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chromedog wrote:From what I've seen, it is mates who do get them into it.

Or Siblings (several of the boys in my club started because their brother's did, or their schoolmates did).

I started by buying a blister of minis to paint.
I got introduced to gaming conventions through this (one was on a couple of blocks away from the store at the time).
I found miniatures games and became friends with certain people whom I am still friends with.

I didn't game at school.
My siblings thought it was stupid and a waste of time (and still do). I'm 42.

My friends didn't get me into gaming. Gaming got me my friends.

Yup, pretty much the same story here.

But when we got into it that was pre internet days, they didn't even have...

VHS, Microwaves, or even CABLE

It was a scary time! It was harder for Nerds to unite!

I played my first DnD in 2nd grade with an original Gary Gygax paper set! I wouldnt hear about gaming like that again for 4 years.

However, i think today is very different, I think social media brings people in, I think video games bring people in, conventions can expose people, occasionally movies, word of mouth of course too. I see men with sons coming in and playing because their kids do, and the reverse, kids playing because their Fathers do. I also see awkward kids in game stores their parents treat as free day cares who can't help but get into it, although this is rare, and yet, seems to be in most stores with free space.

Unfortunately, I still see the same social cripples and outcasts largely as the seeds of new players in the hobby, regardless of their age, for the most part. Some you can help, some grow out of it, and some come that way and are already 30...

EDIT: [cynical] How? Well they spontaneously decide they have $500 they don't need anymore and then they randomly purchase a core set and army. I mean WOW, I'm a senior Engineer now, own a house, and drive a sportscar and I STILL think a new army is egregiously expensive, how MINORS can afford to play I'll never know! [/cynical]

As a response to the OP I started about 6 months ago, so i feel I am a recently joined player to answer this as i now have 2 armies both growing

I got into warhammer through friends. two friends played and they were talking about it. it sounded interesting and so I agreed to come play a demo game. I played a large game (1750) with tyranids against IG it was complex and i had no idea wha ti was ding just basic understanding of movement and rolled dice, they told me what it meant. by the end i kinda had most the basics down. I had fun, tried a few smaller games that day and later that week with other armies and in the end after researching decided since there were no ork players (one guy had AoBR box set i played them once in a intro game to that week) I bought a AoBR box of my own and 6 months later I'm running intro games at my house, at the flgs and with some effort attendance at my flgs has almost doubled (not just my effort, the 2 friends that got me into it and i keep reaching out and getting people excited about it)

really its a multipoint assault process imo .
1)show em the models and how cool they looks
2)convince em it isn't that complicated to enjoy
3)have them play the first day they seem interested. its like a car sale if they leave the store they probably aren't coming back.
4) invite them back after that game or that same day to play more if they have time. all the while explain the fluff and differences see what they enjoy about armies they play as and advise on armies they might like.
5) social networking sites get names, invite them to groups about the hobby, friend them and bring them into this awesome hobby of ours

i realize its probably odd to be new and recruiting people but I love teaching people (about games or building things basically skills or trades, I’d be a terrible academic teacher)

All the kids in my neighborhood that were around the same age as me all got into 40K together after playing Risk all the time became boring, and we never finished a game of Axis and Allies.

I actually really miss those days, simply for the arms race that was involved. For example, I would save up for three weeks in order to buy a dreadnought, and then one kid would save up to buy a carnifex and my brother saved up to buy an ork dreadnought in order to counter my newly purchased champion. There was no such thing as internet listing your army and then buying it all in one go.

lukewild1982 wrote:Evening all,

Another angry thread concerning GW got me thinking about NOOB players (hate that phrase but it seems to be the way to put it).

I got into wargaming through Hero Quest, for all you NOOBS it was a board game (correct me if I am wrong on this guys) designed by GW back in the late 80s early 90's (not sure) and distributed by MB games as a mainstream family board game, and thats exactly how I played it. I remember full well playing it with my Mum Dad and Bro. Eventually this lead me to the Cambridge GW and well the rest is a long and sordid history.

What gets a NOOB into it now, how did you find out?

Is it the computer games, seeing a GW or Hobby store?

Love to hear the stories from all you budding gamers and also how all you old warhorses got into it all

are we talking newbies who don't know wargaming, or N0ObZ, the people who enjoy wearing their own bare bottoms as their hat? If the latter is the case, it has everything to do with GW's branding: they make it seem cool, trendy, etc, and fast and furious POW POW POW POW! in your FFFFaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayce!!! Which isn't exactly the case (at least initially, while everyone learns the rules). Now, lured in with this expectation, they are going to pick up an army based on what appeals to them for coolness, not whichever suits their playstyle, and once coolness is a factor, what the rules require you to do or permit you to do becomes practically secondary to the N0ObZ in question.

For me it went Tailisman, Blood Bowl then into Fantasy/40K. Got Talisman from a games shop in the city.

My friends and me got into it after D&D started to lose it appeal.

These days its harder to find tabletop gamers as everyone seems to be hooked on World of Warcraft.

I guess they get into it through their friends or a GW stores these days if they have the funds.

Repentance wrote:For me it went Tailisman, Blood Bowl then into Fantasy/40K. Got Talisman from a games shop in the city.

My friends and me got into it after D&D started to lose it appeal.

These days its harder to find tabletop gamers as everyone seems to be hooked on World of Warcraft.

I guess they get into it through their friends or a GW stores these days if they have the funds.

I completely agree with you on the WOW and various MMORPG. I can not see what everyone is fascinated by myself, paying monthly to play what maybe the dullest style of gaming ever created seems madness. Clearly I am wrong as millions do it and look at the industry it has become. I suppose the same can be said of any hobby

lukewild1982 wrote:

Repentance wrote:For me it went Tailisman, Blood Bowl then into Fantasy/40K. Got Talisman from a games shop in the city.

My friends and me got into it after D&D started to lose it appeal.

These days its harder to find tabletop gamers as everyone seems to be hooked on World of Warcraft.

I guess they get into it through their friends or a GW stores these days if they have the funds.

I completely agree with you on the WOW and various MMORPG. I can not see what everyone is fascinated by myself, paying monthly to play what maybe the dullest style of gaming ever created seems madness. Clearly I am wrong as millions do it and look at the industry it has become. I suppose the same can be said of any hobby

but what have they got to show for it as a result other than damaged eyes carpel tunnel and in some cases (i know of at least 10) sun aversion and scurvy because they've sat infront of there monitors for thousands of hours with multiple characters which are all the same in the end o.o, where we have to fund our plastic crack addiction so we know what the sun looks like, we socialise, we can talk about things other than the next expansion, we even have careers and families, AND some pretty cool looking models to show the next generations which requires love and attention :3

I used to make model airplanes and one day when I walked into the model store were I bought them from the had Warhammer so I picked up a box of DE Corsairs and got hooked

i remember looking for HeroQuest online to order and finding Battle for Macragge. I thought it looked totally sweet, so i spent the next year or so looking at the miniaatures on GW. then,I saw a kid on the bus holding an Eldar codex;I moved over to him,started asking about warhammer and the rest is history

Potato_God wrote:i remember looking for HeroQuest online to order and finding Battle for Macragge. I thought it looked totally sweet, so i spent the next year or so looking at the miniaatures on GW. then,I saw a kid on the bus holding an Eldar codex;I moved over to him,started asking about warhammer and the rest is history

by far the best introduction to the game

Clumpski wrote:

Potato_God wrote:i remember looking for HeroQuest online to order and finding Battle for Macragge. I thought it looked totally sweet, so i spent the next year or so looking at the miniaatures on GW. then,I saw a kid on the bus holding an Eldar codex;I moved over to him,started asking about warhammer and the rest is history

by far the best introduction to the game

Shouldve seen the look on his face when he realized I knew what 40k was

Walks into the FLGS with my friend.

So what's 40k?
You know. It's that games I've been telling you about.
So what's an Eldar?
It's a space elf. They're pirates and they shoot shuriken catapults.
Space elf pirate...I'm liking the sound of that. What's a ...what did you call it?
..Shuriken Catapult. It's railgun that fires throwing stars.
Railgun that fires throwing stars!?!? I'm in!!

That was literally the conversation that hapened over 20 years ago. My friends dad would frequently drive a group of 3 to sometimes 5 of us 30 miles to the FLGS that carried 40k. I bought the 25 man hybrid box, the 10 man lead box, wraithlords, ghost warriors, harlequin box....all that spiel. 40k got cemented in with Space Hulk, the Space Marine epic game, and the rest is history.

-MightyG

Remulus wrote:Also some people find the game by seeing the models from the window at the local FLGS, though half of them think the store is a video game store.
(Which annoys the employees)

We get about 12 people a week walking in and asking for help finding the video games.)

Remulus wrote:Also some people find the game by seeing the models from the window at the local FLGS, though half of them think the store is a video game store.
(Which annoys the employees)

Yea that seems to happen alot with any Games Workshop, they seem to see they word Games but most likely miss the Workshop, I mean one glance into the store and I can tell they dont sell computer games.

Potato_God wrote:

Clumpski wrote:

Potato_God wrote:i remember looking for HeroQuest online to order and finding Battle for Macragge. I thought it looked totally sweet, so i spent the next year or so looking at the miniaatures on GW. then,I saw a kid on the bus holding an Eldar codex;I moved over to him,started asking about warhammer and the rest is history

by far the best introduction to the game

Shouldve seen the look on his face when he realized I knew what 40k was

open mouth then a giant grin?

mikhaila wrote:

Remulus wrote:Also some people find the game by seeing the models from the window at the local FLGS, though half of them think the store is a video game store.
(Which annoys the employees)

We get about 12 people a week walking in and asking for help finding the video games.)

Back in the dim and distant past as a GW staffer, at the end of each day we had to call and give our figures to HQ. I used to pretend to be a clueless parent asking for various types of video games and I and the guy I always spoke to would both have a laugh about it. However, one time the usual chap didn't answer the phone, and someone (I believe a regional manager or perhaps even higher) did not take kindly to my enquiry about 'Barbie gets a sun tan' for the Gameboy. I had a serious talking to by my manager about it - hilarious

I think there is a fallacy amongst many gamers that the hobby, especially Games Workshop, is too expensive for new gamers.

Despite rising prices everywhere there is still a lot of money about. I live in a small working class town with high unemployment yet you only have to stand on any street corner and watch the expensive new cars drive by, and I'm talking £40K+ luxury cars, to see that people do have money.

Ugavine wrote:I think there is a fallacy amongst many gamers that the hobby, especially Games Workshop, is too expensive for new gamers.

Despite rising prices everywhere there is still a lot of money about. I live in a small working class town with high unemployment yet you only have to stand on any street corner and watch the expensive new cars drive by, and I'm talking £40K+ luxury cars, to see that people do have money.

Yes, you are looking at the rich few.

That does not encompass the majority of gamers and hobbyists.

When my Mum was a practicing physiotherapist, I used to play console games and the like with the son of one of her patients. He got the 2E boxed game and the hobbycraft aspect of it all really captured my imagination. Started off with smurfs, then when the Tyranids got their first full supplements I got into the gribblies and they've been my primary hobby since.

I used to just build 1/35th scale models then set em on a shelf. Then a friend asked me to paint some GW figs for him and I was like "what you can do something with them after you build them!" I was hooked. Also a very friendly and helpful game store owner had a huge hand in it.

When i first started it was walking past the hobby shop.

Then i stopped, this time it was through playing the DoW series that gave me the bite for a second time

i saw a GW store and thought it was video games so i walked in and it looked really cool

mikhaila wrote:

Remulus wrote:Also some people find the game by seeing the models from the window at the local FLGS, though half of them think the store is a video game store.
(Which annoys the employees)

We get about 12 people a week walking in and asking for help finding the video games.)

Related question to yourself.

As an FLG owner, what sort of percentage NooBs kick off with each game? You know, generally speaking.

One of my friends told me about DoW although then i didn't realise it was based on a miniture wargame. Then a year later this new friend of mine (that i had met only a few days before) told me that DoW was based on 40k.

And this is my first post!

Me: Hey, my brother and I sometimes play this computer game. Do you want to try?
Friend: Sure, what is it called?
Me: Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War. I don't know what the 40k is about, but...
Friend: WHAT! THERE'S A COMPUTER GAME! OMG I HAVE A HUGE ARMY OF CHAOS MINIATURES!
Me: WHAT! DAWN OF WAR IS BASED OFF A TABLETOP MINIATURES GAME!

A few days later, I played my first game (750 Points) with my friend's second army (Tau). I managed a few draws and a loss before he sold that army and I had to start my own. I oscillated between Space Marines and Tau before starting both simultaneously. When I went to buy a Space Marine Codex, though, I bought Dark Angels instead because their book was cheaper. I've since added Eldar and am currently adding Imperial Guard.

I've been trying to recruit my brother but he thinks that "Warhammer is a stupid game that requires no skill, and is based 100% off dice rolls and who has the most recent army!" (His words not mine).

AvatarForm wrote:
Yes, you are looking at the rich few.

No, I'm not. That's my point. I'm talking council estates here.

People constantly moan about money, I probably do more than most with my partner being out of work for over two years, but people still somehow find the money to buy what they want.

It costs about £150 to start 40K, that's about 3 or 4 new computer games or a fancy phone. And people are buying computer games & fancy phones. The issue as I see it is not so much about the money, it's about getting new players interested in the hobby. Get them interested and they will spend the money.

I was playing Micro Armour (1/300 scale) and was looking for better looking infantry... I found a box of Epic Eldar and bought them

At home, a leaflet fell out of the box... "welcome to the world of Warhammer 40,000"

Within 6 months, I had packed up the Micro Armour and bought into Epic... heavily

Then 2ed... then Apocalypse

Mik

Thanks for all your posts people, very interesting how you all got into the hobby.

I was walking in the mall and i saw a store i had never seen before, with some SWEET looking models in the display out front. I walked in and saw the package of space marine tactical squad and was instantly hooked, I needed those models NOW! and i thought you had to paint them like they were on the box, so that is the reason why I currently have a 4000 point ultramarine army, because i didnt want to waste my first squad and so just kept expanding ultramarines, dont get me wrong, my ultramarines will always be my favorite, but in hindsight, would not have chosen them, maybe would have done DA? one day...but i dream

Having watched and played the game with one of my Uncles back around 1995 to 1997 (2nd Edition I believe, I cant remember the year). I played Space Marines while my Uncle played Tyranids and a friend of his played Eldar. Ever sense then, I had wanted to own an army...

Now fast forward to 2010, sense I have gotten my first job out of college, been paying the bills and all that fun stuff, I decided to get into the game when I was reintroduced into the game at my FLGS by other friends so I bought a Tau army second hand from another person for $300, which got me over 2000+ points worth of various models, almost completely painted (blue and silver scheme and this guy was a meticulous painter), and newly bought army book. So I got into the game realitively cheap. Can not count the number of games I had lost with them so I bought a Necron army, again second hand from another friend down at that shop for around the same price (I think it was $400 ) which included tons of stuff. Still lost many games with them.

Now I own a giant Tyranid army that I actually bought myself.