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New member here but, a long time gamer. I am thinking of coming back to WH40k after several years of hiatus. I quit about 7 years ago.

To just cut to the chase I recently went in to the local gaming store in my area(one I have never been into) after calling to see what night they had Warhammer so I could check it out. To my dismay I arrived to find almost entire gaming field composed of 12-16 year olds.I asked if they had a veteran night, remembering my old store had one. The clerk told me honestly it is rare to find anyone 18+ even playing here or anywhere in the area. In fact he told me he himself quite because he A) Felt uncomfortable playing with kids (which I agree upon) and B) Would not play Warhammer with them because of the general stigmata attached with younger players (which in all honesty does exist, as I am sure some of you can attest to. Hell I was one of em when I first started at age 11.) The clerk was my age early 20's.

I felt totally bumed out. But tried to watch some games. Between the yelling that was going on I tried to discern if they were actually playing a game or simply playing by their own rules, or bickering about something or another. I noticed a guy in his middle age watching one of the tables in the far corner. Maybe their was an actual warhammer player here who I could play with. I introduced myself and yup guess what? He was there to watch his son while he played.

Yikes, now I feel as if I am too old to be playing Warhammer. Some have said I should give it a shot playing with the kids at my local store, but there is no way I could be convinced to do so for various reasons. I am stuck as I do have an avid community of Warhammer players in my area, but they are all kids! Not really sure where to go from here. Should I just call it quits, before I start investing time/money again?

quit? never
make a thread calling local gamers in your area, or use the dakka gamers catalogue: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/212002.page

not sure if that helps much, but there are alot of gamers on here, and most are 20's - 40's

GW's Website, although clunky, does have a rather spiffing Store Finder, which will point you not only to your nearest GW outlet, but any registered FLGS and Games Clubs.

Used it today for my mate who is moving to Milton Keynes, and he was pretty ecstatic to find Wargames Workshop about 5 miles from where he'll be living.

Give it a go. Main page, click 'My Store' and follow the steps, making sure you include FLGS and Clubs in the area.

Plenty of mature gamers play 40K.

Although the kids are the no.1 target market they mostly drop out as they get older.

Kilkrazy wrote:Plenty of mature gamers play 40K.

Although the kids are the no.1 target market they mostly drop out as they get older.

Yeah, when I joined 2-3 years before 3rd edition came out, I was the only person at the LGS(in New Orleans) under 16, and one of only 5 under 20. I never really saw an influx of kids until 4th ed. In the Mississippi stores I've been to and the Baton Rouge store, it's a bit more of an age mix, but it's still more than 50% people over 20.

the GW in portsmouth is pretty much 99% kids, vets night isnt as bad, but still loads of em.
allthough, most of the staff are willing to give you a game

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:GW's Website, although clunky, does have a rather spiffing Store Finder, which will point you not only to your nearest GW outlet, but any registered FLGS and Games Clubs.

Used it today for my mate who is moving to Milton Keynes, and he was pretty ecstatic to find Wargames Workshop about 5 miles from where he'll be living.

Give it a go. Main page, click 'My Store' and follow the steps, making sure you include FLGS and Clubs in the area.

I can vouch for this. In fact, in our area there was a small toy shop that bought a point of purchase display from GW not really knowing what it was and they ended up on their website. Long story short, a few friends and I found the store and brought in gamers to help sell their product and teach them about the 40k scene.

Morale of the story, if you cannot find what you're looking for, take the initiative and try to find more mature gamers in your area. Perhaps you can ask your local gaming stores to get emails from people who come in asking about 40k, or perhaps put up a few fliers at places where 18+ gamers might hang out or visit (a local college would be perfect). Once you get a few people to commit it just naturally grows by word of mouth from there.

You're only too old for Warhammer when you start having trouble distinguishing a Waywatcher from a Land Raider.

Actually its funny, my FLGS has the opposite ratio of players for 40k and fantasy. We only have one regular player under 18+ (he's 16). The rest of the 25+ regular gamers at the store are all over 20 years old, the oldest being 54. However, when it comes to the magic, yugio, and other CCGs its all about the kids below 16. There are probably about 10 of them in the store on any given day playing some kind of CCG.

dameanone wrote:and B) Would not play Warhammer with them because of the general stigmata attached with younger players

Younger players spontaneously bleed from their hands and feet?





If you're not happy playing with kids, either venturing a little further afield or trying to interest some friends in the game may help.

I play Warhammer with my boys. The LGS I play at has mostly older players ... only a couple of youngsters and they're all mature gamers.

It's strange to hear that, because in my time playing Warhammer (I started around 15) I was ALWAYS the youngest player, and now that I am in my 20s, I am about average. The FLGS here and where I used to live is populated mostly by players in the 20-40 range, and I don't think I have seen a single teenaged player in the two months since I picked the hobby up again after a few years hiatus.

dameanone wrote:I am thinking of coming back to WH40k after several years of hiatus.

To just cut to the chase I recently went in to the local gaming store in my area. To my dismay I arrived to find almost entire gaming field composed of 12-16 year olds.

I am stuck as I do have an avid community of Warhammer players in my area, but they are all kids!

Glad to hear that you're interested - now is a great time to come back. But first off, where are you? Fill out the location information, and maybe post that you're looking for a gaming group.

There is nothing wrong with playing against kids per se - great people are great people, regardless of age. You might play more casual / Apoc games than formal / tournament games, but you can still have fun.

Quite honestly, from the perspective of some of us greybeards, with you in your early 20s, you're still a "kid", too. So mind your elders, whippersnapper!

If you want to play against adults, check out your local colleges & universities. Also, post in the store that you're interested in starting a Veterans night, or just looking for opponents to game at your place. There are almost certainly others who'd be interested in playing, but without seeing you, how do they know you're out there, too?

For reference, my gaming group is all 30+ adults. We don't game at the store.

You're never too old. Live the dream!!

I have to say that you are never to old to play war games. I've been playing wargames for as long as I can remeber and I've been playing 40k since 2nd edition when they had the over watch rule in the game and orks could use plasma pistols and you could actually throw grenades. Now my friend if you can remember that then you may be 40k old school. I don't play to much at LGS like I use to. But I have a medium size group of guys who come to the house and we play Table top games that vary from Waterlo, Warhammer, 40k, and even a game of Descent from time to time. we all very in age I think the youngest in our group is 28 years of age. we all have jobs from law enforcement, teachers, and journalist. So it dosn't matter what age you are, be who you are, and thats a GAMER!!!!

I think I'm the only person under the age of 18 that playes at my LGS(and everyone else who plays is quite a bit older then 18), Age really isn't a factor so long as you can have fun and be fun to play against.

Man, I feel so inexperienced around these people.

......random post

Thats weird. Im 25 and my FLGS has me at the bottom of the age barrel. Shoot most of the people that play there are in the early 30s. Im the young kid lol. Guess it depends on where you are.

I'm over 40.
While I"m the oldest player at my club, I'm not the oldest at a couple of other clubs that I visit. I started back in '87, and I've been playing longer than most of my clubmates have been alive.

Early 20s is not too old. Munchkins come and go - it takes real dedication to continue with something you like when all your friends move onto something else (or insane fanaticism).

"Veteran" distinguishes time on the job, not age at play.

A 20 year old who has been playing for 10 yrs IS a Veteran... a 30 year old who has just started is NOT.

Mate, if you want to play ANY game, just play - YOU win every time coz it's YOUR life and age has nothing to do with it.

Except when the young uns cry coz you trashed em... but then again... I've seen a 35 year old do the same... anyway, like I said... it's your life, do as you will.

Like chromedog said... dedication is the key

Mik

insaniak wrote:

dameanone wrote:and B) Would not play Warhammer with them because of the general stigmata attached with younger players

Younger players spontaneously bleed from their hands and feet?

I lol'd. BIG time.



Ghidorah

I'm 42 and one of the older players at my FLGS, with the youngest being 12. I don't let that bother me, since I didn't even know miniature wargaming existed until I was in my mid 20's. I'll keep playing until I get too senile to know what I'm doing or too infirm to physically roll the dice. If there are kids in your store who seem like they don't totally grasp the game, try to give them hints as to how the rules work and see if they don't eventually catch on.

You are only to old if you are dead or you can't read the dice

Did you go to a GW store? That is GWs target audience. Now you know who The White Dwarf is written for, and why they don’t bother writing decent rules. They love all of the teens playing and their parents buying, knowing that they will soon move on to other things. They just take their money, and they know that they will not stay long enough to realize that GW does not care about them, or well written rules, or balance. A teen that is new to the hobby only looks at the next army, and does not care that their favorite army was made unplayable because of the changes to 5th edition and that they will not get another codex for 5 years.

What you have to do is go to a non-GW store to find someone over 20.

And after a certain age, you have to stop playing 40k and play Warhammer. I am almost at that age myself.

Have a look round for private gaming clubs. I guarantee there are older gamers out there. They may not appear at local stores but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

Going into my local GW on a Saturday will find the place overrun with 10-14 year olds. I can see why this would be off putting to the more mature beginner. If I didn't know about my local gaming club I would certainly just turn around and walk away.

Thank you everyone for the input and suggestions. I decided to try the route of posting flyers at my LGS, which the owner was totally for. Hell, he said he would be all for getting down on Warhammer again if we got a few people interested that were 18+. So good news their, and we will see how that pans out.

I hope you're not too old. I just started - and I am 46. My son (12) started too but has temporarily lost interest -- but he got the old man hooked. Seems like most players here are 20 somethings. I got in a league and played 13 to 35 year olds (one of whom tabled me today! grrr).
If you enjoy it, go for it. I got in touch with lots of local players online. Looks like our next league will have some more older players who are getting back into it again.

50 and going strong. Fortunately, our club started as an adult gaming group, has grown as an adult gaming group, and stayed primarily an adult gaming group.

To OP: personally i dont think there is ever an age limit for warhammer. If i see a 90 year old guy i wouldnt care , i would be like " oh wow! good for him! "

Though it probably would be a good idea to act in a respectable manner suitable to your age.

Unlike some people i use the White Dwarf syndrome to describe >.>

I wonder what the stigmata about younger gamers is, I'm 19 myself so maybe I don't see it yet. Me and my friends are the youngest when it comes to our FLGS. I feel uncomfortable playing the older guys because they know it more than I do and I'm often wrong about rules.

I got cheated by a black templar player who made up rules with his drop pods(hes a known cheater), and I believed him because he was older.

I see your conundrum though, not many parents like seeing their 12 year old playing games with a 20+ year old. At least they're not playing bakugan or yu-gi-oh though, I can be happy with that.