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I was thinking about this the other day. WM and Hordes aren't that kid friendly, or at least, not as kid friendly as GW games. All the guys playing in the local shop are my age or older.
The models are difficult to put together, as they are metal and often need some filling and pinning. They're often a real challenge to paint, though the end result it usually worth the extra effort.

The rules, well, man. There's a depth to the rules that goes beyond learning 40K. There's so much more to think about, and so many more options on the field. And there's a whole lake of special rules, exceptions and interactions. I love it, but it's hard work and a real challenge to design lists for. Add in the fact that the game is brutally unforgiving, one mistake can lose you the game easily, and I can see kids getting fed up fast.
I don't mind any of the above, I thoroughly enjoy the two games. But I was wondering if it would hurt PP in the long run, as a competitor to GW, that they will have difficulty attracting kids. That said, any kid players here? Maybe I'm being unfair to ye, and ye're all well able for the game .

I am a kid sorta(I'm 14,turning 15 .Perhaps I would be considered more a teenager).

Well anyway,I like the more indepth rules and metal minis.It has a rather steep learning curve from what I have encountered,but for one such as myself that enjoys things that are a bit more challenging it's good.I don't really think it would scare away kids if someone took the proper time to teach them.As for it hurting them in the long run,I think not.They have a rather loyal fan base I think,so perhaps this would act as a counter balance towards them not getting in new customers.Although it could affect the profit they make.Yet with an MMO on the way,perhaps it will be a way to lure in younger gamers.

Just my ten cents.Sorry if it was not at all helpful.

All PP has to do is keep poaching the kids GW attracts to the hobby when they get a little older.

In our community, where most players are ~25 (I'm 39 myself) we have one 13-years old Cryx player. In the last 8-week League he was the most active player with a total of 79 games played. He's still losing about 80% of his games but it doesn't seem to diminish his enthusiasm for the game. And what is most important, from time to time he manages to pull out a victory even against our top players. He's learning quite fast.
So yes, some kids do play Warmachine.

I imagine that when the videogame is released you'll see a brief influx of new and younger players.

My son started playing this year and he is eight.

I demo'd Warmachine for some little kids, but none of them became players - which is not surprising considering that they could barely afford to buy boosters for the card games they're currently playing.

ive seen a few younger kids playing warmachine... i think the insane prices are what keep the youngins at bay... 40$ for ONE unit, then you got to buy the blisters to finish it out.

I'm 14, and I play warmachine.

I don't think money is the issue as there are droves of young 40K players and arguably warhammer can be far more expensive than War machine, the allure to War Machine is it's depth and its demand for strong tactics. Warhammer in all variants can boil down to a power list that plays it self, requiring only the skill necessary to look up a tournament list on google and then roll the necessary dice. Warmachine even if you do duplicate the OMG tournament list you can still loose horribly against against a less competitive list played by a better player.

The younger players at my gaming location get discouraged when they loose badly and War machine allows for you to loose very quickly if everything isn't positioned just right, it is just a game that is more palatable for patient thoughtful players and when your younger patience isn't something in large supply (this is just my experience).

I don't play, but I am considering using some of the models for a upcoming army.

I think the two games do lend themselves towards a slightly older player set than 40k for example. The games are a bit more tactically intensive than 40k has to be and yeah, the models are a lot harder to work with, compared to, say space marines, which you can build an entire army in plastics.

I think the PP games are fairly well placed in the market to pick up players who've started with GW games, gotten a couple of years experience in wargames and then decided to try a new game. GW is, by virtue of the fact that it's been around and successful for a long time, a kind of natural starting point for wargamers. The exposure and size of the company means people tend to hear about it first, then, after getting into the hobby, discover new games.

But with PP releasing computer games and stuff, i think there may be a new wave of gamers coming in, assuming that the game is good/successful. And if it is, and their other projects are successful too, the company will grow and they'll be able to pimp their games out more and more.

As PP has a much steeper learning curve than Warhammer Fantasy (and much much steeper than 40k) I've found that for the most part older gamers tend to play Warmachine/Hordes. In my experience, the cost of MW/Hordes is less than Fantasy and is comparative to 40k, and as a result is not a barrier to younger players. Likewise the difficulty of assembling models does not tend to interfere with the younger crowd.

Instead the barriers seem to be the learning curve and the fact that none of the local stores that support/promote WM/Hordes are in a mall - instead they are FLGS that tend to be a bit out of the way - which means that Mom and Dad don't tend to be quite as willing to abandon their spawn at the store to play 'toy soldiers' as they are with the local geedub.

I'm not sure I'm clear on the learning curve issues with WM (granted, I've been playing since the original prime)?

I've taught quite a few players the game and usually they have a pretty good feel for it after 2 hours or so. By learning curve, do you mean not getting your caster killed by chance?

If you make a mistake with your caster, you can often lose the game easily. That's what I mean, anyway.

By learning curve I'm talking about the number of possible interactions and strategies that can be utilized for accomplishing your goals. Usually one needs to take into account many of the possibilities that one's opponent can use AT THE SAME TIME as one maximises the interactions within ones own forces.

Add to that the extensive errata that have been produced... makes for a steep learning curve.

to be fair on the errata side, its not nearly as bad as the document would lead you to believe. A large section of the errata is duplicated (such as every model with pathfinder getting a different wording).