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Apologies if this would fit better in another thread, but I'm curious for just what age range AOS is ideal. I want to have family BoardGame Nights when my son is old enough, but right now Candyland is the limit of what he can handle. Eventually, I would like to get him playing war games like BFG, KoW, DZC and the like, but that's ten years away at best. If AOS is as simple as everyone claims, would it work as an introduction to the concept for a child around 5-7 or so? What board games is it similar to in terms of complexity and play time?

Please give me something to play besides Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, and Fantasy Flight Games' Set Up And Then Put Away And Watch A Movie Instead.

It seems to me like you could play it at a young age, but at 5-7 I feel like a kid might rather chew on a model than move it around a wargaming table . I'd be curious what the youngest age anyone has gotten their kids gaming at here is - Space Hulk and games like that seem ideal for this kind of thing, but Age of Sigmar could be a good next step.

I would strongly suggest you follow this link and decide for yourself:
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/age-of-sigmar-compendiums
It is four pages so if it is still complex you might be able to figure out a way to reduce the complexity.

I forgot about Space Hulk! That one's a winner.


Sounds like I may need to use Bones minis, though.


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 Talizvar wrote:
I would strongly suggest you follow this link and decide for yourself:
http://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/age-of-sigmar-compendiums
It is four pages so if it is still complex you might be able to figure out a way to reduce the complexity.

I'll be picking up the physical rule book tonight, so I will give it a read. I just have trouble reading anything more complex than a discussion board or Facebook on a computer screen.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also have very little gaming experience and would like to hear from people with more informed opinions.

We had a kid with his dad at a Wild West Exodus game day a couple weeks ago. I believe he was 10 or so. Didn't know the rules too well, unfortunately, and was a bit obnoxious so that he got a little bit on everyone's nerves by the end of the game before finally wandering off. Nice amount of enthusiasm at the start, though.

I'd listen to/try to contact the D6 Generation guys. Russ and Craig both have young kids and could probably give good advice as to when to get kids into gaming, and what games to play.

I'm bringing my 10 year old and 4 year old to the release tomorrow I think my 10 year old will be fine (she's wicked smaht!), and the 4 year old will be fine with some guidance. Just make it simple, I think overall they can play it though I'm not sure with how much strategy. I have this bad feeling I'll be playing Chaos all the time though...kinda hoping they find another army they like at the shop

My son was 3 years old when he started playing with me. I let him win all the time and he had a blast. It was more rolling the dice than anything. My daughters played when they were younger as well. Again dice rolling.

They don't understand but kids love rolling 6 sided dice. In the end it's them having fun. I am curious how old is your kid? Especially when it's playing a game that Daddy loves, it's great bonding time.

So I say start now, especially with Age of Sigmar being so simple to play. Some advice though. I use to let my kids win all the time. It was great since loosing all the time will discourage them but I noticed kids don't win Graciously then.

So let them win MOST of the time but let them loose so they learn how to be a gracious looser as well as a gracious winner.

If they're old enough to throw dice, they're old enough to play a game!! Just...you should move the models and/or make the tactical decisions. Just let the little rascal throw dice.

Dude...

You have the perfect opportunity to play...

http://wargamingcheapskate.blogspot.co.nz/2013/04/tusk-mammoth-hunting-from-12000-bc-to.html

TUSK.

Apparently its really casual and fun for kids. I have some mammoth and cavemen on my wishlist ready for this game. I recently saw a post on another forum about TUSK to get his kid and friends playing.

"Tusk is a beer-and-pretzels hunting game using 15mm miniatures on a terrain board (conversion to other scales is not difficult.)
Players represent hunters who either are cavemen or Victorian (Lost World) hunters hunting mammoths or dinosaurs.
The rules are tongue-and-cheek and easy to follow.
Solitaire play is facilitated by the system's animal reaction tables which detail how an animal reacts to certain actions by the player(s.)
Three basic scenarios are included in the rules."

I guess it would depend upon this would depend upon how independently from an adult they would be playing.

Another question, given how gimmicky the AOS rules are at this stage, would be how old do you need to be to get sick of the game and move on to something more sophisticated.

Holy moly forget about kids I want to play Tusk!

And now I have the song stuck in my head ...

 Manchu wrote:
Holy moly forget about kids I want to play Tusk!

And now I have the song stuck in my head ...

I highly suggest it.

They have 3 editions:

The one above
King Kongs wrath
Cyborg hunting (I think)

Man I personally am really looking forward to the game.

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
Holy moly forget about kids I want to play Tusk!

And now I have the song stuck in my head ...

I highly suggest it.

They have 3 editions:

The one above
King Kongs wrath
Cyborg hunting (I think)

Man I personally am really looking forward to the game.

Sorry what is tusks? I've never heard of it and I haven't found anything for it online

10ish. Very simple rules, good visuals.

 luky7dayz wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

 Manchu wrote:
Holy moly forget about kids I want to play Tusk!

And now I have the song stuck in my head ...

I highly suggest it.

They have 3 editions:

The one above
King Kongs wrath
Cyborg hunting (I think)

Man I personally am really looking forward to the game.

Sorry what is tusks? I've never heard of it and I haven't found anything for it online

The PDF version is 6 dollars.

http://www.wargamevault.com/product/64533/Tusk

Just need some hunters and some mammoth or dinosaurs and you are good to go. There are lots of model places that sell dinosaurs etc and cavemen.

Looks cool, thank you!

And in response to OP's question. I was brought into wargaming around age 8. I was never very good at it back then, but I was also quiet and didn't touch everyone else's models.

I would say 10 years old, especially given you as an adult will be playing with them and can help interpret the rules.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Apologies if this would fit better in another thread, but I'm curious for just what age range AOS is ideal. I want to have family BoardGame Nights when my son is old enough, but right now Candyland is the limit of what he can handle. Eventually, I would like to get him playing war games like BFG, KoW, DZC and the like, but that's ten years away at best. If AOS is as simple as everyone claims, would it work as an introduction to the concept for a child around 5-7 or so? What board games is it similar to in terms of complexity and play time?

Please give me something to play besides Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk, and Fantasy Flight Games' Set Up And Then Put Away And Watch A Movie Instead.

what if your son does not want to play wargames, forcing kids to play games you want is wrong, wait till he turns 12 and let him pick whatever game he wants, even KoW can be played by kids, its not rocket science.

Had a great time playing AoS my 10 year old daughter got it once we started playing. She then proceeded to destroy me... And I wasn't letting her.

My daughter is three and understands the basics and knows not to eat them lol. She usually helps her mum in battles

My kiddo is 8, and plays xwing pretty well. I don't think he'll have any issues grasping the basics of AoS, and even some pretty layered strategy (he does in x-wing already, which is in my opinion a more nuanced game - not saying there isn't nuance in AoS, but part of x-wing's elegance is the depth and breadth of its gameplay pas "fly star wars ships, pew pew!". It's a very elegant game.).

Davor wrote:
My son was 3 years old when he started playing with me. I let him win all the time and he had a blast. It was more rolling the dice than anything. My daughters played when they were younger as well. Again dice rolling.

They don't understand but kids love rolling 6 sided dice. In the end it's them having fun. I am curious how old is your kid? Especially when it's playing a game that Daddy loves, it's great bonding time.

He is 3 and a half. I haven't tried dice with him yet. He has painted some Bones minis and helped me assemble a very simple gundam robot. If we play AoS, it will have to be Bones minis--he recently destroyed an entire storage bureau full of my favorite WHFB minis and apparently stomped them into the carpet so that they could never be pretty again (my wife was supervising him that day)--so no HIPS minis for him for a while.

I'll try to put together a little game with some of his favorite Bones minis and see how he likes it. I suspect the dice will overshadow everything else.


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Tusk seems like it would really work if we modified it into a Scooby Doo monster-trapping game. He's really into Scooby Doo right now, and if they ever make a Busy Books set, it would be perfect for wargaming. Maybe we will give it a try with the Batman set if he seems into the idea.

bitethythumb wrote:
what if your son does not want to play wargames, forcing kids to play games you want is wrong, wait till he turns 12 and let him pick whatever game he wants, even KoW can be played by kids, its not rocket science.

We don't force him to play anything. If we are having fun at something, he will want to try it himself.

There is one issue, though, in that he doesn't understand violent play very much. Most of what we have read to him is nonviolent, and we tried to emphasize stories where people work together or think things out. When we finally saw Star Wars, he didn't really seem to get what blasters or lightsabers were about. When we try to play with monsters, like griffons, dragons and a chimera, he makes them do doggy tricks or scare Scooby Doo or something like that. He's okay with smashing robots, though, so maybe I'll replace a faction with robot minis of some kind.

bitethythumb wrote:
what if your son does not want to play wargames, forcing kids to play games you want is wrong, wait till he turns 12 and let him pick whatever game he wants, even KoW can be played by kids, its not rocket science.

My daughters will bend the knee or be destroyed. If they don't want to play Warhammer, then they can get a job at a coal mine (cheaper than using canaries) or an 1800's factory (little fingers are good for cleaning heavy machinery) and support themselves.

What I found was that if they are 8 or less they will require a watchful eye, 10 or over will be playing on their own within the hour.