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I just wanted to crowd source some ideas on how to introduce someone to 40k. I have literally never played the game with someone who had not already been a player beforehand. My wife recently decided after reading some necron novellas that she would like to give it a try. I bought her about 700 points worth of necrons that are almost ready to hit the table. What kind of missions do you guys think we should play? How much terrain? What sort of list should I run against a new player? Any other advice you have for playing with new players would be awesome as well.

Her list looks like this

726 pts

Formation: Retribution Phalanx (get started box)

Overlord- Warscythe, Phylactery, Phase shifter, Resurrection Orb

Warriors x12

Canoptek Scarabs x3

Triach Stalker- Heat Ray

Unbound:

Cryptek- Chronometron, Phylactery, Phase Shifter

Deathmarks x5

If it's your first game I would shy away from missions, just go for learning the moving, shooting, assaults, leadership. Maybe do 2/3 objectives with the low points, or King of the hill.
I've done plenty of these and usually with the small lists it's just about killing each other and seeing the basic rules.
For terrain I always just do the same for all my games.
When I was playing Orks I had a 500 list for them which was A Megaboss, Battlewagon, and filled the rest with boyz and some rokkits. I wouldn't bring superheavies or flyers.

I agree with what dan said completely. Keep it really simple. For these kind of games I like to leave more complex things out. Depending on her level of experience, I would even sometimes not bring any vehicles on either side as that's a whole different movement and damage system to worry about.

Again, depending on experience level, I also sometimes take out the less critical rules to streamline it even more. Leadership is normally the first one to go as this stat works backwards compared to the rest (Roll under 2D6 instead of roll above on a D6).

The last and biggest thing to me though is tailor to lose. The game is far more enjoyable when you're doing well, so if you make your army weaker, it'll give her more chances to actually play the game as her models will stick around for longer. This doesn't mean roll over for her, but it does mean at least make it close. Look at what she has and try to bring things that won't do all that well against it. As for armies to bring, anything will a higher model count will be good as they tend to be weaker and therefore more get pulled off the table easier, so things like orks, guard, or tyranids. And if she's into the necrons for the fluff, then having them come out victorious over a larger army will feel right as they are supposed to be more elite.

Overall though, don't beat yourself up over setting up the first game too much. Really it's all about learning how the game feels to play. If she enjoys the overall ruleset, odds are she'll want to keep playing.

I'll keep those things in mind fellas thanks for the replies.

I feel like it's best not to overwhelm a new player with all the aspects at on e, like the previous others eluded to. I would hold off on vehicles and stick to foot troops and maybe some. Ike's that add a different element but aren't radically different. You want to introduce how the characteristics of the models interact with each other first and foremost then add in new aspects of the game (vehicles, walkers, flyers etc) with more games later. Good luck!

Speaking from experience, here is what I did, when I introduced my wife to the hobby:

1. played small games of IDENTICAL forces: I mean two exactly same lists of gradually more complex forces. I did this with Eldar (due to specialist nature of aspects).
2. introduced rules gradually - first games without psychic phase or even assault phase (I know it's a bit silly to just stand 1" apart and shoot to death, but first games are overhelming enough already (my wife has never played a tabletop wargame, so the whole concept fo free, boardless movement and using terrain was enough of a challenge))
3. played simplest scenarios first, just kill points plus slay the warlord, linebraker and first blood; then introduced objective markers (you can also make this more fun by varying VPs for different markers, thus introducing asymetric battlefield).

ad 1.: this way there is no problem with ballance issues. If you design forces with inner ballance and inner "counterballance" you can create entertaining and educative games easily and you have tight way to introduce new rules used in the game.
ad 3.: think of completetly symmetrical games first - symmetrical forces, terrain and objectives learns everything both ways simmultanously - you are both playing with and against identical units, so you learn their rules faster and with every context there is.

If you go with the assymetric forces instead, try to build as close list as possible, as symmetrical mission as possible and then gratuately introduce assymetry and list building stage. If you have large disparity between availability of models (large collection vs starting box) tailor your list to exact power level and analogous build in regards to hq/troops/fast/heavy ballance.

And last but not least - play on interesting terrain. Much of wargaming appeal lies in "diorama gaming", so faking hills with books, cups etc… is counterproductive. But do use as versatile terrain as possible, with arrea pieces and LOS blocking terrain, multiple levels etc, so the immersion to true line of sight is at maximum, so there is largest possible difference between playing WH40k and any other strategic board game. You must justiify this huge time&money investment in learning and playing 40k with enjoyable and ambitious experience.

A good intro game is just to play with 1 squad per side, maybe 2, no HQ, no special rules, no extra equipment, no vehicles.

Just let the person get a hang of how the phases work, how to move/shoot/assault/run away.

Don't play a game that's going to take you an hour or more to play against an experienced opponent, because it'll take much longer with an inexperienced person and it's better just to get in a few quick small games so they get the hang of how the core game plays.

This is how GW themselves has run intro games since forever. The "getting started" books often just contain a few models per side to get a hang of the basics and then build up to full sized units.

Once they've got the hang of how the game works, then you can introduce more units, maybe a HQ, maybe a vehicle. So you're building up the knowledge of the rules over a series of short games rather than trying to nut through every little nuance of the game in one drawn out probably boring game.

Awesome advice, thanks for more replies really appreciate it. I'm getting a better idea of what I'm going to do for the first few games now.

Did she make the list herself? Because honestly it feels like a very unfriendly list for a beginner. You have A LOT to remember, like:

- Lord's Phylactry & ressurection orb
- Deathmarks poisoned rule which is totally different from normal wounding
- Cryptek's Chronometron and +1 to RP

It doesn't seem like much, but the fact that things will be different on different units will be confusing. Imagine yourself explaining the rules for "to wound rolls":

When you hit with a weapon, you compare the Str of the weapon with the T of the enemy model (show her chart). OH Except these guys because they have a special rule which lets them wound differently.

And Reanimaton protocols:

Necrons have a special type of save. For these guys it's a 5+, but for these other guys it's a 4+ because there is a cryptek with them and he has a rule that gives them +1 to their roles. Oh and he also gives them a 5+ invul save

Again, not THAT hard, but overwhelming for someone who doesn't know the game and already has to take in a lot of information.

 cox.dan2 wrote:
If it's your first game I would shy away from missions, just go for learning the moving, shooting, assaults, leadership. Maybe do 2/3 objectives with the low points, or King of the hill.
I've done plenty of these and usually with the small lists it's just about killing each other and seeing the basic rules.
For terrain I always just do the same for all my games.
When I was playing Orks I had a 500 list for them which was A Megaboss, Battlewagon, and filled the rest with boyz and some rokkits. I wouldn't bring superheavies or flyers.

I very much agree. Keep it simple and straight forward.

Emphasise thematic play, and try to avoid winning in the first couple of games.

Try making this scenario: field both only one or max three tiny squads (like 200 points max), all infantry. The objective is to kill the entire enemy army. The table is very tiny too, let's say 60x20 cm. That should allow you to tackle the very basics. As soon as your done with this one, carry on with a second mission where the only change brought is the addition of a vehicule for both players. The third one will keep the same armies and area but features objectives.

Once you played that, you can give a real mission a try, starting at 500 points

Real friends don't get you hooked on wargaming .

hobojebus wrote:
Real friends don't get you hooked on wargaming .

Especially not 40k of all games

I would say an hq and two troops for starters (technically it's a warforged list) some good terrain and a very simple objective (kill the warlord, capture a single objective or just eliminate your foes)

A basic vehicle or phyker might be okay with some new players, as it adds a little glimpse into the depth of the game

Just take it slow, explain your tactics as you move your army and chill

 zeragrin wrote:
I just wanted to crowd source some ideas on how to introduce someone to 40k. I have literally never played the game with someone who had not already been a player beforehand. My wife recently decided after reading some necron novellas that she would like to give it a try. I bought her about 700 points worth of necrons that are almost ready to hit the table. What kind of missions do you guys think we should play? How much terrain? What sort of list should I run against a new player? Any other advice you have for playing with new players would be awesome as well.

Her list looks like this

726 pts

Formation: Retribution Phalanx (get started box)

Overlord- Warscythe, Phylactery, Phase shifter, Resurrection Orb

Warriors x12

Canoptek Scarabs x3

Triach Stalker- Heat Ray

Unbound:

Cryptek- Chronometron, Phylactery, Phase Shifter

Deathmarks x5

Only two pieces of advice matter.

1: She needs to win.

2. Set up a kindf of sotry you can play through so she can get the idea of armed forces going aftr objectives, Short, one night multipart campaign. Just thee or four little missions she can go on. and gank the jey objevctive.

Well, all the advice is given and totally legit. Will just tell how it happens here. Blackreach - plain and simple.