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How do I convince friends to start 40k? All the people I play with are either my brother or 30+ dudes at my FLGS. I'm not complaining. It would just be nice to convert one friend at my highschool to start the hobby too.

 Powerfisting wrote:
How do I convince friends to start 40k? All the people I play with are either my brother or 30+ dudes at my FLGS. I'm not complaining. It would just be nice to convert one friend at my highschool to start the hobby too.

Don't try to convince him. Trust me.

At "high school" age, it's not really about convincing a friend but convincing his/her parents. Hobbies are pricey and getting enough scratch to start a decent army is not easy when you're not employed. Haha, so my recommendation is to find another shop that has younger aged players.

The best tactic would be to have two decent armies and let him play with the other.
Once he's addicted he will surely start his own army

Yeah, the best thing if you can would be to set up and run a game with your own stuff so they can try before they buy. Introduce them to the setting and the idea of the game, and then let them have a go. If they've already played Dawn of War or Space Marine, half your work is due for you!

You talk about the game a little at a time. Never force them to try it, simple wait until they want to give it a go. Invite them to your FLGS, don't force them to play.

I believe that Kangodo and Paradigm have it right.
That way, you still have someone to game with regardless of whether they are currently willing or able to invest in the game.

I have never actively convinced someone to start playing, I have only been open about the hobby and talk about it when people are interested. If they are interested in the material but unsure of the making it a hobby, I usually point them in the direction of the various Warhammer 40k video games if they are a gamer and/or in the way of Black Library if they enjoy to read. After they get hooked, I offer to show them a game and then after that ask them if they want to play a game with part of my army or ask another player that I am close with if they could use theirs. After that, people get hooked and continue to play.

High School might be a little hard. I had been interested in 40k since I was in High School but in no way had the funds to even start an army. I didn't even start one in college. It wasn't until I graduated college and started my career in the military that I had the disposable income to even start my first army but I did read the books and play the video games. I am also upfront in saying that it can be expensive although I have convinced card players to convert over when I showed them that it is actually cheaper than playing Magic or those other games.

Friends don't let friends start 40k.

Sure they do.
40k is a lot of fun.

Find part of the hobby they might find enjoyable and work from there (diff rolling, stats, fluff, painting etc.). However 40k is not for everyone.

I'd say that painted minis do wonders. take them to a FLGS and show them some games, with basic explanations (lore, turns, equipment).

please don't take them to a FLGS with poorly hygienic people. they'll never want to play afterwards.

You don't convince people into playing a hobby. You give them the opportunity to play, and let them convince themselves.

If you're going to nag on someone to play, he's going to develop a dislike for the game before he's even played it. Casually let them know that should they be interested, you could introduce them to the basics of the game by letting them play against you with some of your own models.
If people show an interest, invite them and set up a date for you to play.

Here are some tips:
1) When playing against new players, the most important thing is to make sure they enjoy themselves. The easiest way to do this, is to keep the game as simple as possible. Keep to the basics. Moving, shooting and assaulting will be more than enough for a first game. Also, start with a small game that's finished in 30-60 minutes. 500 Pts or something like that.

2) Make sure you know the stats on the models you're using. If you sit there half the time, looking up rules and calculating how much you or your friend have to roll in order to hit/wound , the game seems less appealing. However, if you can bring him a speedy game where he doesn't have to wait a lot, the game will be much more pleasing.

3) Let him take the victory, it'll make him more prone to enjoying the experience.
It might be a bit of a cheap trick but it's basic psychology and it has been proven to work.
You can't influence the dice but you can influence things like terrain, set-up positions, army rosters. He won't notice if his army is 100Pts bigger than yours.

4) What drew me in the hobby, was the large, compelling world that is behind the game. Make sure he knows 40K is more than the models you put on the table.

5) Last but not least, don't be a douche. If you're gonna laugh in his face because you just destroyed a squad of his, he's not going to appreciate it.

It doesn't have anything to do with age or money. I (age 35, playing since 20 years) have tried to get many people into playing. The only thing that worked was letting them play with my own armies. But many of them didn't feel the need to pay hundreds of bucks when they can play with my armies. Works for me, though, I don't mind playing against my own armies.

Many are put off by having to spend hundreds of hours for assembly and painting. For me it's a reason to still do this hobby, for them it is a nuisance. But offering them to speedpaint their armies with airbrush and shades didn't help much.

Either they are avid gamers and have the motivation after one or two games or you will never convince them. That's my bottom line after 20 years.

Since price will probably be an obstacle, don't take them into a GW, because their eyes will probably pop out of their heads when they see how much some things cost. Let them know about all the discount retailers out there, ebay, swap shops, etc. These can easily cut the entry cost in half (or more).

 Chaos Legionnaire wrote:
Sure they do.
40k is a lot of fun.

40k is also an expensive, unbalanced, unfinished, half arsed game that a good chunk of people can have fun with despite this.

I would never recommend 40k to anyone. Friends don't do that to friends.

Start small. Write him up a decent 500 point list. You do the same for yourself. Stick to simple units in simple armies. I suggest vanilla Space Marines.

Give him one list and some models, you take the other.

Walk through a few basic games so he can get the feel for the game. If he has questions about units, fill him in on some of the fluff. Once he has the basic rules down, try adding more-complex rules into the game, maybe up the points a bit or introduce a more-complicated or varied-ability army.

Once he's comfortable at, say, 1500 points, crush him mercilessly with a Tau or Eldar build. See how he accepts crushing defeats against armies he probably had zero chance of winning against anyway.

If he's still cool with the game, then he'll build his own army. If not? It wasn't meant to be.

In doubt, you could start with giving some books to that person, like the Ciaphas Cain books. Or, you could start a roleplaying game group with one of the systems based on the 40k universe (Only War, Rogue Trader, Dark Heresy, Deathwatch etc.). If the fluff and the backstory does not help, nothing usually does (excepting the sudden urge to paint little figurines ).

Showing or leting them play with your army is a good way, but always warn them how much the game costs. If your friend can't afford the 600$ basic w40k army, it is probably not a good thing to make him want to start playing.

Try playing Kill Team with them. Use your own models and see if they like the small scale game. Then you can subtly hint and ask if they want to try the larger scale.

 Murenius wrote:
It doesn't have anything to do with age or money.

It has a lot to do with age and money. In high school, yeah I played some games and was in clubs, but for the most part I chased after girls. Any and all money I had was spent on kicks and dates. Age matters, too young and a kids need supervision to assemble these kits. Teens are a 50/50. Either they love it and devote all their time, or they dont. Then we have expense to consider, playing with your stuff is fine, but what if you don't have enough minis?

You can't really convince a teen to do anything where they need to commit. You can suggest and brush the topic, but don' push it. There are alot of reasons a friend might not get into this. Money is a big reason, don't be that guy haggling when someone has no funds. If they have the ability to buy and the desire to do so, they will. Dont worry to much about it OP.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 Chaos Legionnaire wrote:
Sure they do.
40k is a lot of fun.

40k is also an expensive, unbalanced, unfinished, half arsed game that a good chunk of people can have fun with despite this.

I would never recommend 40k to anyone. Friends don't do that to friends.

And Because of this facts you post in a 40 k Forum to convince People how mich their game Sucks?