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!
I got into painting minis over the pandemic when everyone was picking up new hobbies left and right with the reaper minis learn to paint kits
I enjoyed them, but I have a hard time justifying buying minis unless I have an actual use for them, and since we don’t tend to use them in my D&D games, I went on the hunt for a game.
And from there it wasn’t long before I settled on 40k. It’s probably about the biggest one out there, so I can always find someone who plays, I already have a small handful of friends who play it, and when I looked around at the options, they just kind of looked the most fun to paint to me.
That’s interesting, one of the reasons he got into minis was because someone bought him some to use in his roleplaying games, and from there it was a short walk to Warhammer. He’s still new to tabletop RPGs and hasn’t tried out any particular system beyond using his imagination and printing some things out to play with his friends. I think Warhammer caught his eye because it’s more tangible and easier to play in a sense? He’s keen to try D&D but it’s been hard to find places to learn. I guess the benefit of AoS over 40k is I could see him using some of the minis for his RPG games given they lean towards fantasy.
Yeah, if he specifically wants them for dual-use with d&d (and cares about keeping his minis in-theme, my group has been known to plop down a star wars AT-ST on the table to stand in for a dragon) then AoS is probably a better bet for that.
Another thing to consider, since you say he’s been having trouble finding places to play D&D, there’s a good chance he’s going to run into a similar problem with Warhammer. If you have any local game stores, in my experience, most of them will have pretty regular events for both D&D and Warhammer. You can also sometimes find groups and events in other places- libraries, community centers, book stores, schools, etc. aren’t uncommon.
But if you really don’t have many options around you, that means he’s going to need to convince his friends to play with him (which can be an uphill battle, Warhammer isn’t a cheap hobby) so his best bet is probably to see what his friends are more interested in playing (assuming he wants to play Warhammer, and not just paint the minis, which some people do)