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Would you play against a young(8-12) kid if he/she generally knew what he was doing?

Personally, if the kid was mature (and I knew this for a fact, like I had played him/her before or I had friends who played him/her tell me) and didn't complain (I know plenty of 30 year olds who complain too, so in the realm of realism)....sure

If he knew what he was doing, sure. I played in my first RTT at age 13. I knew my army, my rules, and even won one of my games (against old Necrons, to be fair).

However, I only do pick up games with a pre-arranged opponent. If it comes up in a Tournament of some kind, I obviously won't skip the game.

Yeah, absolutely. Helping to grow the hobby is something that benefits us all.

Yes, as we all start somewhere. As long as the child in question is mature.

Of course.

Kids are much more fun to table. Easier, too.

i'd be cautious but i would. If he/she acts like kids do on CoD then no go away and grow up some.

Yes.

They need to learn at some point, and helping them indirectly helps the hobby/flgs.

Assuming they're not excessively childish and genuinely want to learn/enjoy a good game, then why not.

Would you play Monopoly with a kid? Why not. It wouldn't be the same as playing with a grown up, obviously, but it's just a game X . X just play for fun.

 Blacksails wrote:
Assuming they're not excessively childish and genuinely want to learn/enjoy a good game, then why not.

Children cannot play games. Games are only for adults who know how to responsibly have fun. Childhood is not fun, childhood is anarchism and they should not be rewarded by being allowed to play games until they understand serious business like rules and game systems. Little Tommy, this is a D12, and....are you eating the plasticard? No Tommy, back in the pen with you!

It depends entirely on the kid. At GW and my FLGS I've sen plenty of whining, screaming brats that I avoid at all costs, and I've also seen plenty of 11 or 12 year olds more mature than most people my age...

If they 1) read the rules and codex 2) if they are mature enough to understand the game. I started at 11, had no trouble playing against people because I listened to what the experienced gamers had to say. I say it does depend on the kid though, because I watched my friend play CoD on 360 and some of the kids on that are too immature.

I have played with someone at a tournament at the FLGS that was probably about 12, he knew his stuff and was mature so it was perfectly fine.

age doesn't matter to me. I played in a tourney where my opponent was a young kid and my only frustration was the time he took between turns really hurt my gameplay. (game was forced ended at the top of 4 because we ran out of time) other than that, the kid was probably the best opponent I had in a while.

I played his father after that, and he was a total jerk. stopping the match every other move for rules clarifications, etc. It seemed to take forever just to do my own turn. (bad enough with orks) That was without his overall bad attitude when he lost even a model in his precious GK termies.

Its not the age I care about, its the maturity, and its become pretty obvious that age has nothing to do with that. be it softball games or wargames, parents of kids can be downright horrible compared to the kid who's just there to have fun.

I play with everybody.

If I enjoyed the game, then mission accomplished.

If I didn't, well, then I'll enjoy the games I played previously more.

If it was a godawful experience, I get a funny story to tell people.

I started this game at 12. Lots of people tolerated me. It would be unfair of me not to do the same for them.

It depends...

I myself am rather young. I like to think of myself as rather competent, and have played against many competent people.

But every so often...

Well I'm 16 and started at 14,
I picked up the rules after my first game so I guess I was Lucky, I was at a tournement and was met with real scorn, so It seems the wider community dosnt agree with you.
Funny thing was I met a 40 yr old who had to look up the rules every time he shot a bloody lasgun.....

Only as long as I have the consent of his parents to physically beat him up if he beats me.

Yea I started playing Games-workshop games when I was 8 (i had older cousins who got me into it) so by the time I was 10, i knew the rules cold. I remember at the time not having a problem getting people to play me but I pretty much only went to the weekly game night at my FLGS and not any competative tournamnets.

My oppinion is everyone gets a shot to play with me. I don't care if your 8 or 80. If you play the game with a decent knowledge of the rules, are respectful even when being competative, and have good sportsmenship I'll play you again and again. If not I'll probably still play you again and again but it will be a lower priority and eventually I'll probably start to mess with you/ attempt to make our games as least enjoyable for you as you make them for everyone who plays you. IN tournament settings I don't have a problem with kid at all you just play the person accross from you and do the best you can while having as much fun as you can.

Also I've played 40 year olds who behave like 5 year olds in game and 10 year olds who I have as fun games with as anyone.

I've played ten-year-olds that were better sportsmen than most adults; maturity tends to be almost entirely independent of age.

I've run non-GW games at conventions and always encourage younger kids who are interested to play. I know my sons when they were younger and my daughter now enjoy being involved in miniatures gaming and love when they are allowed to play at the local convention.

 Cryonicleech wrote:
Yes.

They need to learn at some point, and helping them indirectly helps the hobby/flgs.

This, we have all been kids once

Ferrum_Sanguinis wrote:It depends entirely on the kid. At GW and my FLGS I've sen plenty of whining, screaming brats that I avoid at all costs, and I've also seen plenty of 11 or 12 year olds more mature than most people my age...

I used to play WOW a lot, and ive always been in guilds that were 18+ only (well, when i turned 18 lol i started when i was 16 when it came out).
Occationally we'd get a new guy/gal or i'd join a guild that already had one that acted so mature/knew so much about not just the game but IRL crap, i didnt believe it when i found out they were 13-14. Every time we bashed the younger kids in public channels we always tried to exclude the one in our guild cuz he/she was always an exception and we enjoyed being with him/her despite his/her age (usually a her though)

As for the whole older guys looking up rules, im 24 and i still look up rules but mostly ones i rarely come across. Like i have never actually gotten a Deffdread into melee combat via MY charge, so i had to double check to see if they get the +1 attack on the charge. General gameplay im fine, its things like that i normally dont come across im iffy on.

My friend in south dakota was telling me that since that FAQ for wound allocations came down, one guy in their group became a total jerk about it. He basically forces my friend to fire each unit individually if the furthest one back doesnt have full unit cover, even if its the same gun unit-wide. Technically i think youre suppose to do that, but it sucks the fun out and takes way, way too long so nerts to that i say. People like that need to be smacked and exiled from any gaming group.

I once had a twelve year old call me a cheater because he didn't know his codex.

He was playing SW and was using grimnar, who, as we know, can split his attacks between i1 and i5.

He couldn't find me the rule that let's him do this, nor would let me look for it in his codex. I said that in that case he could only fight at normal I and S.

He then blamed me later, when he finally found this rule, for not knowing his rules.

He put me off playing younger gamers for a while, though there ae definitely some brilliant players I've seen who are much better and much younger than me.

I'd be wary, it depends on the child and the setting. My impression of many younger Warhammer players is that they are immature and brattish. Some are ok, but shouting and an inability to handle other people's property with care is a concern for me having seen some behaviour in GW shops. I absolutely know there are decent kids in the modelling/gaming hobby but they are not the ones dumped into the GW shop by parents using it as a crèche. The good ones are more likely to be found with supportive parents at clubs or smaller events.

I've never come across poor behaviour in younger mtg players. I've met a few and they know their rules and one boy kicks a lot of people's asses even though he must be about 10. The other thing about mtg is that if you don't like your opponent you're only facing them for half an hour or so and it takes as long to pack up as putting your cards in a box. I wouldn't start any big wargame with someone I didn't kno, its quite an investment of effort, so it's unfair to single out kid in particular in that regard.

No. I don't play with kiddies. I MIGHT make an exception for a a young relative who wanted to learn the game, but as a general rule, no. Also, if I were paired with a child at a tournament I would have to just suck it up of course. But I would not be happy about it.

I'm not a baby sitter. If you are not old enough to be out of High School, legally vote. own a firearm, etc then you are not old enough to play with me. Honestly, I'm not very good with kids and am not very tolerant of them and their antics.

Now before we have half a dozen kiddies chiming in with lots of "age is not an indicator of maturity" or "I know lots of mature kids and immature adults" type comments, let me say that I agree that you might be the exception. But as a general rule age is a decent indicator of maturity level. The rarity of the exception helps to prove the rule and most stereotypes are based in reality.

TR

Depends, I show up at my club, ready for a serious match... I'll pass on the kid whose never played before unless he can play the game by himself without whining about things being cheap and getting frustrated/pouting when things go wrong (my typical experience with the pre-high school player, and I have years and years of experience with them).

However, if I know they're coming and if they need a little help, I'll gladly give up my mid-day to coach him through a few matches. If he can't focus/won't track with me (another typical issue with younger gamers), I just won't bother to go out of my way to help again.

Last thing: if the kid shows up with his own models, knows the rules, has some experience, I'll treat him like any other player (so far in my experience, a kid who owns his own models/codex and has played more than just family members is ready and able for the game).

 Trench-Raider wrote:

I'm not a baby sitter. If you are not old enough to be out of High School, legally vote. own a firearm, etc then you are not old enough to play with me. Honestly, I'm not very good with kids and am not very tolerant of them and their antics.

>Excludes kids from playing their toys with his toys.
>They're not mature enough for his brand of playing.

Interesting.

Trench-raider does have a valid point, albeit in a bit of a sour tone.
In general, kids are just brats that dont understand the rules fully and pout/cry when things go wrong.
In general, adults understand the rules and usually dont rage unless things go insanely bad (10000 dice rolling 1s, or doulbe6s on LD tests).

Does that mean everyone in these age groups are that way? Pfft no. I tend to flip out occationally too, and i bet not a single person here has never raged over a game for any reason. Ive had times when i got a D3 on my 10man loota squad, threw 30 dice, i kid you not when only like 5 of the dice were NOT 1s. That'll grind my gears, though it wont make me pop unless it happens throughout the game - in which case i just get a pissed off look on my face and go quiet cuz i know i'll just piss everyone else off if i speak like that.
Its just considerably more rare to find a kid as mature/willing to PLAY not be handed the game as adults are.