So I saw Jervais Johnson today and asked him a few questions

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**beef**

So I saw jervais and asked him a few questions, sorry to the people who did not get there questions answered as the time was short and there were to many people getting in the way. I saw a dude buy 3 DA codex’s that he had jervais sign, 1 for himself, 1 he could sell on ebay and the final one to store away in mint condition. Man that’s a waste of money and quite sad, infact there were a few weird people like that so I made a dash for the exit after I thanked him for his time.
Anyway down to the questions I managed to ask

Question :- I'd like to ask if the Codex is pretty much tight and we take everything literally ie RaW. One example is the Company Master who comes armed with BP and CS. One of the options state that he could replace the chainsword with twin Lghtning claws.
ANSWER:_Yes by RAW you can if its in the list. But he said all the wargear would have to me modelled onto the mini and if somebody wanted to be that extreme by all meens.

Question:- I'd really be interested in knowing what playtesting process is used when developing new army lists and rules. For example, would there be 10, 20, or 100 games played? Is the new list pitted against all types of opponents, and variations? Are only other games designers in GW involved, or do they let any fresh eyes take a look over things? Do they pay any attention at all to the various forums out there with opinions and wishlists? Also what to you say about the people who claime you have killed the DA codex?
Answer:- When it comes to listening to the forums he said he does and some designers do and some don’t. He said that the forums are usually veteran players who are more into the game and sometimes to much into the rules. He said he does not exclusively listen to them as he would then alienate the rest of the consumers who do not use the forums. He tries to take in all opinions. As for playtesting the armies they try to get in as many games as possible (he did not give a figure) and usually it’s the GW teams that play. As for the people who think the DA codex is crap he has had loads of people say it’s the best yet (at which point that owen editor guy piped in saying it’s the best he has seen) He said you cant please everybody and this codex is more based on fluff and the miniature range, not to say its not a viable codex for winning games but its aimed at the more experienced player that love DA and would rather play with them in line with there fluff than to pick up and army just to win.

Question :- Ask if they're going to release Plastic DeathWing terminator models. I have a LOAD of pewter ones and I like the plastics but I'm not going to invest $50 per 5 terminators for a new DW army if they're going to make DW squads in the near future.
Answer:- Nothing confirmed but in the meanwhile you have the DA sprues with bits for the Deathwing termies.

Question :- Do you mind asking about the chaos codex/s's release? Plus BA and SW. if possible could you ask him whever its true that blood angels are geting an update in rules in may whitedwarf
ANSWER: The BA codex will at some point be rodone however he is not at liberty so say when, Codex Chaos is very high on there to do list and should either be done by sept or have some news on it by then, AS for codex SW not even on the list yet.
As for the rumour of the BA update in the whitedwarf he said he has heard the rumour but that’s all it is at the moment.

Question :- Ask him why he removed the second AS cannon. Ask him why the scouts were made elites and not troops?
Answer:- The DA he said use 5 man termie squads fluff wise and have 1 heavy weapon/special weapon so it made sence to get rid of the extra ass cannon. Same goes for the scouts due to them having the stronger shotguns shells he felt it was better to make rthem elites. 2 ass cannons per squad were a no brainer he said so he wanted to move away from that. This codex was driven by a fluff point to make it different to codex SM. If people want to play 2 aass cannons per termie squad then play SM.

Question :-Also ask why wargear is now so limited, what were the pros and cons of doing that and why was it decided upon in the end?
Answer:- This was so you did not need to keep flipping backwards and forward from the DA codex to the SM codex.

Question. Characters all bear much more protection now in the form of invulnerable saves, but less availability to Terminator Armor and Artificer Armor, ask him if there was a reason for this?
Answer:- The termie armour is reserved for the deathwing so only a deathwing captain would have it. He wanted to see the termie armour stay with the deathwing army.

Question "What were the reasons for the changes in Pure Deathwing armies?"
Answer:- Just to make it more fluffy and in line with the new codex.

Question - think the thing I most want to know is how much of the Dark Angels Codex he expects to make it's way into the next SM Codex (and the Blood Angels one). I assume combat squads, repriced vehicles and restricted wargear will all be transferred in some manner.
Answer:- It’s the way forward. At present they are not sure that if and when they redo Codex SM wheter it will be just ultras or not. But specially codex chapter will be more in line with the new combat squads. This may not be the case for divergent chapters like the SW or some DIY chapters.

Question:- I'd love to know if an official re-release of Blood Bowl is on the cards, as was rumoured a while ago.
Answer:- He has heard time and time again about a redo but he said it never comes to much so at the moment the “living rulebook” you can download is the most current version. In the future if they redo it most of it will be whats in the living rule book. However if and when they do it they may include new teams/ charactors.

Question :- Can the Emp champ ride in the drop pod with the squad he is attached to.
ANSWER:- According to Raw the answer is NO, however if you look at the DA codex the rules are different and if your opponent is willing to allow you then you can. If not then you cant as by RAW you can not. Jervais also said he would let that alesia guy (the designer) know this so he can do a faq at some point to clarify this one way or another.

Question what happened to Asmodia?
ANSWER.:- he said the original model they had for asmodia fits the profile for the interrogator chaplain so they did not make him a special character. With hindsight he said he should have put him in as a special character as a lot of people really liked him. He also said that they will perhaps do that in future along with some more background about him.

Hope this helps.

**Moopy**

Posted By beef on 03/04/2007 2:51 PM

Question :- Do you mind asking about the chaos codex/s's release? Plus BA and SW. if possible could you ask him whever its true that blood angels are geting an update in rules in may whitedwarf
ANSWER: The BA codex will at some point be rodone however he is not at liberty so say when, Codex Chaos is very high on there to do list and should either be done by sept or have some news on it by then, AS for codex SW not even on the list yet.
As for the rumour of the BA update in the whitedwarf he said he has heard the rumour but that’s all it is at the moment.

**Lorek**

Thanks for the info Beef; some really interesting stuff in there. And I'm both excited and scared about the new Chaos 'Dex.

**Hordini**

Thanks Beef. That's some interesting news. If you don't mind my asking, what was the event that you saw Jervis at?

**The Crawling Chaos**

Wow, possibly a new chaos dex by september? That's a big surprise. Hopefully that means we won't be getting 5 chaos dexes like an earlier rumor suggested.

**Jester**

Good stuff, Boeuf. Had I met Jerv in person I would just ask him to recite the "Now is the Winter of our Discontent" passage from Richard III and then I would run away giggling like a schoolgirl.

**Therion-**

I know a few people whose head will literally explode if by some freak of nature the Chaos Codex does land before the Ork Codex. Afterall, that would mean that Chaos Space Marines have got three new army books since the latest Ork Codex.

**Moopy**

It also mean that Ordos Xenos is probably not in the works anytime soon

**Boss Salvage**

@ Impending new Chaos Codex - I predict now being very whiny when the new Chaos book(s) come(s) out, especially as I finally paint up my army and hammer down a list I enjoy so much

And nice work Beef, you really cornered the guy to get so many questions in!

- Boss Salvage

**Railguns**

I am a bit worried that most of his answers invoked the "fluff defense" regarding codices. Fluffy armies can be fun, but playing an army that will be clearly out-classed in every respect by most anything else isn't very fun at all. Especially how he evaded the "Finally a second assault cannon but wait I can only use one" issue.

**beef**

The event I saw Jervais and Owen Reese (I think thats his name the editor of WD) was for a new storer that was opening in London on the 3rd of this month. That Guy who does the Ravener ?? series was also going to be there to sign copies of his new book but that was later in the afternoon and I did not stick around for that as I had not read the books.

**fourganger88**

Posted By beef on 03/05/2007 8:14 AM
The event I saw Jervais and Owen Reese (I think thats his name the editor of WD) was for a new storer that was opening in London on the 3rd of this month. That Guy who does the Ravener ?? series was also going to be there to sign copies of his new book but that was later in the afternoon and I did not stick around for that as I had not read the books.

New London store? Whereabouts?

**gorgon**

Keep in mind that "done by September" may just mean their draft. That could still mean Orks in late 2007 and Chaos in early 2008.

**AJCarrington**

Posted By fourganger88 on 03/05/2007 8:46 AM

New London store? Whereabouts?

GW Epsom (pulled from the Black Library website)?

AJC

**beef**

Correct epsom

as for the Sept thing with codex Chaos Jervais said we would know about it by then so he could have just meant we would get a date by then or it might be done by then so what Gorgan says is correct.

**redstripe**

Jervis. Fluffy doesn't mean underperforming. Shouldn't -all- the codexes be fluffy?

After you get done playtesting the army, do you arbitrarilly hamstring the codex if you feel its particularly fluffy?

I hate the word fluffy.

**two heads talking**

Posted By redstripe on 03/05/2007 12:18 PM
Jervis. Fluffy doesn't mean underperforming. Shouldn't -all- the codexes be fluffy?

After you get done playtesting the army, do you arbitrarilly hamstring the codex if you feel its particularly fluffy?

I hate the word fluffy.

WITHOUT FLUFF, what exactly do you have? rules with no backstory? that's as boring as grits with no flavor. like peanut butter without the peanuts. like a candy bar without the candy..

Besides, how do you determine that codex has been hamstrung after playtesting? did you see the list that was being playtested? If so, what was changed?

Also, as you mentioned, who says a list based on fluff/back story (for the guy who can't handle his fluff) has to be and underperfomer? It really doesn't, but it sure makes for an interesting play style and quite frankly as Jervis said, if you want 2 ass cannons in your termies, make a space marine army and paint them green.

**malfred**

Actually, I think of rules without a backstory more like a candy bar without
a wrapper. If the candy's good, then who cares about the wrapper? You can
make it whatever you want.

I think that's why people really took to the Space Marines Traits and Imperial
Guard doctrines list. You could make a good candy bar and then wrap it in
whatever packaging you liked.

I mean, army list and backstory.

Man, I'm hungry.

**Toreador**

And after playing the new DA list I think it is a competitive list. Is it to be used the same as a marine list or a DA list of old? NO. It definitely has a flavor and style all it's own. I like it.

**Lemartes**

They are definatley a fluffy list at my local FLAGS. At least that's what I have been telling the DA players that are getting beat down of late. The sad thing is that a mechanized DA might be the most competative and besides the Ravenwing I don't get how that fits in with thier fluff. Maybe because thier the oldest chapter they have more Rhino's and Razorbacks lying around than other chapters.

**Toreador**

Part mechanized and small squads. Razorbacks make up for loss of some firepower in squads. More scoring units and tactical finesse. It is a bit different to play, and can take a bit vs eldar, but it can be a competitive list with the correct builds. Takes a bit to get used to.

I will really be curios to see Chaos and Orks. Could be a wave of change....

**Nuwisha**

Where is the rule that says every little thing has to be modelled? I thought that got left out of the new book.

**Kid_Kyoto**

Posted By The Crawling Chaos on 03/04/2007 5:34 PM
Wow, possibly a new chaos dex by september? That's a big surprise. Hopefully that means we won't be getting 5 chaos dexes like an earlier rumor suggested.

Just to be pedantic all he said was it would be done, not released.

**H.B.M.C.**

Posted By redstripe on 03/05/2007 12:18 PM
Fluffy doesn't mean underperforming.

I agree. 'Fluff' and 'power' should be congruent. The more fluffy your army, the more powerful it should be.

They should not (and are not) opposite forces, no matter what GW attempts with their idiotic writing style.

BYE

**beef**

Posted By Nuwisha on 03/05/2007 5:11 PM
Where is the rule that says every little thing has to be modelled? I thought that got left out of the new book.

WYSIWYG, if you have lightning claws surely they have to be modelled just like the storm bolter and the bolt pistol, how somebody would fire a storm bolter wihen they have twin lightning claws avades me.

**whitedragon**

Abbabbadon (hehe) does it.
Marneus Calgar does it.
Grey Knights have bolters on their fore arms.

I don't think its too much of a stretch to put a bolt pistol on his LC's.

**davidson**

Posted By Lemartes on 03/05/2007 3:00 PM
They are definatley a fluffy list at my local FLAGS. At least that's what I have been telling the DA players that are getting beat down of late. The sad thing is that a mechanized DA might be the most competative and besides the Ravenwing I don't get how that fits in with thier fluff. Maybe because thier the oldest chapter they have more Rhino's and Razorbacks lying around than other chapters.

The DA's did/do have another company called Iron Wing, it is a mechanized army.

**beef**

yeah put a bolt pistol on one and a storm bolter on the other, if not done well can you see the potential for some horrendous conversions

**logan007**

Posted By beef on 03/04/2007 2:51 PM

Question:- I'd really be interested in knowing what playtesting process is used when developing new army lists and rules. For example, would there be 10, 20, or 100 games played? Is the new list pitted against all types of opponents, and variations? Are only other games designers in GW involved, or do they let any fresh eyes take a look over things? Do they pay any attention at all to the various forums out there with opinions and wishlists? Also what to you say about the people who claime you have killed the DA codex?
Answer:- When it comes to listening to the forums he said he does and some designers do and some don’t. He said that the forums are usually veteran players who are more into the game and sometimes to much into the rules. He said he does not exclusively listen to them as he would then alienate the rest of the consumers who do not use the forums. He tries to take in all opinions. As for playtesting the armies they try to get in as many games as possible (he did not give a figure) and usually it’s the GW teams that play. As for the people who think the DA codex is crap he has had loads of people say it’s the best yet (at which point that owen editor guy piped in saying it’s the best he has seen) He said you cant please everybody and this codex is more based on fluff and the miniature range, not to say its not a viable codex for winning games but its aimed at the more experienced player that love DA and would rather play with them in line with there fluff than to pick up and army just to win.

**derling**

I don't believe virtually anything in this post.