Prufrock's Wargaming Blog

Prufrock's Wargaming Blog

Monday, November 23, 2015

Introducing the boy to wargames

Our wee lad has recently started taking an interest in the hobby room and 'dad's stuff'. He asks to play Dungeon Quest, sets up and moves around some plastic Orcs, and when yesterday he saw Luke and I playing our games sat in a watched for a bit. Although I had to tell him not to touch a couple of times he was pretty good around the figures, so I promised that he and I would have a game today (a public holiday, yay!).

Accordingly, when my wife and the girls went out with O-chan for a stock up on winter clothes we set up a little board and got some 6mm models out, because he had been particularly impressed by the tanks on display yesterday.

He got to place trees and things wherever he liked, and then I gave him a measuring stick to use for movement and we'd dice to fight. He loves rolling dice and gets just as excited when he misses as when he hits.

The rules were that we got five vehicles each, he would hit on a 5 or 6 and I would hit on a 6.


He quickly picked up on how to use the measuring stick.


And was like an old-timer by the end of his first turn!

Second game he got to choose some different models to use, and for the third we added in a plane on his side which rolled two dice and hit if both were 5s or 6s.

He loved it, won all the games, and got very excited when I accidentally rolled a pile of 6s in the last game to almost win it. When he triumphed by the skin of his teeth he jumped up and said 'yes' and was a happy little camper.

Lots of fun for dad, too. He's only four, so if this continues we might have a real gamer on our hands!

11 comments:

  1. That's awesome. Always cool seeing young hands rolling dice and moving troops!

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  2. Good to see the next generation starting!

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  3. Fantastic. My boy's nine, and started showing interest around that age as well. I picked up some figs (reaper Bones) for him to cut his teeth on, and have been encouraging him whenever he shows interest. Games with your kids are extra special.

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  4. Very cool. I got slapped around by my son in a game of X-Wing last evening. It's been a while since he got a win against me - maybe that win will inspire him to play more regularly.

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  5. Thanks all! Certainly a cool thing to play games with your kids :)

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  6. This is what I enjoy seeing! Dad introducing The Boy into his favorite hobby.

    Well done, Aaron!

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  7. Nice work, mate. Reminds me, I must get out the chess with my boys more...

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    1. Need to pass on that chess wisdom of yours, Nige!

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  8. I have to ask...when did you get time (and energy) to play games again after your children were born? Hiroto is 7 months old now and I am at zero free time at the moment and jonesing for a game. He is a great kid and I am enjoying being a father but part of me wonders a little when I can expect to have a bit of free time in the day to game again.

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    1. Hi Brad, tough one! I guess it depends on how you share the workload, how tired you get, and how much space you have in your house/apartment. We had a spare room, so I was able to play miniatures games occasionally (solo!) and my wife was happy for me to meet up with friends a few times a year for bigger gaming events. It got much harder the more children we had though - these days my 'leave it set up' gaming space is much reduced so there are no large boardgames played any more. If you have space to leave games set up you'll be fine, but if you don't, then it really does have an impact, sorry to say. Might be time for one-night scenario games, Lock n Load, Band of Brothers, Commands & Colors, etc, or else make sure that you keep some dedicated gaming space. On the plus side, the first 18 months with the first baby you're pretty stressed about lots of little things, but the longer you do it the more comfortable you'll become, and the more energy you'll have for other things :)

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    2. Thanks Aaron! I won't sell off my collection then, in that case. I have been trying to play smaller games these days and, in fact, have Hornet Leader set up in my gaming room right now as it has such a tiny footprint. I guess I'll have to use Vassal for the bigger stuff, which is a shame since I enjoy the tactile aspect of gaming...but that's okay! I am really looking forward to playing a game with my son some day. Hope things go as well as they did for you two!

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