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I voted the second option.

I think having kids in the hobby is brilliant. In britian (for those who dont live here), there is a huge problem with 'them damn youths'. I think, at the age of 10/11 you are becoming the person you will be for the rest of your teenage years. If your on the street being deviant then it add to the problem, but if your playing wargames with an older group of people, your learning to socialise, mature and have a constructive outlet for your frustration.

However, i do see why older folk dislike the younger wargamers. but come on, dont you remember your first game down GW where you queried every rule, and look toward the GW assistant as if it say WTF do i do now?

im 18 and haven't got any problem playing or socialising with a 12 year old. If they got to query a rule, then spell it out for them, how should they know? As for painting, i dont mind the occassional unpainted unit and if their painting isn't great, who cares? I still have my first marine, and oh my god, is it bad. They'll improve in time and just need some encouragement to carry on.

I am a young person and obviously have no problem with it But I don't see what problems it could cause. Wasn't Games Workshop's initial aim to keep young people away from computers and virtual gaming? School clubs used to be around for youth to play Warhammer, although, what with the... 'evolution'... of society, it isn't acceptable and therefore was commonly disrupted at my schools :(

I think the poll is a little biased, it only gives one positive option!

Im 16 now and i stared at about 11 and i can honestly say im always mature in painting and gaming so i think that it depends on the individual.

Wargaming kids can be annoying but they are a damn sight better than the majority of "normal" kids.

1. They tend to be more intelligent.
2.They tend to have better manners.
3. Without kids getting into the hobby there would be no future to it.
4. Teaching is fun.
5. The MtG players get someone to feel superior to (even if it isn't true)

I guess Im considered a young'n, but I know if I were in a lot of yalls place Id HATE to play against a kid. Then again, I have seen some.... meltdowns.... by some adults... when kids do it, not much of a shocker, when an adult does... thats embarrassing.

Stunami wrote:I'm OK with them. Yeah, some younger folks can be annoying, but remember when you were 12-14? You were annoying as crap too! For those who blame impatience, I advise to develop some. You are going to likely have to learn to deal with young'ins at some point. Not a critisim, but just a suggestion.

Where was I at 14?

Not a gamer, but an annoying PITA to EVERYONE around me.

I didn't have to deal with gaming at school and the beatings it encouraged (it was hard enough just being studious - besides, although WHFB was around, nobody I knew or hung out with played it and 40k wouldn't appear for another 4-5 years by which time I became an 'adult' gamer).

I started when I was 10. My youngest brother started at age 7. I can find it annoying but I can relate to it all and I think its all good fun as long as it doesnt go over the top.

I am I young person but when kids younger than you randomly come up to you in school it gets annoying, especially when the only saw you once in a FLGS and didn't speak to you then

It mainly works on a personal level, there are players of all kinds, young or not.

I think it works best when younger players of similar ages play, to a point. Life usually dictates this naturally, playing with a group of peers who grow and mature with you as you play.

Younger players are great, I started with a group of friends in 9th (ish?) grade, prob. 14 years old, now I'm 25. When you can be mature enough to play with adults, play with adults, that is ultimately a question of maturity.

Then again, I think older players have a responsibility to "nurture" the youngbloods into the community, help people grow with the hobby and ultimately set the standard of how to play/act.

It's really a question of personal preference.

As long as they don't act like idiots.

I got into the game late and never was a "young person" in this respect. That said, I get along with kids/teens like a large serving of arsenic... in that I do not get along with kids/teens. Ergo, exterminatus.

[rant]
That said I maintain my position on young people: when I rise to power everyone under 17 will be put into concentration camps so society won't be troubled by them until they are mature enough to be assimilated into the population. I'm sure this policy will earn me nothing but the ire of the public, but really think about it... kids suck, teenagers suck, and they could all stand to learn proper manners.
[/rant]

I dont oppose younglings getting into the Hobby at all. They bring money and keep my LFGS and the Hobby itself going.

But I dont interact with them. the Club I play and paint at is closed for people below 16 years of age after 6 PM (With certain exceptions who were recommended by a member for example), which means I dont have to deal with them at all. Combined with the fact that new Clubmemers are picked by the established members, I can enjoy my Hobby in peace.

There's the ocassional Event or Workshop where Kids are around. But usually there are people there that supervise their offspring and thus arent a problem. And even if not, a stern look will usually scare particularly annoying kids off.

I voted for Other.

My reasoning is because if they are clean, well behaved, and can generally win/lose with some measure of grace (as in, they realize its a game, not the end of the world if they lose/ not over the top celebration when they win) then I definitely enjoy having them as part of the hobby. I also dont mind heading to a buddy's house and play against their kid (which usually ends up being me against the buddy, however his kid is moving all the pieces/doing the rolling)

What I don't like is the gamer funk on a youn'un, whiny, overly rowdy (especially around fully painted armies), gloating wins while throwing French level tantrums if they lose. I don't like the kids who go to the FLGS who have their parents hovering over them as they game, just to make sure the big mean adult is nice to precious Snowflake.

Somewhere in between not bad and could be better.
However who am I to talk - I started 40k w my first space marine bike when I was 7

As a new player (seriously only about six or seven years ago) when I jumped in, I was so...SO relieved that a veteran chose to help me in just a few matches. I try my best to help the brand new. 1st-10th game people deserve a help. Some can flat out crush any new opponent who steps in their way, but I know that half of my team was that way. I now know that one of the members of my team I thought would fail miserably is now teaching me what is WHAT.

Basically if they are polite (even if its just polite "for their age") I think they are worth it. The more the hobby expands the better and the more people the true vets that brought me in when I was new get to practice their art...I can't see how that is bad, unless the newcomers have taken over the shop and the tables with them...then of course...game on.

well this is ridiculous, fair enough i put "a bit annoying" but over 200 people think it damages the hobby or worse. It varies the game much.

I was about 14 when i started getting into warhammer 40k and I played with peers / class mates mostly. That being said being 24 now, don't care if the other player is younger, because i have younger family members who want me to play games with them but I'd prefer playing against adults more especially in my peer group, I think that's just natural. However just like older players there are things that can get on your nerves pretty quickly. Sweeping generalization- I've noticed most younger players in war games, board games, card games w/e dont usualy read all the rules or they just miss more that an older player. One of my biggest pet peeves if playing someone and they incorrectly built their force because they assumed or didn't read all the rules for the game/ army/ whatever. I've found that teaching a game builds better players, and by teach i mean full on teaching, not the half ass'd he's enough to figure it out while we play and stomp the poor fella.

All in all, a younger player if taught the game properly, and sometimes some gentlemanly conduct, can be a quite pleasant opponent, if not creatively challenging.

afterthought: I keep thinking about a few year back when i taught my little cousin, of about ten years at the time, to play settlers of cattan he had a very poor idea of bartering and how to win the game really, but after teaching him to pay attention to what cards people drew, and that asking to "trade x for y" when everyone has x doesn't work. he started to become quite the tycoon.

How does the hobby go on??



Young people! Just saying it is important for younger generations to get in the game! I enjoy playing with young people/ new players cause I feel like you can be a old hermit telling long tales of fictitious lore. Never met a young dude who was horrible... to think about it most the time I have problems with older gentlemen who try and cheat or criticize everything I do!

I must admit I was surprised by that too.

If a child is annoying and doesn't know how to behave, then it's not entirely their fault. Somewhere along the line someone let them down and didn't explain how it's inappropriate. I have far more issue with barely restrained adults who have the metaphorical and physical weight to throw around if things don't please them. Now I'm patient, and I understand not everyone plays with a full deck (I certainly don't), but it's easy to tell who's an ass and who's worth cutting some slack.

Unfortunately it's not my place to teach other people's kids about that, part of the reason I retracted my job application to work with a local hobby store, when I realised a lot of it would be babysitting.

I personally dont think they're annoying, but that's because I am one (11)

Some of the kids my age have to run around nicking each others food.....

I ussualy play with kids inside my social circle or occasionally the adult. They don't mind me, but hey, everyone's different

 Da Stormlord wrote:

run around

There's a keyword that will get many an adult extremely on edge around young'uns in a game store. Most of us have jobs and families and will get upset if/when that table is knocked into and things that have had hours of "hard work" put into are broken, especially when that damage is irreparable.

Regardless of age, you start haring around near other people's things, picking up figures, game pieces or books when you're not invited to (or in one case literally throwing a limited edition hard back book back and forth), and you will find my hand on your shoulder, advising you to kindly desist in your tomfoolery.
I find most kids very receptive to calming down if you politely explain that they might be upsetting other people who came for a quiet time. At the core of it, everyone's interested in gaming to even be in the store.

I'm 13, and most people at my FLGS are under 18, and I think it's completely okay.

 Mouse wrote:
I think it is great if kids want to play the game. In my opinion it is better then video games or heroin. I doubt some kid playing Warhammer is going to be out "banging" on the street, throwing up some BS gang sign. Kids learn to think criticly when playing and putting together a competetive army list, and they can express themselves creatively with thier painting and converting.

With that being said, I don't play against kids. The older I get the less I can relate to younger people outisde of my daughter, nieces, and nephews; whom I intend to teach all of them the game. My daughter already wants to have my Ogre kingdoms army.

I would agree with the above if it was in anyway realistic. It's great to see young kids come into a hobby that expands their thought processes mathematical ability and promotes their imagination. But any one who believes it keeps working class kids out of mischief is kidding themselves. The hobby is for middle class kids and above, it is incredibly elitist, anyone from an average or below financial background is excluded from the hobby. Its just too costly for the average parents to support.

I disagree.
A friend raised this point with me today, the difference between a gaming club and a town centre bar on a Friday night...
The gamers chose the company they keep, and their activity. They made a conscious effort to surround themselves with creativity. They are not excluded from society as much as they chose to join a subculture.
Those in the bar chose not to choose. They went where it's easy.
That is not so much elitism, as it is self-awareness, which is not an open-door club itself amongst the young (or even the old), it takes years for folks to realise who they are, if it ever truly happens.

That said, of course non middle-class kids play Warhammer. Non middle-class kids have always played. It may not be in the store fronts, but I grew up in a series of Lancashire mining towns, and there was always Warhammer going on in the peripheral. There were kids sharing grubby miniatures or even wooden tokens to represent units, books from charity shops. Birthday presents, Christmas presents. Groups saving up to buy a set. School games clubs - running everything from 40K to GURPS in a lunch hour. I was lucky, my parents both worked and had reasonable, public sector jobs, but I was aware how precious these things were to the kids around me.
These days, little has changed - I talk with teachers from those towns, I help out parents who don't have the money to buy that new £65 box set to find a happy compromise. There is still an underlying culture of wargaming in these areas.

The current, tippity toppityest edition is a rich man's game. But to consider GW or wargaming inaccessible to a child is perhaps simplifying too far.

Lol no

When I go to a tournament and see a 15yo play with a 45yo... that makes me truly happy and showcases what is best with our hobby. Bringing children of ALL ages together.

I think its great that some young people are getting into wargamming! develops a lot of skills and its a cool way to have fun in a social setting!

Every one was young once have you tried to get an adult who has never heard of warhammer into the hobby near impossible, kids on the other hand easy.

no age group owns wargaming. I was playing avalon hill games with my dad when i was 11 and he was 50 something!

so yeah i voted that it's good.