Up in the loft, where the hobby happens, I am finishing my Chaos Vindicator. This is the final painting pledge for the impending 'Planetstrike weekend'. It's not going well, but I am happy about that. After all, the artist who never experiences technical difficulties must be content to stand still.
If I am getting things wrong and finding them difficult, I'm learning something and improving. Case in point, the Chaos Vindicator. I've only recently started experimenting with weathering powders, and I used far too many in the wash on the dozer blade. It looks awful, but I am learning less is more with these things and that they CAN look great. I am improving. Also, I am painting a yellow gold eight pointed star on the top of the vehicle, stretching arrow-heads down each side of the tank, Black Legion style. It is hard going, taking a long time, and I would absolutely do it in a very different order and a very different way next time around. Still, I've always wanted to do this, I am having fun, and I am learning.
My friend Ollie recently accused me of being complacent with my game. He said I "used sportsmanship as an excuse for sucking". I've been thinking about this. I am not a very good general, I lose more games than I win. Part of this is that I get to play about ten games in total PER YEAR so I am often rusty with the rules, the stats, and my tactics.
This is a factor of both my available free time, and the fact I have other things to do. I think at some point I did decide to compensate for being a bad general by trying my hardest to be as sportsmanlike as possible. I don't think this is a bad thing, nobody's about to complain about it, but what if Ollie's right? I'm now looking at it this way, if I spent some more time working on my army list in advance of a game, read the rulebook more often in my down time, and made a real effort to commit my more important stat lines to memory, maybe even researched 'the enemy' a little so they didn't confuse me so much.. maybe I would win a bonus game or two. At the same time, I'm sure I could hang on to my sportsmanship. So, ahead of 'Planetstrike weekend', I am making a real effort with my Attack and Defence lists, I am reading the rules, and I am memorising stats. We'll see if it does any good in, oh, ten days!?!
In real world news, I am almost finished with my contract in London, and glad of it. I will be having several weeks off over the Christmas period and starting new work closer to home in the new year, once I find it! I'm not complaining about being in work during a recession, but I am Tired. What's wrong with working hard for a wage and being Tired? Nothing, if it stops there, but I think there are more wonderful things in life to be enjoyed than a fifteen hour day and no time or space either end of it to live your life and be with your family. There's working to live, and living to work. The wedding is paid for, so I am done with that and looking forward to a 9 to 6 again (I've never had a 9 to 5, can anybody confirm they even exist?).
I miss passion in my work. People with jobs they hate will laugh at that, something like "Nobody likes their job, moron, get used to it". Sorry to disappoint but some people do like their jobs, some even love them. I did. When I joined the games industry ten years ago, it was all I wanted to do for quite some time. That's long gone. I don't even play video games anymore. Time to get out for good. I'd rather be a good engineer on something I have never cared about, and simply take pride in my work, than bust a gut doing something I don't love anymore - but used to.
This winter, I am a miniature painter for a living. I don't expect to make any money, but nobody said jobs you love had to pay a wage. ;)
-Scott
p.s. I think it would do me good to paint something VERY different to my usual comfort zone of Chaos Marines and Greenskins. Any suggestions? In fact, commissions would be even better.. ;)
I've got a 6x4 that needs painting ;)
ReplyDeleteA better way to think about what I said is, how unsportsman like is it to question an opponents actions and delay the flow of the game looking up a rule that you should probarbly know, this isn't an exclusive thing to you, but something I've been finding recently, getting the rulebook out in the middle of a game can be distracting from it's enjoyment, and hear the words 'rules as written' is particulary annoying :P So more of a mantra to all, learn the things you should know out of respect for your opponent. It's not a requirement to play but something we should all be aspiring too perhaps, as is true in art, once you learn the rules, then you can get on with breaking them :D