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I like many kids had those little Plastic Army Men and waged war against the Tan or green or against the "bad guys".
seting up ambushs for the Cat or conquering the Dinner table or Bed with Green plastic armor and artillary support to plant the flag and gain victory over the imagionary enemy.


By Army Men i mean these Brave boys in Green (or Tan, or Grey or Blue)



I think the memory of "My Bravest Soldiers" eventually lead me to get into 40k and the IG.


Did having the Army Men eventually lead you to 40k or anykind of other wargaming style hobby?

Those guys in the OP are enlarged toy versions of Matchbox 1/76 scale WWII American Infantry.
I still have some similar ones in a scale similar to 40K figures.

Dawn of War lead me to Warhammer.

Same as the poster above, DoW lead me to Warhammer 40k. But isn't it a bit sad with war been turning into a game from such a young age?

I remember playing with those as a kid, but I don't think they really introduced me to the hobby. The earliest memory of 40k I have is my older brother buying a White Dwarf (issue 180, IIRC) and painting up the Khorne Berzerker that was stuck to the front. Not long after, he had the 2nd edition boxed set and played a few games against me, which he invariably won because of some house rule or other...

Huh, I never actually thought about it, but I used to love those toys when I was a kid, so, they're like a gateway drug then?

I was in the Army and some of my amigos played 40k and got me into it, so yes, "Army Men" did lead me to 40k.

Played the feth out of my green army men with friends until we left them in a sandbox and someone snatched them all :(

If they did, it was a long, slow journey.
I stopped playing with army men about the age of 7 (mainly because my pyromaniac little brother set fire to them and burned them all) and didn't actively start wargaming (with WW2 20mm) until the age 17 with no hint of it in between and discovered 40k, Battletech and a few others soon after.

Went in for food and drinks, came back with no soldiers, lucky me I did deployed them all for the battle.

It was very very very sad.

Now you mention it, I had a damn huge collection of those back when I was 6 or 7. Not exactly Army Men, but local knockoffs...

I'm the only one noticing a trend here?

We play with plastic toys at 6-7, and then never stop, the toys just get fancier and fancier.

I played a bit with army men but I was drawn to the modeling aspect of wargaming as I did a lot of model building as a kid. First thing I got into really was battletech from the video games then I saw the battletech figures and fell in love. Only got into gw stuff semi recently.

My brother got me into it, he showed me the races and asked me which two I'd like if I were to collect it. Coincidentally, for my birthday my dad found out which two and bought a squad of each
Although that was a few years back when you'd get 16 Orks in a cheap box (yes, Orks was one of the races I chose).

However we did play with army men as 'younger' children (I'm a teenager now, it's not like I'm some old man recollecting the past) so maybe that helped a bit...

I think it was actually Legos that were the gateway drug into 40k. I had so much fun building customized vehicles, buildings, and dudes that I was really happy to find a hobby where I could do the same in a slightly more "grown up" fashion. Even so, I was waging wars with my Lego armies and my Army Men as a kid all the time. Then again, I've been wargaming almost my entire life so it's hard to pinpoint what exactly kept it on track all these years.

I had army men when I was a kid, but it was Airfix kits that sent me down this path. Following that, my grandad taught me how to cast and paint lead historicals. Then some friends at school got me into Necromunda. Escalated from there.

I've been looking at those awesome 40k tanks ever since starting Magic: The Gathering 17 years ago, but never had the money. When a friend left his ork codex lying around a couple years ago, I finally got into the hobby itself, now being able to afford playing it.

I got into GW games in two ways.

1: On the modelling side of things, my father used to make model railroads, and once when I was about 12 I went with him to the local Riders hobby shop. I wandered into their big aisle of tabletop gaming miniatures, and he bought me a couple of "really cool ones". I would sit with him at his desk while he did railroad stuff and use his paints/brushes to paint my models. It's 17 years later and I'm still at it.

2: Gaming. It was a couple of years after getting my first model (so about age 13-14) that I liked the GW 40K ones so much that my parents got me "Tyranid Attack" (an American version of Advanced Space Crusade, I think) after I saw it at the hobby store. My buddy and I would play the boardgame, and then eventually used the point-buy system in the back for the Imperial side to start playing on the rug using stand-ins for terrain. It just went on from there, and eventually we gave up on using house-rules for all the cool 40K models that weren't in "Tyranid Attack", and got into the 40K game proper back in 2nd Edition. I also got into Necromunda when it first came out, way back when I was in 8th grade.

And, well.....I'm 30 now!

I wouldn't doubt that in some way they did. However I blame one of my friends for getting me into the hobby. Lucky for him the 4th edition Imperial Guard codex cover looked sweet otherwise I doubt I would play.

Actualy some very well done up RT Marines got me started.

How ever I have found those little PIGs [Plastic Infantry Guys: I have rules for them to] help when we are asked what we are doing, my reply is usaly:
"Rememeber those little green army men we used to play with in the dir and arguet about witch one was shot by the other?
Now we have compexed rules and dice to help us argue!"

The majority of boys aged 5-9 play with these things: (In no particular order)

Toy Guns
Toy cars&Trucks (and construction equipment)
Plastic Army men and or Cowboys and Indians (G.I. Joes)
Lego's (Or similar)

The vast majority of wargamers played with all of these things, so it is tough to tell what launched the 40K Habit.

I used to make up rules for my army men to fight against my brothers army men. so I guess it was a springboard in the fact that I have always been interested in war, and I like games and love to compete.

I got to 40k through the novels...
I love the setting to 40k and even though I haven't played a game in a long time I'll likely keep following the Lore.

My dad bought me the Marx Guns of the Navarone set when I was about 11. We used to set it up in the gullies behind the house and throw rocks at each others men. The army with men left standing won. I learned a lot about the importance of high ground in those days.
However, I didn't think about wargames again till the early nineties when I accidentally picked up Orcs and Goblins in my FLGS while looking for D&D modules. I was running a Orc PC campaign and was looking for Orc resources. I didn't even know what Warhammer was. After looking though the book, I wanted to get in to it. Then I saw the prices, and walked away.
Fast Forward 20 years, and I'm in my late 30's and finally can afford it. A friend brings over his Battle of battle of MaCragge and it begins.


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Also, http://www.combatstorm.com/

I would say they were indicative the same interest that got me into war gaming. I had hundreds as a kid and staged mass battles in empty lots by our house. As I grew older I got Risk, and though I enjoyed the game, I spend a lot more time waging epic, storied campaigns using the game board and the pieces.

I eventually graduated to Axis and Allies, and finally to 40k and other wargames.

So while I wouldn't say it "got me into the hobby", it fell into the same category of enjoyment that eventually led me to 40k.

Star wars miniatures got me into 40k. I was ticked at getting models i had before.

Ages 3-5 I played with Battle Beasts.

6-10 it was GIJoes and Ninja Turtles.

11-15 both Star Wars and X-men action figures.

Freshmen year onwards, Warhammer 40k.

I guess I've always had a habit of collecting little violent toys.

One of my squad mates in my artillery batallion got me into 40k so yes, army men got me into 40k.

Engine of War wrote:Did having the Army Men eventually lead you to 40k or anykind of other wargaming style hobby?

Actually a strong interest in history led me to collect and build 1/32 and 1/35 scale military models and collect and paint airfix 1/32 military figures from all different armies. This lead me to games like Panzer Blitz and Panzer Leader from Avalon hill which led me to roleplaying games and eventually some 12 years later after gaming for that time I found Warhammer Fantasy 3rd edition and thought I'd give it a try. Moved on to Rogue Trader shortly there after and never looked back since. Still play a variety of historical and sci-fi/fantasy mini games along with roleplaying games and reading a lot of history books.

I actually have a box at home chock full of all of my old airfix and Marx 1/32 figures ranging from US Cavalry and Indians, British Redcoats and US army and militia from the US Revolution, to a ton of World War II forces and others. Keeps my friends' kids busy while we play 40k on the big table. Used to have a ton of old britains soldiers from my childhood too (Napoleonics, WWII, Crusaders and Saracens, US Civil war) which I sold off on ebay for a tidy profit shortly after my new wife realized what condition my old toys were still in. Laughed all the way to the bank on that one. Those sales funded the purchase of 3 complete WFB armies back in 1999.

Skriker


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matphat wrote:My dad bought me the Marx Guns of the Navarone set when I was about 11. We used to set it up in the gullies behind the house and throw rocks at each others men. The army with men left standing won. I learned a lot about the importance of high ground in those days.

Hahahahahaha! I had that set too. No longer have the mountain, but still have all the other parts from the set. My father and I used to each pick a force and get 10-15 guys each. We would then split up the lincoln logs into equal piles and each build a fort on the living room rug about 5-6 feet from each other. We'd then each get 3 shots of the single lincoln log connector pieces a turn to bash up the opponent's base and "kill" all of his troops. Was great fun, though would annoy my mom when one of us would build a rock solid fort with no real entrances that was hard to crack and the "shots" would bounce off of it into the lamps. I don't know who had more fun during those bouts, me or my father. Always made me laugh when we'd play until I had to go to bed and he would say "I'll put things away" and I'd wake up in the morning and there was some fancy defensive foritification built up under the piano or something manned by both forces. Sure he put things away...hahahahaha...

Skriker