My son is starting to get into Warhammer and so far he’s learned the mechanics of Age of Sigmar, but he still isn’t sure what road to go down. Normally he’d go for whatever my brother in law is into (he introduced him to MTG, obviously the gateway drug) but he’s not deep into Warhammer yet (BiL was gifted a Necromunda squad) so my son will have to figure it out for himself.

Assuming most people here picked 40k over Age of Sigmar, I’m curious to know what motivated your choice? He’s painted a few random figurines he was gifted, but is now giving serious thought into going further. We’d welcome any tips on where to start!

  • captainhaddock@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago
    1. Does he have friends that will play? A lot of wargaming is just garage folks. That requires a group of people you can play with regularly. Kinda sucks to get into a game and you have no one to play with.
    2. Go to your local game stores that do wargaming and see what the scene is. Plural stores is important here. The store with the biggest scene might actually be the worst to play at or host the dumbest players. In my experience, there are shops that have lots of models and accessories with huge play areas and there are shops with great scenes geared for all players. Sometimes those intersect; often they do not. You’re looking for a friendly place willing to cater to beginners. Good starter scenes have lots of people willing to share armies so you can see what’s going on.
    3. How much do you want to spent right now? Kill Team, Combat Patrol, full 40k in that order is probably cheapest. AoS doesn’t have the cheaper options yet AFAIK officially but there are some smaller skirmish options.
    4. Marvel Crisis Protocol and Star Wars several things might be better options based on the first three points depending on your wallet and local scene.

    However, in my experience, once you start one of these things you usually dabble in lots especially if you’re at a good store.

    • Foreigner@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      21 hours ago

      Thank you for the thoughtful comment, these are all very good points to think about. To answer your questions:

      1. To be honest I’m probably going to be the friend he plays with, at least to start. When he was getting into MtG, he and I would play until he eventually started introducing his friends to the game at school. It’s one more good excuse to spend quality time together especially, as he heads into his teens, so I don’t mind.
      2. There’s a Warhammer store near our place (where he got to try AoS) that hosts some games. I thought it was the only one in our city but after your comment I had a look and there are a bunch of others nearby, one of which is a café specifically for people who want to play and paint. We’ll definitely be checking those out.
      3. It’s his birthday in a couple of weeks, so I don’t mind buying him a starter kit or something along those lines, but beyond that we agreed any additions would only happen if he’s done assembling and painting the set he has. Then if we add more it’ll be for birthday/Christmas gifts, or he uses his own pocket money. I have to be honest though, when he told me he was interested in Warhammer, this was the first thing that popped into my head.
      4. He was gifted a few minis from the Lord of the Rings set (that’s how he caught the bug), I haven’t seen the Marvel or Star Wars in the store but I’ll have a look around.