Jervis Johnson is... retiring???

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**Kid_Kyoto**

Sunny Side Up wrote:
Da Boss wrote:
Jervis ended up in a position as the sort of interface between corporate GW and the fanbase. But a lot of what he did with the specialist games and how he communicated leads me to believe that he was very pro-fan.

And like I said, when I met him he was lovely to everyone at the convention, really patient and polite and genuinely nice to everyone.

Sure. But he also ended up essentially in the same job for 30 years, doing game design with an every rotating cast of mid-20s to mid-30s guys on the cramped open-plan office desks next to him and no "career" or "promotion" since the days of Tony Blair.

Maybe he had some nice GW stock and/or a favourable contract from the early, early, early days and didn't need/want it, but he certainly never got to anywhere "important" in GW from a business perspective.

Alternate take, he spent decades doing a job he loved, touched the childhoods (and er, adulthoods) of millions and is retiring to a well-deserved rest.

Probably doing better than I will.

**Overread**

Yeah not everyone wants or needs to "rise to the top" to get a fulfilling life. Lets face it he has spent years playing with toys and making games and like as not having a great time doing much of it.

Would that we all could be so lucky to work in a job we are passionate about.

**privateer4hire**

Congratulations to him on retirement. Will he be doing the Warlord tour next, I wonder.

**gorgon**

Sunny Side Up wrote:
Da Boss wrote:
Jervis ended up in a position as the sort of interface between corporate GW and the fanbase. But a lot of what he did with the specialist games and how he communicated leads me to believe that he was very pro-fan.

And like I said, when I met him he was lovely to everyone at the convention, really patient and polite and genuinely nice to everyone.

Sure. But he also ended up essentially in the same job for 30 years, doing game design with an every rotating cast of mid-20s to mid-30s guys on the cramped open-plan office desks next to him and no "career" or "promotion" since the days of Tony Blair.

Maybe he had some nice GW stock and/or a favourable contract from the early, early, early days and didn't need/want it, but he certainly never got to anywhere "important" in GW from a business perspective.

He was a creative professional and not a business manager. It's not a path that leads you to become CEO or COO or CFO or head of sales. And as others have said, I imagine he had zero desire to spend his days worrying about EBITDA.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Bob Lorgar wrote:
It would be hard for me to name a nicer, more generous person I have ever met.

Before there was the Dakka bulletin Board, or Warseer, or any of the others, there was the 40k Mailing List, run by Edwin Voskamp and Chris Bickford. It was the mid 90's, when 2nd edition was just getting going, and my chosen faction did not yet have a Codex - it was too new of a concept. I used to post a lot on the List, and my signature was "Every day I pray for the Codex: Chaos". Always typed at the end of every email, never a file.It also happens that at the time, several of the GW studio members lurked on the List. They did not post often, but they were in fact listening.

In the summer of 1996, we had a big gathering of the List at the Baltimore Games Day. We reserved a bunch of rooms at a local hotel, rented out their hall in the evenings to play, and went as a big group (with t-shirts, and I still have mine) to Games Day. Jervis was one of the guests, and we all went to meet him as a group. He actually pulled me aside, and to my delight and wonder, gave me what I think was the very first copy of the 2nd Edition Chaos Codex anyone had outside of GW itself, signed by the entire studio.Later, he came by the hotel just to hang out for a bit with a group of hardcore fans from all across the country.

And that's just one instance of his kindness. When he later found out that I did not have a copy of either of the Realm of Chaos books, he actually mailed me one of each from the studio's stash. The Slaves to Darkness book actually has a sticker on the front that says "Rik's Copy" (yes, i know there's a c missing - but that's what it says). When I asked him if it was what I thought, he told me that yes, it was in fact Rick Priestley's desk copy, but not to worry because he'd got Rick a fresh set from their storeroom. It's a gift I treasure to this day.

When my brother and I did a two week tour of England and Scotland in 2002, we stopped by Nottingham just to say hi and take Jervis out to lunch. He actually took the time out of his busy day and offered to take us on a tour of the Studio and the Specialist Games section where he was stationed at the time.

Jervis Johnson, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful time off, you deserve it.

Graham

great memories there

**Cronch**

gorgon wrote:
Sunny Side Up wrote:
Da Boss wrote:
Jervis ended up in a position as the sort of interface between corporate GW and the fanbase. But a lot of what he did with the specialist games and how he communicated leads me to believe that he was very pro-fan.

And like I said, when I met him he was lovely to everyone at the convention, really patient and polite and genuinely nice to everyone.

Sure. But he also ended up essentially in the same job for 30 years, doing game design with an every rotating cast of mid-20s to mid-30s guys on the cramped open-plan office desks next to him and no "career" or "promotion" since the days of Tony Blair.

Maybe he had some nice GW stock and/or a favourable contract from the early, early, early days and didn't need/want it, but he certainly never got to anywhere "important" in GW from a business perspective.

He was a creative professional and not a business manager. It's not a path that leads you to become CEO or COO or CFO or head of sales. And as others have said, I imagine he had zero desire to spend his days worrying about EBITDA.

Imagine being the kind of person that wants to become a chief executive anything...no thanks.
I don't even know where the argument came from, no one stays at the same position/company for 30 years unless they feel comfortable with it.

**Strg Alt**

I personally thank JJ for Blood Bowl and Space Marine (early Epic). His battle reports with Andy Chambers were always great.

**soviet13**

He's helped make the games and worlds we all know and love, he's engaged with the fan community even when it wasn't fashionable to do so, and he's clearly well thought of by the people he worked with. And after more than 30 years he probably still can't win a battle report to save his life.

Jervis Johnson, I salute you!

**wuestenfux**

Strg Alt wrote:
I personally thank JJ for Blood Bowl and Space Marine (early Epic). His battle reports with Andy Chambers were always great.

No. I liked the battle reports with Gav. As far as I remember he never won a single game. Funny.

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

First BatRep I ever read was him getting a draw with Jake Thornton.

Also the origin of what eventually became the Eversor Assassin.

**stratigo**

gorgon wrote:
Sunny Side Up wrote:
Da Boss wrote:
Jervis ended up in a position as the sort of interface between corporate GW and the fanbase. But a lot of what he did with the specialist games and how he communicated leads me to believe that he was very pro-fan.

And like I said, when I met him he was lovely to everyone at the convention, really patient and polite and genuinely nice to everyone.

Sure. But he also ended up essentially in the same job for 30 years, doing game design with an every rotating cast of mid-20s to mid-30s guys on the cramped open-plan office desks next to him and no "career" or "promotion" since the days of Tony Blair.

Maybe he had some nice GW stock and/or a favourable contract from the early, early, early days and didn't need/want it, but he certainly never got to anywhere "important" in GW from a business perspective.

He was a creative professional and not a business manager. It's not a path that leads you to become CEO or COO or CFO or head of sales. And as others have said, I imagine he had zero desire to spend his days worrying about EBITDA.

Also, being a nice dude pretty much precludes you from being a successful business exec.

**alphaecho**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
First BatRep I ever read was him getting a draw with Jake Thornton.

Also the origin of what eventually became the Eversor Assassin.

Was that 2nd Ed Ultramarine vs Orks?

I remember the assassin in that one took out the original plastic Battlewagon with melta bombs whilst on Combat Drugs. Didn't he then explode himself? I'm currently 3000 miles and five months away from my White Dwarf Battle Report Compendium so I can't check.

I used to love Wargear cards. I used to enjoy jump packing a Commissar with a Vortex Grenade across the battlefield.

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

White Dwarf 175. That is the bat rep you're thinking of. Assassin with Meltabombs, Power Sword and Combi-Weapon. And the Marine Captain that held the entire right flank against the Orks.

**schoon**

The hobby is a smaller place without him in it, and his game designs will continue to give joy to many for years to come.

**wuestenfux**

''Past clarifies everything.'' Die Vergangenheit verklärt alles.
He definitely has his merits, but there also remains some bad taste as coined by the word jervisification, which should enter the Cambridge dictionary.

**BrianDavion**

wuestenfux wrote:
''Past clarifies everything.'' Die Vergangenheit verklärt alles.
He definitely has his merits, but there also remains some bad taste as coined by the word jervisification, which should enter the Cambridge dictionary.

ok what the feth does jervisification mean because I gooogled it and all it finds is a post you made in 2009.

**alphaecho**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
White Dwarf 175. That is the bat rep you're thinking of. Assassin with Meltabombs, Power Sword and Combi-Weapon. And the Marine Captain that held the entire right flank against the Orks.

The Marine Captain that. with its relative simplicity, is still one of my favourite Marine models.

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

BrianDavion wrote:
ok what the feth does jervisification mean because I gooogled it and all it finds is a post you made in 2009.

Took a while, but I found my post from 2010:

Jervis [Jer-viss] Jer-vised, Jer-vis-i-fy, Jer-vis-i-fied, Jer-vis-i-fi-ca-tion
–verb
1. to remove options inherent in a list. // 2. to reduce existing sub-lists into a single list. // 3. To triple (or more) the amount of Special Characters in a Codex. // 4. To take away. // 5. To give what isn't wanted nor needed.

Origin: Mid-1980's, England, Nottingham

Synonyms: Bland, Blandify, Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition)

Antonyms: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3.5 Edition)

**Pacific**

On the 'not getting promoted' thing, it might have been that he didn't want to follow the path of Rick Priestly. Remember hearing from someone that worked within the company that basically he got promoted to the point where he was just sat in an office and with no input into the games or systems any more. It wasn't where he wanted to be and so he left (and has since gone on to work with Warlord Games etc.) So, seeing as how much Jervis obviously enjoyed being involved with the games and community, you can see why he wouldn't want that.

OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
Bob Lorgar wrote:
It would be hard for me to name a nicer, more generous person I have ever met.

Before there was the Dakka bulletin Board, or Warseer, or any of the others, there was the 40k Mailing List, run by Edwin Voskamp and Chris Bickford. It was the mid 90's, when 2nd edition was just getting going, and my chosen faction did not yet have a Codex - it was too new of a concept. I used to post a lot on the List, and my signature was "Every day I pray for the Codex: Chaos". Always typed at the end of every email, never a file.It also happens that at the time, several of the GW studio members lurked on the List. They did not post often, but they were in fact listening.

In the summer of 1996, we had a big gathering of the List at the Baltimore Games Day. We reserved a bunch of rooms at a local hotel, rented out their hall in the evenings to play, and went as a big group (with t-shirts, and I still have mine) to Games Day. Jervis was one of the guests, and we all went to meet him as a group. He actually pulled me aside, and to my delight and wonder, gave me what I think was the very first copy of the 2nd Edition Chaos Codex anyone had outside of GW itself, signed by the entire studio.Later, he came by the hotel just to hang out for a bit with a group of hardcore fans from all across the country.

And that's just one instance of his kindness. When he later found out that I did not have a copy of either of the Realm of Chaos books, he actually mailed me one of each from the studio's stash. The Slaves to Darkness book actually has a sticker on the front that says "Rik's Copy" (yes, i know there's a c missing - but that's what it says). When I asked him if it was what I thought, he told me that yes, it was in fact Rick Priestley's desk copy, but not to worry because he'd got Rick a fresh set from their storeroom. It's a gift I treasure to this day.

When my brother and I did a two week tour of England and Scotland in 2002, we stopped by Nottingham just to say hi and take Jervis out to lunch. He actually took the time out of his busy day and offered to take us on a tour of the Studio and the Specialist Games section where he was stationed at the time.

Jervis Johnson, I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful time off, you deserve it.

Graham

great memories there

That is such a great post

My own very limited recollection was writing to GW (prob 1991 or 1992) with a question about the Epic Space Marine rules. Actually got a hand-written reply from Jervis explaining the rule and why it worked in a certain way.

He must have had such a love for the hobby and also again that streak of kindness and wanting to help people that were fans of the game.

**Shooter**

Cronch wrote:
stratigo wrote:
Cronch wrote:
At only 62? I thought it's 65 or so in the UK?

I suspect JJ is invested in the company and has made quite the tidy profit these last few years.

Ah so he's not retiring yet just going to live off his capital investments till the retirement age, thanks for clearing it up. I was confused and forgot rich people exist for a second.

Might be a language divide here. He is retiring. You can retire at any age. You can retire at 20 if you've got the money to live off. 'Retirement' and 'retirement age' are two different things and you can do the former before you reach the latter. Retirement age is just when the state pension (and generally private pensions depending on what you do with them) kick in

**Zenithfleet**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
BrianDavion wrote:
ok what the feth does jervisification mean because I gooogled it and all it finds is a post you made in 2009.
Took a while, but I found my post from 2010:

Jervis [Jer-viss] Jer-vised, Jer-vis-i-fy, Jer-vis-i-fied, Jer-vis-i-fi-ca-tion
–verb
1. to remove options inherent in a list. // 2. to reduce existing sub-lists into a single list. // 3. To triple (or more) the amount of Special Characters in a Codex. // 4. To take away. // 5. To give what isn't wanted nor needed.

Origin: Mid-1980's, England, Nottingham

Synonyms: Bland, Blandify, Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition)

Antonyms: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3.5 Edition)

Your 2010 self left out the most infamous jervisification in GW history: Epic 3rd edition (Epic 40,000)!

Which I approved of, but a lot of people didn't.

But it later led to Battlefleet Gothic, so let's call it a draw.

I have no personal memories of JJ (being all the way down in the southern hemisphere), but I liked pretty much everything he worked on.

WFB original Undead army book (fantastic fluff)

WFB original Dark Elf army book (slightly less fantastic fluff but a good read anyway)

2nd ed Codex Orks

The first worldwide campaign - Ichar IV for 2nd ed 40K, featuring the Tyranids getting clobbered and Jervis sitting on the floor of his office surrounded by kids' hand-drawn battle reports sent in from all over

The second worldwide campaign (that seems to have been quietly forgotten) - the Battle for Antoch during early 5th ed WFB

Epic 40,000

Epic Armageddon

Necromunda

The 'Wargame Series' trilogy of boardgames - Battle for Armageddon, Horus Heresy and Doom of the Eldar
... plus the hilarious little free Warmaster cut-out-and-play game in White Dwarf (oops I teleported Sanguinius into the engines again...)

Keeping the old games alive via Fanatic and later Specialist Games

Tournament rules for 2nd ed 40K

... and many more.

Never played Blood Bowl, but I've heard nothing but good things about it.

It's a shame to see JJ go.

**Pariah Press**

I've had a lot of fun playing the games he designed over the years. I hope he enjoys his retirement!

**wuestenfux**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
BrianDavion wrote:
ok what the feth does jervisification mean because I gooogled it and all it finds is a post you made in 2009.
Took a while, but I found my post from 2010:

Jervis [Jer-viss] Jer-vised, Jer-vis-i-fy, Jer-vis-i-fied, Jer-vis-i-fi-ca-tion
–verb
1. to remove options inherent in a list. // 2. to reduce existing sub-lists into a single list. // 3. To triple (or more) the amount of Special Characters in a Codex. // 4. To take away. // 5. To give what isn't wanted nor needed.

Origin: Mid-1980's, England, Nottingham

Synonyms: Bland, Blandify, Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition)

Antonyms: Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3.5 Edition)

Very nice!

I remember the 4th ed DA codex and it has been really disappointing.
JJ has been the sole author.

In opposition to this, the 3.5th ed CSM codex has been one of the best codices ever.
It has been written by 5 authors (without JJ).

**Platuan4th**

wuestenfux wrote:

I remember the 4th ed DA codex and it has been really disappointing.
JJ has been the sole author.

That's not actually true. The book still had multiple authors, that's just the time they started only listing the head writer for each book instead of the entire team.

**Soundtheory**

Platuan4th wrote:
wuestenfux wrote:

I remember the 4th ed DA codex and it has been really disappointing.
JJ has been the sole author.

That's not actually true. The book still had multiple authors, that's just the time they started only listing the head writer for each book instead of the entire team.

It does seem everyone who's come to this thread to try to throw some shade at Mr. Johnson and his accomplishments has had some facet of their complaint/axe to grind wrong.... imagine that.

The man wrote some fun games, gave a lot of folks in this hobby joy, and seemed genuinely great to the fans who got to meet him in person. And he did it for thirty years. My hat is off to him, may he enjoy many great years of retirement!

**Graphite**

Well, Jervis, happy retirement and may your dice always roll well.

I will be amazed if this is the last we ever hear from you in the wargames world.

**Resting One**

Wrong thread

**Azreal13**

I've been conflicted about this. On one hand he's a significant part of one of my fondest periods of being a Wargamer. On the other, he participated in or oversaw some of the things that I've come to most dislike.

I guess, for me, he's been the wargaming equivalent of "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

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

May he forever be playing the games he loves, but be always stuck having to make 5+ rolls.

**NinthMusketeer**

Chikout wrote:
Given the lead times on White Dwarf, he has already retired. I wonder who the new AoS lead designer will be. They were advertising for the job a few months ago and I thought it was weird at the time. It might even be Sam (formerly of this parish) Pearson.

Everything he has touched has been awesome, I'd be SO down for this.