Child Psychology Update.

Some time ago, I got an email from a reader asking for advice on how to break his little brother into playing 40k. I gave a response about getting rid of the rules. Kids either get bored with too many confusing rules, or are embarrassed about not being able to calculate as fast as you do, or understand the rules instantly... so they will likely give up rather then trudge through the learning curve. I advised him to simplify the game down to Rolling to hit, and rolling to die. But also, to animate the game and make it fun for him! To sort of role play out the battle, give it some narrative, and suck the kid in. Finally, let the kid win most of the games, but dont let him know that.

So, the reader put my advice to the test, and came back with this:

Re: Child Psychology
THANK YOU SO MUCH JB! He's undergone a complete warhammer transformation! He practically begs me to play it with him now(i don't mind, i want to play it just as much :D). You helped turn the game around for him and i think i can officially call him a 40k junky xD Thanks again JB!

It does my heart good to see some one successfully putting to use what I spew out! :) Thanks Raizure.

Jawaballs

More Mailbag! A happy viewer from Portugal.

Hello,

my name is Gonçalo I'm from Portugal and I've been seeing some of your videos here on youtube and i had to send you a message congratulating you for what you've been doing with miniature painting of GW products. I've seen in one of your clips here that the best thing you like about this is when u make people feel like painting and it has been my case, I've started out when i was around 2000 when i went to London for the first time and saw in Harrods shop gw's miniatures painted and bought myself a pack and mega paint set (if i knew more when i started i wouldn't but well..!) and started painting I'm currently making 22 years old in September and I'm a pilot instructor so i don't have much time nowadays to paint and also i stopped painting for some years now and came back 1 year ago or so to paint the old model of the space marine techmarine (don't know if u remember the old one but it had less mechanical arms then the current one). I started like a normal person who wants to play it and get the army on the table but quickly i realized i preferred to paint display miniatures instead of armies (which is the rarest thing to see an army with top quality painting) and although in my painting times i didn't reached top knowledge on painting techniques (GS modeling/highlights/blending...) i think i've made a "good" job i've never shown other people my miniatures specially because in portugal as there isn't an official gw store and there's only like 1 dedicated store people don't really care as much as a dedicated store player/buyer but well..i suppose you got 30k things to do as do i but if you ever feel interested in seeing some of my miniatures send me a message here but if you're really interested send me a mail to EDITED BY THE INQUISITION which i check much more often then youtube.

Best regards,

Gonçalo "Loopper" Almeida

PS: im a person who doesn't send message complimenting or commenting anything so by sending this I'm telling that you've been doing a great job and from what i've seen you've turned it into a business with your movies i hope people adhere to that and if you have the time/patience send me a reply to my mail(i really prefer mail lol).


Thanks a lot Goncalo. Yes, while I have made a business out of my videos and bases, I still hold true to getting the greatest satisfaction out of hearing about how I help people. It is great to know that I can sort of 'have my cake' and 'eat it too'. I would love to see some of your models, and will post pics here if you want! Jawaballs

Mailbag: Question from a customer who bought my Imperial Fist videos...

Hey Jawaballs,
I've been a youtube fan for a long time, I think you might be the only 40k painter
on the internet who makes amazing looking models with straight-from-the-pot
techniques. I'm not sure if this is the right email to send this message to: I
purchased your Imperial Fist tutorial way back in February and I just had some
clarifying questions as I am trying to follow it very closely for my new (and first)
army.
In Segment 3, when you first start laying in Golden Yellow, do you still thin
the paint brush with your spit or water or anything? I see you bring the brush
on and off camera quickly so I assume you simply dip it slightly in the paint
pot. I wanted to clarify and/or ask for tips because I just finished my first
sternguard vet and my paint is very spotty/globby and basically just not smooth
at all. I don't have the problem with huge globs of thick paint all over like a
lot of beginners do, it simply looks rough and I would really like it to be
smooth - do you have any advice or techniques you use? Any brush suggestions? I
am using really old, splayed brushes but I thought it would be fine for laying
in the armor.
Anyway I don't know if I've been too clear (it's late over here) but I would
really appreciate any details or advice you would like to impart to me about
painting layers of yellow in general, and thank you in advance.

Michael

My Answer:

Yellow is hard.

Having said that. I use a Reaper Kolinsky 10/0 brush. Get one. Just
about every time I dip my brush into my pot, I wet and twist it on my lips
first to keep the super point. When I apply the yellow, I am more
touching the paint to the model then painting it on. I sort of let the
brush guide it to where I want, then let it be. If you 'paint' it too
much, brush strokes will remain. It is the same as taking your paint and
dabbing little paint puddles onto paper. Just drag the tip of your brush
over the model, leaving behind the paint where you want it... and do not
paint over it again til it dries. I wish I could explain it better...

Good luck!


His Response:


That actually makes some sense to me, jawaballs, and I am already
improving (slowly). Thank you for your timely and gracious reply:)



Michael, I'm glad I can help! A bonus you get when purchasing my videos is my instant response to your questions! I try to get to as many as possible, but I definitely give preference to guys who have purchased from me. Let me know how you do and I will post pics of your stuff! Jawaballs

More Mailbag! A bike comparison from DocRailgun.

O Brother-Captain Jawaballs,

I've been thinking about 'ard Boyz, and about the armies I wish I had
the models to run with. To that end, I have a small comparison that
I'd like for you to take a look at... it might even be worthy of the
Way of Sanguinius.

"The Wisdom of the Khans; or Why Belial will keep his Ravenwing gig, thanks."

Space Marine players have generally accepted the new Codex, with its
generally reduced point costs. Many electrons have been used to tout
the virtues of one unit or another, but here I would like to compare
the bike-mounted Marine unit to the Rhino-mounted squad.

10 Tactical Marines with a multi-melta, flamer, power sword, and a
Rhino with an extra storm bolter and extra armor costs 245 points.
They can move 12" in one turn, then fire two weapons from the hatch;
or disembark and assault (after firing their bolt pistols).

6 bike Marines (with a melta, a flamer, and a power sword) and a
multi-melta attack bike come to 245 points. The bikes move 12", can
move and fire their heavy weapons, and assault the same turn or
turboboost 24" and be on top of the opponent in the second turn.

I won't go into the math (which I probably have wrong anyway), but
let's take a stab at comparing the units in battle. Both squads are
stationary, within 12" but their flamers are not able to come into
play.

The (last turn) dismounted Tactical squad fires 14 bolter shots, 2
bolt pistol shots (sgt and flamer marine), a multimelta shot, and
their Rhino fires its storm bolters. This volley does 5 wounds to a
MEQ opponent after saves... or they can assault, also doing 5 wounds
(combined close combat and firing their bolt pistols).

The bike squad fires 6 (5 from the non-melta bikes and 1 from the
attack bike) twin-linked bolters (so, 12 shots at this range), a melta
and a multi-melta shot. That should average to also 5 wounds vs MEQ
infantry. They can then assault on the same turn with 4 power sword
attacks, 3 regular attacks from the attack bike. and 10 attacks from
the other bikers. That should come out to 3 wounds after saves. So,
the bikes have done 8 wounds on average.

The bikes do have weaknesses, of course... they are 'Lashable' by
Chaos armies, they are vulnerable to blast fire (though they are T5...
a lot of the popular blast templates these days are high-S and high-AP
anyway, so a Rhino isn't proof against these sorts of shots), and
terrain can be a problem.

For 1850 points a biker army could consist of:
He'stan
a biker Captain with w/ power sword, combi-melta, melta bombs, digital
weapons, and a few other bits of wargear
18 bikes (in 3 squads) of which 3 have meltas and 3 have flamers
3 attack bikes with multi-meltas
2 Land Speeders with multi-meltas and heavy flamers
a Land Speeder with a Typhoon launcher and a multi-melta (or a heavy flamer)
6 Assault Terminators in a LRC with a multi-melta

I thought this looked pretty "Doublewing" to me, only with rerollable
melta and flamer shots.

So, what do you think... are bikes the way to go against the Guard
artillery, or will their infantry speed bumps get in the way? Is it
even worth having anything on your side of the board when the
Outflanking infantry platoons and veteran-carrying Valkyries fly in
from the sides of the board... or are good-old Rhinos still the best
option?

I will ponder this question and give a real answer later... I have to finish my commission! But every one feel free to hash this one back and forth!

Jawaballs

Mailbag Monday: Should you thin paint?

Image borrowed without permission from http://www.flickr.com/photos/epikuros/3483709130/ if you want me to remove the image, I will do so on request.

Email question:

Hey Jawaballs i love ur blog and i've recently started a chaos space marine army. When i was browsing youtube i noticed that many gamers like natakue and redxgamer use thinned or watered down paints and get outstanding results. Do you like to use watered down paints and do you suggest that i do it?- Frenzy

Jawaballs Answer:

All painting experts suggest adding at least a little water to your paint to 'cut' the surface tension and make it more spreadable. It is a good suggestion. I however rarely do so. I use paint straight from the pot. But I have a good control over it to allow that... The way I paint, with miniscule amounts of paint on the end of the brush, gets me results straight from the pot.

I suggest you thin your paints a tad, it will make your highlighting easier. Pull a little out of the pot, dip your brush into water and mix it in with the paint on your pallet and you are good to go. Good luck!

Jawaballs

Warhammer 40k Blood Angels: List advice, a question from a reader...

A reader sent me an email presenting his list and asked me for advice on improving it and tactics. He has read my blog, based it on my own list, and given me something to work with. Soo, here we go Scott!

Here is his email:

Hey I have been reading your blog for a while, Its freaking awesome btw. I have been playing SM for a while and have been wanting to switch to BA after the new codex came out because damn I love Assault Marines. I finally have the cash to switch my army over. This is my current list if you don't mind taking a look at it. I am kinda confused about how to play Dante+Honor Guard, i mean it seems like with the Perdition Pistol and the Melta+Powerfist gear that the Honor Guard can take that they would be a brutal tank hunting group. However I have seen you use him in the vids more as a distraction/house-wrecker unit.

Any help is greatly appretiated.

Dante
+5 Honor Guard
2 Power Weps
1 Melta or 2 Flamers??

Corbulo

5 Death Company
Rhino
Extra Armor

Furioso
Death Company
Extra Armor
Heavy Flamer

5 Assault Squad
Rhino
Extra Armor
Serg - Power Wep

5 Assault Squad
Serg - Power Wep

5 Assault Squad
Serg - Power Wep

10 Tactical Squad
Rhino
Extra Armor
LasCannon
Melta Gun

Baal Pred
Extra Armor
Heavy Bolter
Storm Bolter

Baal Pred
Extra Armor
Heavy Bolter
Storm Bolter


--
Scott Thomas

I already spoke about Dante formerly, and I will expand on that here. I will preface this with this: Dante's true strength is his Preferred Enemy, and then his distraction value.

Let me explain. First of all, forget the flamer and go with the Melta. Your army is weak on true tank killing power. Horde Orks should not present too much trouble with your Baal Preds softening up your targets. The melta gives you one more tank killer, though wasting your honor guard by shooting a tank is a sign of being desperate. You have juicier targets for them to kill.

But you ask about Honor Guard and Dante. The reason I fly solo with Dante is that he simply does not need the help. The last thing you want to do is attach Dante to an HG, assault a squad, and wipe it out on your turn. You want the squad locked into combat until your opponents turn, and you want to finish it then. Dante can kill a space marine 10 man tactical squad in two turns... charge on yours, and finish it on his. If you give him 5 veterans bristling with power fists and swords, they will definitely wipe it out on your turn. Then Dante and the HG will be absolutely nuked next turn without a doubt. If I forsee Dante needing help, I line up my Death Company or a Dread to go with him. He is almost never far from them. Remember preferred enemy...

Now, about that HG. Do you need it? No. It is not worth the points. 150 points for 5 vets with jump packs. Now upgrade the Standard Bearer with the Chapter Banner to get the bonus attack... 25 more points. Add a PS and a PF and you are spending 40 more. Throw in a melta and that is 10 more. Now you are up to 225 points for 5 guys... They are jacked for sure, but do you need them? If you really want to give Dante friends, go on the cheap side, buy a troop assault squad and give them a power sword. 155 vs 225. Save 70 points. But now you have a unit that can claim objectives. If Dante is with them, will they be any less effective at slaughtering that 10 man tactical squad then him and the HG? Nope. But now you have 70 points to buy a Speeder with Multimelta to go zap tanks that you were going to use that HG melta for. Make sense? They surely do not need the Chapter Banner. They all get Dante's 10 leadership and an extra attack is just overkill. You can go out and slaughter defenders holding an objective. Now, Dante can leave the survivors from the troop squad to hold it, and he is free to go wreak havoc.

Dante as a distraction:

He excels at this. Your opponent knows you have him and he fears the Dante. He will deploy with Dante in mind. I will often deploy Dante on the right third of the board with the rest of my forces deployed on the left half or in the middle. My opponent will put every thing on the left half to escape Dante! Then all I do is jump dante over to my troops and give them all preferred enemy, and enjoy the fact that my opponent did me the service of bunching all of his stuff up on half the table. Is is such a powerful force on the table that your opponent HAS to deal with him. He will throw away his strategy, and put considerable fire power into killing Dante. This is especially so if Dante has managed to slaughter a squad or pop a tank. Most guys simply cannot resist the urge to come kill Dante. So, I will flaunt him, then hide him behind terrain or something, forcing my opponent to expose his tanks to my firepower. He will almost always move those speeders with multi meltas to an angle to pop Dante, inadvertantly exposing them to fire, rather then letting them do their tank killing job. It is even more great when Dante shrugs off the melta with his Iron Halo and I destroy the speeder with my Baal Preds heavy bolters. Sure, I make a show about how he got me... I was not expecting him to move his speeder to try to kill Dante... etc etc. In the end, every shot fired at Dante is one less fired at my Baal Predators and furioso dreads, which are methodically wiping out his units turn by turn.

You only need Dante until turn 3. By then, most of your guys have gotten into assault and with preferred enemy and Corbs giving them Furious Charge, are in complete control of the situation. Turn 4 you are free to send him out as bait or to kill tanks. Be aggressive... it is ok if you lose him. Take chances. Your Baal Preds are more valuable now... they can move 18" and tank shock to contest opponents objectives, or knock him off them completely. You can afford to sacrifice your queen to win the game if you still got all of your Bishops and Rooks.

Plus, here is a little secret. You can slaughter a guy, but so long as he got to kill Dante, he will love you for it. You cannot discount the power of good will. I can crush a guy in a tournament, then at the end I 'accidently' leave Dante exposed and he pops him... I react appropriately angry, he ends the game feeling good, "You killed me but at least I got Dante!" "Yah, good move man..." He gives me full sportsmanship points... I move on to the next round! Dante rarely survives my games, simply because it feels so good for my opponent to kill him! :)

I say forget the help for Dante completely. Drop that squad, go with 4 DC, and buy a 3rd Baal Pred. Give them all the Storm bolter. Hell in a 5 turn game that is 30 more shots! Not giving your squads rhinos is fine, just be careful not to leave them exposed. It will kind of limit what I have found to be the strength of the Blood Angels, rhino mobility. You will have 2 troops in rhinos instead of 4, and a severely limited chance of turn 5 contesting of objectives... which I have found to be the single biggest improvement to my tactics.

Jawaballs Mail Call

Dark Angels questions!

I am no Dark Angels expert, but here is a question I received today.
Dark Angels
Hey how is it going? Recently I just purchased a 40k starter set (space marines and orks) and planning to play space marines. i picked up the Dark Angels chapter and was wondering if you could give me a few tips on painting and tactics.

One question for painting, on the starter set all the marines have that arrow pointing up on the right shoulder pad, so how would i change that or would i just paint the squad marking over it?

Second is that the transfers that come with the set do not include the Dark Angels symbol, so would i hand paint it or buy a sheet of dark angel transfers? And if i do buy a sheet of transfers how much would it cost?

Your videos help a lot.
OK thanks so much for the help.

By the way, could you post a video on how to hand paint the Dark Angel chapter symbol?
It will be much appreciated.



First of all, If I am correct, Dark Angels use the double ended red arrow for their Tactical symbol. The AoBR set comes with the single verticle pointed arrow. The difference is minimal and you are free to use the verticle one. Dark Angels Symbol... I believe you can get your hands on a Dark Angels transfer sheet that has DA symbols. You can probably find one on Ebay for a buck or two. Or try any bits vendor like thewarstore.com.

As for painting them, I plan on doing a series of video shorts where I attempt to hand paint each chapter symbol. Look for that over the summer! For painting tips for Dark Angels in general, of all the chapters, they respond the best to DryBrushing. I have a series of videos that demonstrates how on my store and a few samples on youtube. Drybrush away! JB