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Next week, I am going to be running a "Learn to Play" night at a FLGS nearby. I am thinking about it and am not entirely sure how to proceed. I have a couple of ideas, but would like to bounce them off the community before exposing the impressionable newbies to my lunacy.

Here are the ideas I am kicking around.

1)Bring multiple armies, run a game between 2 new guys at 500 pts or lower. Basically make it AOBR but much, much more expensive.

2)Have a more broken down regimen, explain the rules with a couple of squads being used to demonstrate what I am talking about.

3)See what the new guys bring(if anything) and pair them up. Make the turns incredibly slow and run them as a group. The entire group would take turn 1 movement together, then shooting, then assaulting. The opponents then go all at the same time, walking through each step. After turn 1 top and bottom, let them go at their own pace.

Any other ideas for this or critiques on what I got?

-cgmckenzie

The best way to have players learn to play is to have them watch a game. Then, just give them a quick overview of the turns and what you generally do and let them play. Don't offer assistance, but answer questions.

You should have a very easy to use and special rule lacking army of a small point value, 500-750 for first time players.

Make sure the setup for the players is a kill points deal, objectives for first time players gets complicated, just tell them the basics on how they want the other guys dead.

If possible, make sure each new player has someone experienced watching and answering questions. The goal is to make the introduction as focused and keep errors from showing up, as what they learn the first time will remain in their heads long after they try to correct the mistakes.

As a final suggestion, take it one step further. Have both experienced players play each other, with the 500-750 point armies, then let the new players have a go with the same.