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My 10yr old just started w/ 6ixth edition (he wanted to start in JAN, but I held off because of rule confusion btwn 5th/6th). We have played 3 500pt games and are moving up to 750.
Best of luck

I got into M:tG when I was 7 and didn't grasp the whole game concept until I was 10. I didn't play 40k until I was 26, I always thought it was cool as but was so intimidated by the ruleset. YEARS WASTED! Game is sooooo freaking fun.

No set age, however I think the following criteria must be met:

-The potential recruit must have already kissed a girl
OR
-The potential recruit must prove himself in sports

Once he has done these things, he has proven himself a man, and thus able to decide for himself which path he will follow. It's unfair to doom him to a life of nerdhood without him ever tasting a woman's lips or the glory of defeating other men in physical competition.

Agen wrote:What I mean is: I had shown a friend of mine's grandson some of the minatures I have and had over heard that they may buy them a couple like maybe just a box of tactical marines or such.

I'm going to be seeing my friend gain today and talk to them about it BUT will mention that stufs isn't cheap..., So now to the question, @ what age would you folks say would be okay to start a kid at playing WH?

Old enough that he has the patience to paint and assemble the figures, and understands the cost of building an army, so no younger than 12 or 13.
He would also have to not get hyper upset upon losing, because that can happen a lot honestly.

farrowking37 wrote:

Agen wrote:What I mean is: I had shown a friend of mine's grandson some of the minatures I have and had over heard that they may buy them a couple like maybe just a box of tactical marines or such.

I'm going to be seeing my friend gain today and talk to them about it BUT will mention that stufs isn't cheap..., So now to the question, @ what age would you folks say would be okay to start a kid at playing WH?

Old enough that he has the patience to paint and assemble the figures, and understands the cost of building an army, so no younger than 12 or 13.
He would also have to not get hyper upset upon losing, because that can happen a lot honestly.

Well, I don't think they'd be up to the painting aspect. But for now I had gave him a couple of squads & an HQ to get started with so that his (friend of mine) grandmother doesn't lose $$ should he lose interest

I've yet to but plan on getting the new rulebook @ months end...

1. When they are old enough to pay for it themselves (or take out a mortgage, which is what it is pretty much getting to here).
2. When they are mature enough to keep playing despite getting beaten because of mistakes they make during the game.

If they can't handle being beaten at a game, then they should pick another hobby.

Agen wrote:

farrowking37 wrote:

Agen wrote:What I mean is: I had shown a friend of mine's grandson some of the minatures I have and had over heard that they may buy them a couple like maybe just a box of tactical marines or such.

I'm going to be seeing my friend gain today and talk to them about it BUT will mention that stufs isn't cheap..., So now to the question, @ what age would you folks say would be okay to start a kid at playing WH?

Old enough that he has the patience to paint and assemble the figures, and understands the cost of building an army, so no younger than 12 or 13.
He would also have to not get hyper upset upon losing, because that can happen a lot honestly.

Well, I don't think they'd be up to the painting aspect. But for now I had gave him a couple of squads & an HQ to get started with so that his (friend of mine) grandmother doesn't lose $$ should he lose interest

I've yet to but plan on getting the new rulebook @ months end...

If he isn't up to the painting aspect it isn't and immediate deal breaker. He could save up a bunch of money and get someone else to paint them.
Does he seem intrested in the game or collecting the figures? Neither of which are bad, it will just be a bit harder for him to collect them unless he likes his space marines colors in ugly and gray.

Red Viper wrote:No set age, however I think the following criteria must be met:

-The potential recruit must have already kissed a girl
OR
-The potential recruit must prove himself in sports

Once he has done these things, he has proven himself a man, and thus able to decide for himself which path he will follow. It's unfair to doom him to a life of nerdhood without him ever tasting a woman's lips or the glory of defeating other men in physical competition.

+1

My son is 9 and he now has about a 1 hour attention span.
At 6 he liked to pick up the guys and play with them often breaking them.
7-8 he had a 30 min attention span, and would get very upset if he lost.
Now that he's 9 almost 10 he can get the basic rules, but doesn't want to read the rule book. We can play 500-1000 pt games, but the 1000 pt games are a bit long for him.
If things are going badly for him he gets upset and usually surrenders.
He's starting to learn how to put guys together and paint them but only sees this as a means to an end.

So if you looking for small (500-1000) fun non completive games somewhere around 9 is a good starting spot. To play in a completive scene I think 13+.
8 and before you really need to do a dumbed down version of the game. Something like my 2 units of 10 orcs are attacking you 10 man SM, on an open field. This will teach him to hit, wound and armor saves. It will also last about 20-30 min which is perfect.

Agen wrote:What I mean is: I had shown a friend of mine's grandson some of the minatures I have and had over heard that they may buy them a couple like maybe just a box of tactical marines or such.

I'm going to be seeing my friend gain today and talk to them about it BUT will mention that stufs isn't cheap..., So now to the question, @ what age would you folks say would be okay to start a kid at playing WH?

Depends totally on the kid in question. Younger kids have shorter attention spans so full point games can be tough for them. The miniatures kits themselves have an age minimum due to the small parts, but if you or an adult are the one's building the minis for them age isn't as big a factor initially. Our flames of war league has 2 brothers in it. One is 10 and the other is 13 or so. The 10 year old actually thinks much better tactically than his older brother, but his older brother knows a lot more of the history of World War II and the units. Neither of them are as well versed in the rules as the older players are, but that doesn't bother us. I don't mind losing to either of them because they are very good kids and very good sports whether they win or lose. Also losing to them is even less bothersome when they have clearly learned something significant during the game and used it to their advantage the first time too. At this point the younger brother is the leader of the league simply due to the fact that he is able to be there *every* Sunday league day to play games, but he is no slouch player either and has a decent win percentage in all those games he has played to back it up. My schedule has been so busy I think I've played 1 out of the last 10 league Sundays. :\ Ages past in one of our old stores we had a 10 year old come in and start 40k and he started painting his first miniatures and turned out to just be a completely naturally talented painter right of the bat. Made some of the older guys cranky to see him turning out such amazing looking minis at 10 that they still couldn't match after painting minis for 12+ years already.

One of my closest friends' son is 10 now. His attention span is REALLY short when it isn't his turn, and longer games are tough for him, so we started him playing Necromunda instead of full scale 40k and he has taken to it well. We tried to involve him in a multi-player 40k game with every player having 1000 points, but he just couldn't keep focused enough passed like the 3rd turn in the game. It does all depend on the kid in question. Same thing happens in any other game that goes really long. He also doesn't accept defeats, poor rolling or just not succeeding in the games well at all either. Of course that one isn't helped by the fact that is dad gets REALLY cranky when he screws up in games and his mom is also a highly emotional person, so the kid definitely comes by it honest.

Skriker


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Red Viper wrote:No set age, however I think the following criteria must be met:

-The potential recruit must have already kissed a girl
OR
-The potential recruit must prove himself in sports

Once he has done these things, he has proven himself a man, and thus able to decide for himself which path he will follow. It's unfair to doom him to a life of nerdhood without him ever tasting a woman's lips or the glory of defeating other men in physical competition.

Pretty funny. I was a ladies man as a nerd, long before 40k even appeared in the world. Was always surrounded by a gaggle of women through junior high, high school and college. Started playing D&D at 10, so being a gaming geek didn't stop me in the least. I was and remain a musician as well, so that might have helped mitigate my nerdiness for some. The key is to not care if people think you are a nerd or not in the first place and that self confidence is what draws in the ladies. So many nerdy kids are taught to think there is something wrong with them for being smart and enjoying smart hobbies and that is a load of drek. I do have to admit that I did pass both of these hurdles you list above before I bought my first copy of Warhammer Fantasy and Rogue Trader....hahahahahahahaha

Skriker