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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?

The best time is actually when you have retired.

40k - it costs my money, my time, and my life (wife).

wuestenfux wrote:The best time is actually when you have retired.

40k - it costs my money, my time, and my life (wife).

Please stick to the topic of the thread, I am asking about kids & 40k. not retirement & 40k

birth

Jk, but to answer your question, it really depends on the child. This game requires a certain level of maturity, ESPECIALLY if you have a child who still likes to put everything in his/her mouth to chew on. Depending on my child I might start as early as 5 years old. But I dun have keeds yit so i will has to wayt :(

Frankly I think around 6-8 is probably decent time to start. I tried at 4yrs old and the kids just didn't have the patience for it. By 6, sometimes they can remember the rules but not all have the capability to remember the rule book. By 8 to 10, they are very good at rules and can even assemble models but painting skills tend to lack. I've seen some 10 yr olds do really well but mine aren't (neither am I actually lol, good at modeling but horrible at painting)

at 10, I feel like they really started to understand and come up with some tactics. At 8, they were still just mostly copying other games tactics and really weren't as intutitively using units. I'm still waiting to see what they do at 14, I suspect they may be discovering the opposite sex to still play but at least I hope they'd at least humor old dad and play me once in a while.

I would say it depends on the personal ability to concentrate on the game and the painting.

sudojoe wrote:Frankly I think around 6-8 is probably decent time to start. I tried at 4yrs old and the kids just didn't have the patience for it. By 6, sometimes they can remember the rules but not all have the capability to remember the rule book. By 8 to 10, they are very good at rules and can even assemble models but painting skills tend to lack. I've seen some 10 yr olds do really well but mine aren't (neither am I actually lol, good at modeling but horrible at painting)

at 10, I feel like they really started to understand and come up with some tactics. At 8, they were still just mostly copying other games tactics and really weren't as intutitively using units. I'm still waiting to see what they do at 14, I suspect they may be discovering the opposite sex to still play but at least I hope they'd at least humor old dad and play me once in a while.

Well, I sadly don't know the fellows age @ the moment. But to save my friend a few $$'s I'll probably just give their grandson a few of the plastic pieces that I don't plan on using...

Shadox wrote:I would say it depends on the personal ability to concentrate on the game and the painting.

This!

Having worked in the local GW store before it closed up, I learned that there honestly isn't a set age to start. I've tried teaching the hobby to 14 year-olds who we found out had 0 reading comprehension abilities. I've tried painting lessons with 10-12 year-olds who have the attention span of a gnat!
Then I've had a 6 year-old who was able to pick-up on the basics of building, painting & playing! His only downside was his attention would really begin to wander when it was his opponent's turn as the little fella didn't get to roll as many dice.

It all depends totally on the child in question and their own maturity level.

I think once they are able to read the fluff without much difficulty is a good age since that's when they can get in to the background fluff. You'll see their creativity show then.

well, I was playing at a store with some kids yesterday don't know what age though but seem pretty young~

They were really into the game and their armies were pretty well painted~

Obviously I think the younger the better. If it was my own kid, Id say to have them at least watch. However since it's a friends grandkid, I'd say that by age 7-8 they could start playing friendly easy games, but I'd say to play easy lists, so they dont play Scythewing and lose hope.

Well, I've seen kids playing early (around 8-10) but having no idea what to do.
I think the best age is 12 to 14 when the kids are able to understand the subleties of the rules.

It depends on the child. I started when I was 6. By the time I was 8, I was the resident imperial guard fluff expert at my local store. By the time I was 10, I was coveted for my strategical knowledge in larger games and the guy (or kid rather) to ask about a rules question. Then again I was a different child. Preferring to watch the history channel and read than go set things on fire with my friends but more or less the message is the same.

Don't discount someone because of their age- likewise, don't expect something because of their age either.

I'd go less with a specific age and more with taking the following factors into account with regards to the child's maturity level:

Do they have the attention span to focus on a single game that could last 3+ hours?

This is an expensive hobby, are they old enough to appreciate that and take care of their models?

Do they get bored of new toys easily? If yes, an expensive, long-term hobby like this might need to wait. It looks cool, but it's long-term appreciation

How's their reading comprehension? They need to be able to read pretty well to understand what's happening. Same with arithmetic.

Finally, and this is a big one: Are they mature enough (and do their parents agree) to handle the background fluff? The lore of 40k is a huge draw to really get into the feel of the game, but it's also seriously grimdark, and might feature things the parents might not want their grade-schooler to experience. It might just be too heavy for their kid. In which case, it might be fine to try playing anyways (don't technically need it to try 40k out) but it's definitely something to keep in mind.

Another point to consider is most kids won't have access to Warhammer for a variety of reason. Until he's old enough to play at a store, he will not likely have other kids to play the game with. This means his only opponents will be the people at home. I assume that means you. He might be super-mature and be totally into it, but if he has no opponents, it takes a huge chunk of the hobby away. And could mean he loses interest/motivation.

12-14

Although, at my FLGS, I play a 10 year old a lot (his dad co-owns the store). He used to kick my ass all the time with his IG (basilisks + gaunts = I have a bad time), but because hes been doing the same thing the same way for over a year now I've finally gotten the upper hand. Does anyone else know what it's like to be tabled by a 9 year old? Or the glory of crushing that same child?


...I think that last one makes me sound crazy.

6-8 if you have supporttive/rich parents

I started when i was about 8 with WHFB 1st Ed, and my daughter (wh is 7 next month) started 40k earlier this year.

I'll grant you that the game is simplified for her by me doing all the math and telling her what she needs to roll, but she's already got a decent handle on the basic rules. Give her a year and she'll have the whole rulebook down

Younger players may not get the subtleties of the rules straight off, or for that matter the tendency to micro-analyse wording looking for unintended advantages (tends to be more of an adult thing in my experience) but they can still really enjoy the game.

Some of my best memories for WHFB/40K were when i was really young

There is no best age, there is only the best mindset.

Depends on the kid. My son is nearly 6 now and has just taken an interest in the rules of the game. He has liked the "cool dudes and robots" aspect of it for a long time and he started painting miniatures in his own cool way about a year ago. We have played games since he turned 5 or so but he just likes to have me tell him the story of what happens and throw buckets of dice. Kids can really help you remember what playing games is all about... that being said, much of the subject matter can be very dark so if you take it too seriously then it could not be right for kids for other reasons. Start off focusing on the art aspects of it, followed by explosion noises and cinematic story telling moments, then graduate to advanced painting techniques and competitive lists. I don't expect him to paint and play hard until HE wants to, that is another important aspect... you can't make them like it for the same reasons you do. If you have the imagination and patience to play with kids your games with adults will be even more enjoyable.

I was 10 when I started. I played for about 4 years, then quit for 13 and started up again when I was older. Personally I think 10-12 is probably fine to introduce them to the game. They'd need to start slow, but I had tons of fun at age 11. with 4 friends playing team games staying up all night playing on the floor eating Doritos and drinking mountain dew.

It's all subjective really, at least I think so. When my friends and I started we were all around 12 years old or so and though we've taken breaks, we're still into the game now at 23 years old.

It's going to be a number of factors for different kids, one of my friends and I have always been into this kind of thing for as long as we can remember so we thought it was awesome. But I think the other thing that kept us so intrigued when we were younger was how slowly we had built our armies too. I started with Eldar (which I no longer have) but I would maybe get a box of guardians, or an aspect warrior every birthday/christmas or if I did exceptionally well in school that semester. So I think that might have a contributing factor in some kids staying into it, since one of our friends had a full DA army within like 6 months of starting and he burnt out fast.

It also depends on who they get to play with and how often, you said you're interested in teaching him and such so that'll help alot, but once he's picked up the game and can play and be a sport around it try bringing him to some gaming community so he can experience other players and other challenges etc. One of the reasons we took a break when we were younger was because we frankly got tired of playing each other all the time, especially since 2 of us had Eldar. But at my local GW now there's a kid there who's 13 I think and plays Orks, and I think he might be even more into the game than the old guys who flaunt around their RT models.

Basically like anything, it's all on them to get into the game and stick with it. And maybe they might have interest in it now, but not the attention span or what have you but that doesn't mean they won't be more interested once they can really get a grip on the rules and tactics.

Elector wrote:I'd go less with a specific age and more with taking the following factors into account with regards to the child's maturity level:

Do they have the attention span to focus on a single game that could last 3+ hours?

This is an expensive hobby, are they old enough to appreciate that and take care of their models?

Do they get bored of new toys easily? If yes, an expensive, long-term hobby like this might need to wait. It looks cool, but it's long-term appreciation

This is exactly why there should be smaller games like Necromunda, Gorkamorka, Space Hulk and Blood Bowl. They all have a lower buy in cost and are far more manageable for younger players with fewer figures to invest their time and interest upon. If all I'd had offered was 40K and Fantasy as they stand today, with the expectation of fielding massive armies, I wouldn't have gotten into it, no way.

I'm 13 and started playing 3 years ago. The first year I Didn't really learn the rules, but painted and modeled pretty good. Now I know the rules and paint an model I'd say average. So.... 10 or 11 I think.

Yeah, I see it more as how long will it take them to master the rules and the concept of basic tactics and list building.

As someone who has a school club, most Tweens take more than 15 games, teens take less than a 10. So if your child in question is mature enough to endure the learning curve, they're old enough.

I had never heard of it until I was 16. I won't show it to my kid until he reaches maybe 14. Mature enough to know what death it. Not that I'm a hippy, I just see how kids are raised these days and they're all little gaks.

It all depends really, I introduced my cousin to it when he was12 and it went very well. But the main factor is that the person needs to be mature and responsible enough to pick the hobby up

My older cousin was into WFB when I was a kid, so I grew up loving the minis and the story. When I was about 12 my friends and I decided to get into Warhammer, though we went with 40k. At first we didn't really know all the rules, nor did we have the patience to read through the rulebook to really learn them, but we still had lots of fun regardless. We generally played our own custom missions which worked out pretty well. We kind of fell out of it once we were in high school, and most of my other friends who used to play have all but dropped it completely, due to university costs and not having much time to build and paint.

Overall I think that exposing them to the community is a very important part of getting someone into war hammer. Playing against the same 2 or 3 people all the time eventually starts to get pretty tiresome, especially if theres a large skill difference.

Definitely depends on the kid. At the club I run we've had 11 year olds who can focus on the game without getting distracted every 5 minutes, get models painted and even spend more time converting than some of the 15 year olds.

Another example is my nephew who was 8 at the time playing munchkin with me after his older sister had got bored and wandered off despite being the one who wanted to play it at the start.

Depending on how soon they start price not may be as big an issue as normal either as I know round here some stores will be getting rid of black reach cheap in a few weeks in time for the new starter set.

I started playing when I was 8, I started with lotr sbg and moved on to 40k when I was 10. I remember being able to paint for about 45 minutes before I got distracted, however,when I turned 10 I was painting space marines for 2 hours non stop. It definitely depends on the kid though. There was a 14 year old in our local gw that couldn't concentrate for more than 15 minutes.

I think they're good to start as soon as they're ready (maturity wise) for the fluff. If they can handle the fluff then they can probably handle the game. Exception being the painting and modeling half of it if they're in to that sort of thing. I know I had a Klingon Bird of Prey and a couple Battleships I rather cherished as a child.

In sweden we don't start learning english in school until age 9-10 (if I remember correctly).

I think that's a good age as before that they're just kids and don't have the rational thinking to be able to get warhammer.

Before this time it's better to start with something else in models or painting way if they like it. Warhmmer is to expensive for a child that actually don't play the game.