This isn't some giant clumsy cow. This is a guy who is going to be ploughing through the enemy's ranks before they've even got their halberds up. And that's what an armoured minotaur should look like. He looks like he's wearing a wrecked Steam Tank and it isn't even slowing him down.
I originally envisioned Gorgonok as an albino, but the thing is that albinism is almost complete lack of pigment. I'm not a good enough painter for that, to be honest. So instead I decided that he would be very pale. The paint scheme is a base of Rakarth Flesh, a 50/50 Reikland Fleshshade/Lahmian Medium mix all over and then fairly strong drybrush layers of Pallid Witch Flesh and white.
I think what surprised me most was how easy he was to paint. And he's one of those models that you really enjoy painting.
Where have I been?
Today of all days is probably a good time to tell this story, because of the date. 6th May. On this day several years ago, I left a job for a company which I'd been at for a very long time. It was not my choice, nor was I dismissed. Indeed, I was a high performing staff member in a high performing team. That we were at the time one of the company's better assets was never denied. But nobody is safe from desperate management trying to demonstrate activity, and we were all made redundant. It's a strange experience: by the time an employer is willing to do that, you're probably fed up with them anyway. But that doesn't make it less offensive when they decide to get rid of you in spite of the fact that your department works well, makes money and is needed. In the most literal sense, ou jobs weren't redundant: the company simply thought that a short term saving could be achieved by shipping the jobs up north. As you can imagine, I was somewhat put out.
After many years of working in the private sector, I have to acknowledge I was tired of it almost beyond belief. I was weary of the ineptness, the corruption, the constant need to stroke massive but fragile egos. Truthfully, I could not have entered another corporate role. I promised myself two things: I would travel a lot more, and I would find something actually worthwhile with my life. Once I realised this, I was able to get back in the game with relative speed and ease. I started working at the University a few months after departing the other company, and was bowled over. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the academic world is far, far kinder and more competent than the corporate. I maintain this after a long time working there. My only slight gripe was that I was a contractor, needing to pitch myself and gain a new contract each year. In December 2018, that changed when my boss offered me a permanent position. I was and still am ecstatic. In February 2019, I applied for a promotion (more to stop my colleagues yelling at me) and was surprised when I got it. And I realised with a sudden, jolting sense of amazement that I was happy. I was comparatively well off, I had a secure job which I thoroughly enjoyed, a decent nestegg of savings and I had managed to fulfil my promise to see at least two new countries every year. There are some I knew who, in the late-stage-capitalism sense of success, are vastly more successful than I. But I realised that after a rocky start to my career years ago, I had finally 'arrived' as it were.
So why did this cause me to have trouble with Age of Rebuilding? The answer's simpler than you might be thinking. The truth is that... since my last update in March, I've just been enjoying myself. Just taking time. I didn't have writer's block. I didn't have a struggle with what I wanted to achieve. I will admit that I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I had this image of the narrative of the Empire/Lustrian alliance besieging Nuln, a separate Nuln army list and a seperate siege supplement. But honestly, I'm one bloke who writes for a living and only wants to write outside work... sometimes (this is also why you might find typos scattered through my work; I'm not damn well editorialising on my own time, and besides why should I do it if GW don't?). But mainly, the holdup has been caused by me just... kind of... living. I recently spent eight days wandering the national parks of Croatia, and as ever the new experience fired up my creativity again. Watch this space for 'Thunder over Nuln' very soon :)
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