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The demand for his expertise is so great that his recent Kickstarter campaign to raise $7,000 to produce a series of six DVDs on how to paint gaming figures was funded to 184 percent.
That’s right, 149 backers pledged $12,891 in just one month this winter to fund Dubuque’s project.
Dubuque, who goes by “Jawaballs” in the gaming world, gushed about his excitement in an update on his Kickstarter page this week. He expects to get the videos published this month and is eager to get them to his fans.
“Once I get them in hand, I will enlist the help of the wife to get them packaged and mailed!” he wrote last week.
What is tabletop war gaming? It’s like the fantasy shooter video games you hear about, only without the computer or gaming console. This is actual game pieces on a table -- like Dungeons & Dragons on steroids.
Dubuque’s game of choice is Warhammer 40000, a dystopian science-fantasy universe.
How could it possibly take six DVDs to explain how to paint the little war figurines, you ask? In the first video, Dubuque explains painting with "Yellow and Red as seen on Lamenters, Imperial Fist and Blood Angels and Khador.” In the fourth video he shows how to paint “Skeletons, Deathwing and Space Wolves!”
The excitement in the tabletop gamer world about Dubuque’s venture was such that Wargaming Digest published a “Kickstarter Watch” story about it.
What do the backers who contributed all this money to Dubuque’s video project get for their money? The opportunity to buy the videos, of course, but also special bonuses.
The person who put in $250 got Dubuque’s Vampire Counts Blood Knights painted set of five metal Blood Knights complete with handpainted Dragon Keep banner. The backer who put in $190 got a just-painted Dark Angels Vindicator tank.
The ethos of tabletop war gaming is such that assembling and painting the miniature figures is as much a part of the experience as the actual playing of the games.
You can see the promotional video Dubuque did for his fundraising campaign on his Kickstarter page. His blog is worth perusing, too: The Blood Angels by Jawaballs.
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