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So this subject tends to rear its head every so often, oddly enough often in balance chats. It's clearly a topic many are passionate about and, indeed, the future of our gaming clubs and the hobby hinges on the attraction and retention of beginners. So it seems odd we don't have threads dedicated to the topic and how we can help each other help beginners get into the hobby and stay.


So a few thoughts from my own.

Battles
So I think the first thing many want to do is battle on the tabletop; perhaps with their newly purchased models, perhaps with some borrowed models or at a demo game. Plus a beginner stays a beginner for a while so this isn't jst thinking about that first into game or two. So how can we play game that will help maximise the learning, the immersion and, importantly, the fun so that they keep learning and keep being part of the hobby.

There are many theories on this, but I think the most important often gets overlooked. People get hooked on advising that you use weaker lists; or stronger lists; that you deliberately lose or win; that you use smaller or larger lists etc.... I feel that this misses the point somewhat as these choices are nearly all very hard to pin down to specifics because beginners are not always all alike and can have varying requirements. Deliberately losing to boost moral and selfconfidence might be needed with some, but would be an insult to others. A series of 200 point games to teach basic mechanics is going to get boring fast for someone who said that big armies clashing is their biggest attraction etc...


So I want to step away from those concepts and focus instead on knowing the player and knowing how to teach wargames.



Knowing the person and the player.

The first step should be talking to the person. Yep no models, no rules no dice no rulers - chat. This early conversation (or series of chats) is possibly the most critical part because its through conversation and asking the right questions that you start to learn about them as a person and from there you can go so much further!

1) Their name, what they do, where they are from etc... - The simple sharing of names and the like between you both - a good steady opener and yet there's info here too. You can learn how long it takes them to get to the game night; perhaps even tell them of closer local groups if you're aware of them; or maybe they are really close and can easily get there. This might well influence how often they can turn up.

2) Their experience of miniature wargames in general. You want to find out here if they are a total beginner in all senses; if they gamed once and then didn't for a long while; if they've been playing other games for decades and are now just trying out this one; if they've done RTS games for years on PC; etc..
Here you are starting to build a picture of them as a gamer, you are getting a feel for where they are coming from.
If they've lots of experience with other wargames chances are they'll simply need more mechanics based teaching. Getting to grips with how the game plays at a mechanical level and the rules and how they interact; whilst at least the basic tactical concepts will be familiar to them. They should also pick up the mechanics fairly quick as it will all be similar things - dice rolls, unit stats etc...

Meanwhile someone with RTS experience might be good on tactics in a theory level; but will need more tuition on how the mechanics of the game works and might need help translating their tactical understanding into the games structure.

3) Why are they playing. Naturally builds from the previous and an important question. You can get a feel here for if they are in it for the artistic side; the lore; the fluff; the social; the competitive etc... Baring in mind they might not quite know and might well just say "all of it" or several things. This is important, someone who is more in it for the painting might well want a few demo games but might well benefit more from some painting instruction.
Similarly if they are more in it for fluff battles and lore ones you know that they should not avoid, but probably won't get the most fun game from the clubs resident tournament fanatic.

Though those kind of questions and that line of thinking you can get an idea of what they want from the hobby and thus be in a better position to help them achieve that. Remembering that few people will be in it for only one reason and that many getting started might not really have thought about what interests them yet. These kind of questions can help them understand their own interest as much as it helps you understand them.
You can also get a sense of their personality; if they are shy or bold; if they are receptive to feedback etc...

So before you've put a single model on the table you've already got a basic understanding of this new person. You might even have sent them over to the painting area or shown them how to put models together etc... before you've got to the table. Now we are at the table itself how can we further help, well there's a few things

1) Structure of the lesson.
a) Assuming this is a beginner game we shall assume its more lesson than competition between you both at this stage. Win or lose doesn't/shouldn't matter at this stage. My advice would be to have the rules for the entire game on hand, including FAQ and Errata for the armies present. For a first few games its probably easier to teach them the games rules than it is to get them to build an army list, esp as they might well have limited or no models. So you might well find the first step is seeing what they've got and building a basic list around that - it might even be one single unit of models for now.

b) For each step show them the page in the rule book that refers to it. Read it out as its written so they can follow along (ideal if you've two copies of the rules to reference). The idea here is that you are showing them how the words in the rules go from page to game directly. You are also starting to show them where information is in the game.

c) Play through each step, the early ones you will likely be telling them to do certain actions - move here - attack this etc... You might even say - ok next page is attack so you've got the page, read through it and see if you can do it. Just follow the instructions, and feel free to ask me if you don't understand something.
Don't be too fast to leap in if they make a mistake, maybe ask them if they are sure of their action and ask them even if they are correct too so that its not a leading question that they are doing something wrong every time you ask; its about getting them to read and re-read and double check. Repetition is part of learning

d) Through all of this keep them talking. Whenever they are doing something tell them to tell you what they are doing and why. This is reinforcement of what they are learning but its also a key way for you to see if they are thinking about something correctly. They might be reading something wrong or doing something daft that isn't obvious at first (eg they might have a unit with a move of 6 inchs that also has another stat at 6 which they incorrectly use for movement. You won't notice this mistake unless they are talking you through what they are doing).

2) Questions; yep questions are back because through the gameplay process they are another very key tool. These become more useful after the first few tutorials when the person has more of a grasp of the basic mechanics of the game; and become more and more important the more you step away from mechanics and approach tactics and choices in the game.

a) Just like talking through mechanics, have them talk through their tactical choices. To say up front what their plan is, what they are moving a unit for and why etc... Yes this means that you, the opponent, know their choices and actions; but more importantly you're getting a feel for how they are thinking. You're seeing what information they are using to come to their choices and conclusions. This is very important since it can show you where they are making errors or focusing too much on the wrong information or even getting bits of the game mechanics or structure wrong. This also helps them start to be taught how to prepare and plan their own choices - that audio running commentary on their choices can be built into their own internal voice when they are playing properly.

b) Let them perform an action and then ask them how they felt about it after. What they thought went well, went bad and even if they thought it was a good idea after they did it. This is all about teaching them to self assess their actions after the event and seeing if they can assess the results properly. Even if the action didn't do much it can still be the right action in a situation - - eg they might use their ranged attack on an enemy unit that is resistant/hard to kill with the ranged weapon they have; but its the only valid target in range. So they might well shoot and do little or even no damage - if they can show that afterwards it was a surprise to them then you know they don't fully understand how to read weapon damage and defence stats - however if they show that they knew it wouldn't work well but took a chance because it was the only viable target and better to try an attack then waste the opportunity then you know that they are soundly thinking through those choices.

3) When it is your turn - do it all yourself. Speak through your choices before you make them and show them your planning; then afterward talk about how the results lined up for you. You can also pause and ask them to guess your moves as well as time goes on and to asses the results of your actions as well. This starts to teach them how to read the game when its not their turn and can set the foundations for allowing them to predict their opponents likely choices. It also helps them to overcome a crushing attack on their own units; you teach them to step back and assess the change in game state; going into their next turn the plan phase begins to teach them how to consider recovery from a situation.

Through these methods you are not just teaching them about the game nor learning where their weaknesses and gaps in understanding are. You are reinforcing what they have learned and teaching them how to both plan before making actions and to self access after having made actions. These are skills in their own right and not everyone has them or knows how to apply them to different areas of interest.

A few things to remember:
1) People tell lies. Or more correctly they can miss-interpret information very readily and also miss-represent themselves. A person might state that they've lots of experience of wargames, however it might be that they've been playing badly at those other games for years and thus don't actually know as much about tactics as they might think they do. Similarly some might be overly modest without realising it. Others might get a bit flustered or pressured and thus might make wild bold claims of skill without anything to back it up - all bluster.
This is all normal and natural and can sometimes be exacerbated by social interaction and stress. So be prepared to find out that they are not all that they claim to be. The questions from before are still key - a person who thinks they are good, but are not can require different handling and language to a person who accepts that they are not good and are ready to learn.

2) Taking time. Sometimes people can feel rushed or that they've not enough time to learn and do all the above and have fun gaming. Knowing their time limits and their goals can help you spot if there are going to be issues like that. Furthermore as the tutor in the situation its partly your role to slow things down when needed. Let them have a few moments peace to think of things and don't press them early on for fast thinking - let them take their time and speak things out. Speed in wargaming (as in all things) comes much later with experience. Remind them of this and that things always take a long time when getting started; but once they get going they'll find it all speeds up on its own without even trying to play fast.

3) Overwhelmed. Lots of rules; stats; reference points; updates; pages of rules etc... Wargames are complicated and we can't escape that. So I always say start teaching with all the materials. You won't use them all (an errata or FAQ might not appear until its needed). By starting off with full references and going through them you can start to show them the flow of the game; where information is and to make them more and more familiar with the rules. However its also your role to know when to call for a pause and have a break. To say "ok lets pause and come back and get a bite to eat/drink."

4) Week to week progress. Some people will read every part of the rules and stats; read online and even books; they might even take notes from the rules and notes from their games etc... They will often progress (at least at mechanics level) fairly quickly.
Others might only glance at the rules and books on game night. They will typically progress slower and might even go backward week to week at times. Plus some people will naturally learn slower even if they take every note and read copiously between game nights

Knowing what type of person you've got might take a few weeks to realise (remember they might miss remember or lie about how much they do between game nights). You can try to encourage those who learn more or show them other ways to remember and learn stuff as well as game aids that can help them out (eg writing their own cheat sheet of stats/info or even steps to remember to take).

5) Yourself. You are likely not being paid to teach them; this is your free time and your game night too; and its fully within your right to say "hey I'm gaming someone else this week" and indeed its often good to rope someone else in to game them even whilst you are teaching them so that they can play a few other people and interact with the rest of the group; broadening their experiences and mingling with others is important for them, the club and yourself. So don't feel like you must only teach the beginners week in week out.

In an ideal world you might have a couple of beginners or weaker players in the club so let them play together or even encourage a lone beginner to watch other matches; or even duel play a game with them (you and them on the same team against another player - let them make some choices - see how they go etc...)

The introductions and knowing your opponent should really be de facto steps before any game. Then you can set your own and your opponents expectations and mutually decide if spending the next hour or three playing a game is worth it.

 Overread wrote:


There are many theories on this, but I think the most important often gets overlooked. People get hooked on advising that you use weaker lists; or stronger lists; that you deliberately lose or win; that you use smaller or larger lists etc.... I feel that this misses the point somewhat as these choices are nearly all very hard to pin down to specifics because beginners are not always all alike and can have varying requirements. Deliberately losing to boost moral and selfconfidence might be needed with some, but would be an insult to others. A series of 200 point games to teach basic mechanics is going to get boring fast for someone who said that big armies clashing is their biggest attraction etc...

One thing, I agree with much of your numbered list, however if you're in a US GW shop, some of that will be done by the store manager. If the person has purchased and you're a regular and the manager does a hand off to ya, then the situation may/should unfold as you describe.


But, I will go over how I usually do things once we're at the rolling dice phase of learning the wargaming thing. You are absolutely right in that its often suggested/advised that we veterans use toned down or beefed up lists or whatever. . .I say don't do that.

What I do for a learning game is that I try to bring a little something from each type of unit we encounter. So, I try to bring at least one tank, one transport, one psyker, etc. etc. And as we're playing I'm going over rules that are somewhat unique/relevant to that type of unit. To be somewhat fair, many of the intro/beginner games that I get are with guys who played "back in, I dunno, like 3rd?" or "a long time ago, when I was a kid" so they are at least somewhat familiar with 40k, and TT wargaming in general and just need more nudging in that regard. In the way I build these "beginner" lists, I think they are neither optimized nor weakened, they are serving their purpose of illustrating various concepts of the game.

Something I would caution you with though, is in your "structure of the lesson" bit, it may be just the way its written up, but I think you run the risk of sounding condescending doing things verbatim with the "ok, you found the page, now read it to me" (I know it wasn't your intent, but it reads to me like a kindergarten teacher or early elementary teacher with young students. . . not someone helping a new player) And obviously body language, tone and all that will play into how you approach and handle this.

Ensis Ferrae agreed on the subject of language choice, you are right that how you pitch and talk will vary a lot player to player, I was indeed more getting at the general overall theme of how to introduce someone and also stuck to the lowest end of things; since age wise an intro game can vary from someone who is young through to, as you've been experiencing, quite mature players.

Indeed different age ranges will have their own quirks and challenges and the best ways to approach them will vary. I think the key is that the same underlying principles remain the same; it would indeed be body language and how you speak to them and how they speak back and react that would further define how things end up.