Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I was talking to someone else in another thread about 40K being marketed to kids these days, so I was wondering how, when, and why people got into 40k. So, if youd like, post the age you started, how you found out about the hobby, and why you started. Well check out the general consensus, because Id sure like to know.
Personally, i got into it at the age of 8-10 ish, via a friend whos older brother played and collected. I was mostly interested in the painting side (and still am), since I had done WW2 models before.
Next?

I got into it 3rd year of Uni because some people I knew were playing a spaceship combat game (Full Thrust) with BSG, BFG, and other models that I liked. Bought a Tau fleet, then figured I'd try out 40k with a small Tau army. Then I went Imperial, both in BFG and 40k.

My only regret is not buying more BFG stuff when it was still being sold.

when I was about 12 and starting college I got into it, had previously just had history models and well I liked the idea of using them on the feild. So as a kid I started.

I started at the age of 18-19. A bunch of friends got in while they were still at school, though (as in they were about 3-4 years younger than me at the time).

It wasn't possible to start before this. The game didn't exist before that.

I stopped at the age of 42 though.

The guys in my club who play got in when they were about 12-13 though (but most of those have maybe just turned 30 - and I have about 15 years on them).

 Swastakowey wrote:
when I was about 12 and starting college I got into it, had previously just had history models and well I liked the idea of using them on the feild. So as a kid I started.

You started college at twelve? Must be a different meaning of 'college'.

Me, I started when I was... wait, let me do the maths. It was '97, I was born in '88, so... nine? Yeah, I think I was nine. Started with the 2e box set. Blood Angels vs Orks, the Battle for Armageddon 'cause we saw it in a shop while on holiday in Tewksbury and there was bad weather forecast.

Best holiday I remember from my childhood, actually. Stayed in a really nice hotel with a pool, we were the only guests.

'bout a year later, picked up WD218 in a newsagents. Saw the Necrons and the Sisters and I was lost.

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
when I was about 12 and starting college I got into it, had previously just had history models and well I liked the idea of using them on the feild. So as a kid I started.

You started college at twelve? Must be a different meaning of 'college'.

Me, I started when I was... wait, let me do the maths. It was '97, I was born in '88, so... nine? Yeah, I think I was nine. Started with the 2e box set. Blood Angels vs Orks, the Battle for Armageddon 'cause we saw it in a shop while on holiday in Tewksbury and there was bad weather forecast.

Best holiday I remember from my childhood, actually. Stayed in a really nice hotel with a pool, we were the only guests.

'bout a year later, picked up WD218 in a newsagents. Saw the Necrons and the Sisters and I was lost.

Sorry, yes college here is compulsory and people start it at the age of 13 usually (12 being early, 14 being late) and because of my birthdate I was lucky to be put ahead. University is our version of US college I think haha. Although we did have a kid who at the age of 14 was earning thousands through motorcycling and had passed college, but duie to law had to wait a few more years before going to uni... so its possible .

Most people I know started gaming around 7-8.

Ah. College in the UK is taken 16-18 years of age, then university is 18+. We have secondary school (sometimes high school) from 11-16.

I initially got into it at age 11 near the end of 2nd edition's run, though only for about a year or two. Started playing again last year (with my original 2nd edition minis)

In College (NZ college) I was like 14 or something. 2e circa 1997.

Before that I had played Hero Quest and Space Crusade.

MarsNZ wrote:
In College (NZ college) I was like 14 or something. 2e circa 1997.

Before that I had played Hero Quest and Space Crusade.

Where you born in May? Being born in may normally results in the 2 outlying ages starting college.

yea no middle school here except a few towns have it.

Anybody start after the age of 20?

For me...around 1996. I was 16. My friends and I played all kinds of board games. My first dive into GW was with Fantasy which then translated into 40k. My Space Marine army is probably 10-15 years old.

I'm 40. I started when 3rd ed dropped (so whenever that was) just a bit but then went whole hog once the Ork codex got released.

Early 1994 iirc

A Box of Space Wolf Blood Claws outta Virgina Megastore on EatonQuay, Dublin, Ireland.

And no superglue whatsoever to put them together

The story thereafter begins.....

 Swastakowey wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:
In College (NZ college) I was like 14 or something. 2e circa 1997.

Before that I had played Hero Quest and Space Crusade.

Where you born in May? Being born in may normally results in the 2 outlying ages starting college.

yea no middle school here except a few towns have it.

Nope. This was 4th form anyway so starting age isn't really relevant.

Also our middle school is called Intermediate and they're everywhere.

MarsNZ wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:

MarsNZ wrote:
In College (NZ college) I was like 14 or something. 2e circa 1997.

Before that I had played Hero Quest and Space Crusade.

Where you born in May? Being born in may normally results in the 2 outlying ages starting college.

yea no middle school here except a few towns have it.

Nope. This was 4th form anyway so starting age isn't really relevant.

Also our middle school is called Intermediate and they're everywhere.

I have never seen one before... learn something every day lol.

I first fell in love with the idea of painting all the cool models I saw at my local Riders Hobby Shop, back when I was about 10-11. Some were GW, some were not. Parents bought me a few and some painting supplies to go with them. My first was a sky blue Terminator Librarian with glow-in-the-dark paint dabbed on the skulls, lol.

My first gaming was with the game "Tyranid Attack", which is also called "Advanced Space Crusade". My buddy and I used to take the models and play our own tabletop game with them using the game rules and making every "space" become "1" inch. Easy peasy and we had tons of fun, and the rules even had a way to substitute all the Space marine Scouts with other actual Space marines.

I started getting copies of White Dwarf, and painting even more models. Played some rudimentary 1,000pt games of 2nd edition 40K, but really started gaming in full form with Necromunda when it first came out (I was then in Jr. High School).

Eventually when 3rd edition came out my buddy andI got into the full game of 40K in earnest, and have been collecting and painting ever since, though I paint and model much more than game.

Hoping to get back into the swing of things by playing small games of 2nd edition, now that I made up for the gaps in my codexes and gaming materials from back then by finding one of the 2nd edition "Battle Bible" downloads online (awesome resource!!), as well as playing some games of 4th edition, because I have pretty much all the printed material available for that era..

I was about 9 i believe, 4th was on its last legs and i got into nids with my father and the good ole battle for macragge.

It was my first year in the US military, back in 00' (late 2E early 3E). I was 22, bored,and looking for something to distract me from the misery of base life that didn't involve a bar and or women (had just been through a rough break up).

I had always been a gamer and had played D+D from 2nd grade onward, and had heard of the game from some buddies on base.

I remember walking into Alien Worlds near the Ingram Park mall in San Antonio TX looking for gamers. I made my way past the comics to the rear wall, where I was immediately gobsmacked by the wall of little metal (and some plastic) men. I found some great folks, most of them ex military, and proceeded to geek out for a few glorious hours

I loved the Space Marines right off the bat because of their fluff. The idea of biological engineering was an easy sell for me. I was a medic, and had three years of college biology and chemistry under my belt (ran out of cash), so the idea of enhancing the human body in such a way was absolutely captivating. Not to mention they had epic armor, exploding bullets, and full on zealotry going on. Whats not to love!? The grim dark universe also jived with me at the time.

I bought the 3E starter set that day, assembled and painted them in my room that night, and before the year was out had over 2k each of vanilla marines and Space Wolves.

40k helped me find my way through those dark years, a number of nasty injuries, and has ever been a refuge during hard times

about 1990

Bought my first models 2 months ago, but ive been into 40k for a while. Im 23.

Learned about it from the dawn of war games and ofc WH40k: space marine which i loved, then i browsed lexicanum and 1d4chan and then later i got into 40k forum browsing. Im digging it, just wish i didnt live in bumfuck nowhere so i wouldnt have to commute for 2 hours to play but warhammer isent to blame there.

In the late 90s, while living in the UK with my parents, I ran across enormous stacks of Warhammer and 40k models in their pretty boxes. I recall picking them up and my prepubescent brain started thinking up the numerous ways I would enjoy playing with the models. I had a few different boxes in my hands and was looking for my parents to show them the neat models I had found when I finally noticed the price tag. I don't recall what it was off the top of my head, but I remember it was far too much. I would possibly get a single box, but then I wouldn't have anyone to battle against, so I turned around and re-stocked the boxes. Every month or so I'd come across some models and look them over for a while before the cold reminder of my limited funds would quickly dampen my hopes and I would walk off.

Fast forward now to about 2004. I'm finishing up High School and living in the U.S. A friend of mine has been telling me about 40k, but for the life of me I had no idea what he was talking about. Finally he pulls out the models and I recall the boxes from my childhood. He's incredibly passionate about them and has posters and various other items around his room. We chit-chat about them for a bit, but I sadly realized that I had outgrown them and didn't really care for them any longer, but I still loved to hear his stories so we would still talk about them every now and again.

Now it's 2008 and I'm in the military. I'm living overseas once again and having a blast. A co-worker is talking about Dawn of War and I ask him what it's about. He doesn't actually know much about 40k, so he ends up just showing me the game and everything clicks into place. I end up getting the game, as do some other friends from work, and we run around slaughtering computers and one another. The friend who originally introduced the game to me ends up buying some of the books and lets me borrow a couple to read. I wasn't too impressed with any of the author's writing abilities, but I still enjoyed how the stories expanded upon the universe and gave my friends and I more 40k to talk about.

Alas we reach 2011. I'm back in the states once again and I became ill. Long story short, I was diagnosed with an incurable disease that is debilitating and will prevent me from leaving my house more often than not. It's quite upsetting because I love to go out and party with my friends or take long hunting/camping trips. I realized that I had little to do at my house, so I started buying more 40k books to stack upon my shelves and I also begin writing my own 40k stories. My wife asked about my 40k fascination and I do my best to explain to her that I'd been enthralled with this game for over a decade. I'd never owned any of the models, nor did I even understand how the game itself is actually played. She flips through a few pages of the closest book and immediately states "These are badly written." We both have a little laugh and she asks me if I would ever consider giving the tabletop a shot. I figure she's just trying to cheer me up, so I say "Of course, I like these Grey Knight guys, especially in DoW."

A few months roll by and out of the blue a package comes in the mail. It's marked for my wife so I leave it on the table for her to open when she gets home. She opens it up later that night and inside are five metal Grey Knight Terminators, a metal Lilith and some metal Harlequins. I ask her what this is all about and she said she likes the Dark Eldar (apparently she had performed some secret investigations) and thought we could play together. I found an abbreviated variation of some rules for both of our squads and we sat down at our table and played away. It was funny because we really had little idea as to what we should be doing, but it didn't matter because we were having a blast.

We slowly began expanding our model count and picked up the associated rule books. We also had a couple of friends who had shown quite a lot of interest so they both started collecting with us. We still just play at home and have our own fluffy armies that we enjoy playing against one another with. I've tried to get involved with gaming shops, but I'm usually turned off because the people I run into are "out there". They typically come across to me as children (with neck-beards and poor hygiene) who love to scream, complain and constantly tell me how I should play a game. I'm sure there are better gaming groups out there, and I hope to one day find them and enhance my gaming experience.

Yesterday! Just bought my first starter set and first paint on Valentinesday. So that's at the age of 32.... I thought it would make a great Valentines gift to start playing Warhammer together, besides MTG.
I don't know anyone that plays Warmhammer, but we just watched some youtube video's and thought it looked cool. My hb was very surprised, but enthusiastic. So it is an exiting new start!

While it hasn't been as long story as a lot of people on the forums, here it is.

Ever since I was kid, probably about 8 or 9 I found about Warhammer Fantasy. At the time I loved the Orcs and Goblins army and loved going onto the website and gazing at the mintures wishing they where mine. I asked my parents about getting some, and the answer was no. Ill be honest, it was probably the right call. The boxes where expensive, you has to assemble and paint them all, and as a kid I would have lost interest pretty fast.

Throughout my teens I become an avid video gamer, and during my final few years of secondary school I picked up DnD 4E, but I could never convince my friends to play. Which was funny really, they where all happy to play video games for hours on ends in their rooms, but actually sitting down and playing a game together? Nope.

Fast forward to about a year and two months ago. I was at college and working part time, and I was in the local gaming shop just checking out the new games, when I saw a display for GW product. With my new found income I thought why the hell not? Lets give it a go. I bought a box of assault marines (which I gifted to my brother for his army later on) and got started.

Now today I own a small (750-1000 Point) CSM army, 2 Necromunda gangs, and I'm working on building and painting an Ork force. Tabletop gaming has been one of the best things I've ever started.

Edit
To point out now, I'm 18 soon to be 19. Pfff who needs girls when I've got my plastic crack? ; D

Around about '96, when I was about 10. Though in those 18 years I've spent more years not playing then I've spent playing.

 captsabre wrote:
Throughout my teens I become an avid video gamer, and during my final few years of secondary school I picked up DnD 4E, but I could never convince my friends to play. Which was funny really, they where all happy to play video games for hours on ends in their rooms, but actually sitting down and playing a game together? Nope.

I sound like one of your friends from school. I could probably waste a three day weekend playing on my computer or my play station, but the thought of sitting around a table playing with plastic toys seemed silly to me as I was "too cool" for it. Fast forward and here I am painting up two separate armies and playing with a beautiful blonde.

I think I was 16 when I started. Maybe 17. It was late sophomore year of high school. I bought a Land Raider, a Defiler, and Abaddon before I even had a troops choice

I gave it up about a year and a half ago, but I bought a Dreadnought just to see where I was in terms of painting recently. I haven't gotten any worse. I'm still a perfectionist and take forever to do everything.

I first discovered Warhammer when I was about 8.
However, I did not really get into it until after playing DoW: Soulstorm.

I started 40k with RT in the late ‘80s. I was born in the mid ‘70s, so lets see <does some higher math> I was in my early/mid teens.

The hows and whys are lost to me, probably saw the cool stuff and the shelf.

My son and I used to play a lot of Heroscape together, going to local tournaments, etc... Then Heroscape got canceled. I was in search of something else we could play together. I had known abou 40k since way back and figured it would be a suitable replacement. So I think that was about 3 years ago?

Anyhow my son does not have as much interest in it as he did Heroscape, but of course he is in High Schol now and there are lots of other distractions as well as it not being as cool to spend time with ol' Dad as it used to be. So I spend my time painting and playing other people in the area and every once and awhile play with my son. As a 42 yr old guy I am ok with 40k being a hobby I can do year round when I can't find/have other things to do with my time.

GreyChaos wrote:

 captsabre wrote:
Throughout my teens I become an avid video gamer, and during my final few years of secondary school I picked up DnD 4E, but I could never convince my friends to play. Which was funny really, they where all happy to play video games for hours on ends in their rooms, but actually sitting down and playing a game together? Nope.

I sound like one of your friends from school. I could probably waste a three day weekend playing on my computer or my play station, but the thought of sitting around a table playing with plastic toys seemed silly to me as I was "too cool" for it. Fast forward and here I am painting up two separate armies and playing with a beautiful blonde.

Aha that sounds like them, its good to see that people can change

Good luck with your armies and your beautiful blonde good sir!