Wargames Barrier to Entry

[Bigred]

So today I want to talk about something has been brought back up with the recent rumors regarding WFB. It something that can make or break otherwise equally good wargames systems: barrier to entry. I want to get your thoughts on the big systems out there and which ones are the easiest to get into as a new player:

Just think back to when you were shopping around for a new gamesystem. If you had to do it all over again, or wanted to get a friend to get into a system for the first time, did you make the right choice, or would you go a different way based on your experience getting into the game? Now barrier to entry has many different components. Some of the obvious ones are:

-Price for an average army
-Numbers of models required for games
-Difficulty of assembly
-Complexity of ruleset
-Ease of finding players

Secondary components not directly affecting barrier to entry but still important include:

-Ease of painting
-Quality of miniatures
-Depth of product range
-Community support
-Depth and allure of background

As we move into 2014 I feel that for the active wargamer there are a lot of great choices out there. Lets off the top of our heads pick the bigger systems out there:


Warhammer 40000
Warhammer Fantasy
Warmachine/Hordes
Flames of War
Kings of War/Warpath
Dystopian Wars/Uncharted Seas/Firestorm Armada
Malifaux
Infinity
DUST



Each of these has their own strengths and weaknesses, but I want you to pick the easiest three to get into and tell me why. Regardless of barrier to entry, what most interests you of those characteristics for the various systems.

VOTE

[phil035]

can't really comment on this as i've only played GW systems but lord of the rings was the easiest for me to pick up shame its barely supported by the community

[Grey Mage]

Honestly, while severe model quality differences can affect things- like the differences between Kings of War and WFB or Warmachine- if theyre even in the same ball park Ive found my biggest issues are price of getting the army and rules, how conveniently they are bundled, and army size.

If you could snag a 750-1000pt army with a basic rule book from GW for $100-125 Id have a dozen friends into WFB overnight. Heck, its why so many people I know have Dystopian Wars or Firestorm Armada- even if they rarely play it.

Id have a clubs worth of Drop Zone Commander, if it wasnt for it being the same price as a more expensive GW army to get decent kit, and no one really having starter armies to 'try out' on. Models are beautiful, but theyre not *that* much prettier than spartans, or GWs.

[m3g4tr0n]

For me, the top two are 40K and Warmachine/Hordes. You can find 40K minis fairly cheap on eBay, and with rulesets like Kill Team, you could easily get into the game with a minimal investment. Warmachine/Hordes is the similar. You could play with just the battlebox group, and still find enjoyment in it. I don't play WFB, so I didn't vote for it.

[Deadlift]

Here in my neck of the woods 40k is where it's at and I just cannot get anyone in my group to even look at another system. I've bought some Warmachine models and painted them, I was pleasantly surprised that with the starter sets you basically get everything you need to start an army. A caster, a couple of units and a quick start set of rules. Brilliant. Infinty is another one that's taken my interest. The Infinty website is just brilliant and free downloadable rules is pretty awesome. I love the small model count needed to play a game and if I could bend some arms a bit more I'm sure eventually I will get my mates interested in either one of these two 40k alternatives.
WFB is too great an investment in time and money for me to really look at. The vast amount of models I read about needed to play a game is a huge turn off for me. I do like the models, some are really beautiful but I just don't want to commit to the game, especially when no one else I know will either. 40k whilst it can be expensive, it's still possible to play low point games and have fun. I don't see that in WFB.

[Houghten]

I'm not seeing X-Wing on your list...

Granted, some of the wave 1 and 2 ships are a bit hard to find right now (TIE Advanced, TIE Interceptors, A-Wings and Y-wings) but the starter set is less than half the price of Dark Vengeance and every ship comes with its own tiny piece of army list so there are no army books to buy. You only need a half-dozen ships for a 100 point squadron, they're pre-assembled and painted*, and the custom dice make learning the rule system an absolute cinch.


*Not a bonus for me, but it does lower the entry barrier

[Popsical]

Its 40k by a country mile.
No other system has the number of players or publicity.
No competition at the moment.
While it may cost more than some others, its still a birthday or xmas worth of prezzies and your fighting your buddies.

[TheyStoleMyName!]

Warmahordes is number one for me, given how functional the starter sets are, how concise the rules are in a small book, and how well the game scales. Locally players aren't the problem that they are for other games either.

40k is next for me, mostly based on the huge player base that exists. Even though it is expensive as hell to get going, used armies are common, and there are ALWAYS people playing it. If money is taken out of the equation, it's easily the system that is the easiest to see a bunch of people playing and get involved, even if it takes a bit more time to get an army together.

The others I think are so situational to a locality. Most places have 1 or 2 "other games" that are played with any frequency. A lot of them, particularly the Spartan games are really cheap to get into and quick to learn, but I've yet to see them hold any kind of player base locally. Infinity is cheap to buy into, and really cool, but is held back by a less accessible ruleset for people who aren't familiar gamers already. Malifaux suffers this as well, I've seen a lot of fringe gamers really frown on the abnormal mechanics.

Then there's something like Flames of War which has a great ruleset, and some reasonable starter armies. The big problem for it locally is actually getting the models, as they don't seem to want to ship small orders. Still, we're a military town, so there are always people demoing it around here.

X-wing is really the one that would stand out to me in all honesty. Buy the set and you're playing. A friend and I taught our 6 year olds to play in an afternoon, but are still working out new tactics every time we game. Cheap, accessible, a super-familiar setting, and able to quickly get a player base going even if everyone doesn't have their own "army"

[nicromancer]

Warpath 2.0 should really be on here, its fun and really easy to pick up.If i were starting gaming again and got to try out 40k or warpath then I'd definitely choose warpath.
It wasn't until i picked up warpath that i started to actually enjoy writing lists or began to really try and build competitive themed armies.

[Capn Gus BloodbeRD]

I've been wanting to play WH40L for quite some time, but the cost is what's prohibitive to me.
I started in Malifaux - a single $30 box is enough to play a game, and I only need a couple of extra miniatures to build on that. Fewer miniatures is far quicker to paint too. Of course, can be hard finding a game.

WM is the 2nd game I got into. Again, cost was the biggest factor. Don't really care about having too many miniatures to paint, though it could be a factor for some. That's just the cost of skirmish vs army based games.

Cost is really what's stopping me getting into 40K. I'll get there, but just not yet.

I wonder if the length of a game would be a big factor for people too...

[ted1138]

X-Wing would be my 1st choice if it was on the list. Other than that I wouldn't advise anyone to start any of those games. I'd instead steer them towards board games like Spartacus, Small World and Settlers of Catan. One small up front investment, and multiple people can play together. Tabletop wargaming is getting ridiculously expensive.

[Weidekuh]

X-Wing The miniatures game by Fantasy Flight Games.

-Very easy rules yet a lot of strategic depth. (There is even a video tutorial: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=174&esem=4 )
-Everything you need is in the starter box.
-Good price and good quality.
-No terrain needed (again, everything is in the starter box).
-Low point games are short enough.
-Both sides play simoultaneously, no boring wait time for either side.
-Very very good balanced game.
-Already painted and assembled.
-Just awesome game even if you don't like star wars.
-Fantasy Flight Games customer service is extremely good.
-X-Wing is growing very very fast. It's now even easier to find X-Wing games than 40k for me. Also it allows to play with people that normally don't play wargames and they don't need to bring an army, since you will have everything to play.
-Fantasy Flight Games puts a lot of effort into tournaments too. There are qualifiers all over the world and last year they had a world championship with all the local winners for the second time.

[Lord Tothe]

To find other players: 40K. But the entry price is prohibitive. Minis, rulebook, codex, etc. is a huge hurdle. GW makes awesome minis though.

For big armies fast, Mantic delivers the goods. Their rules are free downloads, too! Unless you're playing against a snob, you can use most of their minis to proxy quite nicely for GW units if you want to cross over later. Thus, Kings of War and Warpath get a vote.

Malifaux has great minis, and a starter box gets you into the game right away for somewhere between $40-$50. Rulebooks aren't too expensive. Minis look great. BONUS: The upcoming Through the Breach RPG!

Warmahordes also gets you into the game quite nicely with a starter box. Great minis, another game with a solid RPG alternative for the models. Thus my 3rd vote.

[Deadlift]

I'm certainly going to give x wing a go, I've heard so many good things and my mrs is willing to give it a go. My eldest too has shown interest, and as she's nearly 7 she's ripe for getting into wargaming now.

[Bowser]

I agree with most other comments. 40k is very expensive to start, but the huge amount of people that play is probably the strongest thing going for it. The main reason why I don't try any of the other games on the list is because of not being assured to find people to play against.
That being said, X-wing is getting big and it is by far has the easiest ruleset and lowest start-up cost.

[Darren Richardson]

For me, 40K and WFB are the easy games to get into, because here in the UK you can find GW products in most large towns and in virtually every city.....

Now Mantic is also based in the UK and so you can order their stuff at reasonable prices online and get it quickly, also they give their rules away free online....

Now everybody else, the main barrier is availability, all these other games are VERY hard to find in shops, there just too few FLG Shops in the UK, those that can get them have to take into account that these products are often imported from the States over to the UK which increases the costs a lot.

Now yes you could possibly get them from Internet suppliers, but then your buying blind, you cant really see the box, you can't see the quality, and of course you can't get to play test the game like you can in a FLGS.

So for me all the other systems suffer from problems of availability and thus a lack of player base to make it a worthwhile investment, while GW products do have the player base here.

I expect over in the states this would not necessarily apply....

[Houghten]

While it may cost more than some others, its still a birthday or xmas worth of prezzies and your fighting your buddies.

I think your Christmas budget might be a smidgen higher than mine.

[Popsical]

Depends on how many points you want to start with.
For my first couple of years i didnt have 1500pts but had loads of fun.
To be honest those years were the best, before the list building and just expanding little by little.
WOW! Marks got a landraider!!!!! Etc.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

i voted for kings of war/warpath, dystopian wars and malifaux.

kings of war/warpath is simple and easy to understand, plus the models are cheap and the backround is basic. For large scale skirmishes id say it's the best choice.

Malifaux beats infinity for one reason - and that is it's starting to release plastic kits, making it a bit more accessible. otherwise, it's a decent low model count game.

Dystopian Wars covers land, air and sea so that makes it accessible to a wide number of people that care about different types of warfare, the models are fairly affordable and easy to paint to.

[YorkNecromancer]

40K's main barrier to entry is price, though I think everyone else here has covered that well enough.

DUST is really good; quick to pick up, decent strategic depth, lovely models. I'd rate that as possibly the number 1.

Malifaux is great too; you don't need masses of scenery or play area either.

Warmahordes comes third, because of low model count and a polished set of rules. Too many goofy looking figures for my taste are all that keep it from being higher.

[Sainhann]

Honestly, while severe model quality differences can affect things- like the differences between Kings of War and WFB or Warmachine- if theyre even in the same ball park Ive found my biggest issues are price of getting the army and rules, how conveniently they are bundled, and army size.

If you could snag a 750-1000pt army with a basic rule book from GW for $100-125 Id have a dozen friends into WFB overnight. Heck, its why so many people I know have Dystopian Wars or Firestorm Armada- even if they rarely play it.

Id have a clubs worth of Drop Zone Commander, if it wasnt for it being the same price as a more expensive GW army to get decent kit, and no one really having starter armies to 'try out' on. Models are beautiful, but theyre not *that* much prettier than spartans, or GWs.

750-1000 point armies!

Not my cup of tea.

I want to field 3000 point armies and quite Frankly 40k & WFB can't do that because of the cost.

[Sainhann]

Here in my neck of the woods 40k is where it's at and I just cannot get anyone in my group to even look at another system. I've bought some Warmachine models and painted them, I was pleasantly surprised that with the starter sets you basically get everything you need to start an army. A caster, a couple of units and a quick start set of rules. Brilliant. Infinty is another one that's taken my interest. The Infinty website is just brilliant and free downloadable rules is pretty awesome. I love the small model count needed to play a game and if I could bend some arms a bit more I'm sure eventually I will get my mates interested in either one of these two 40k alternatives.
WFB is too great an investment in time and money for me to really look at. The vast amount of models I read about needed to play a game is a huge turn off for me. I do like the models, some are really beautiful but I just don't want to commit to the game, especially when no one else I know will either. 40k whilst it can be expensive, it's still possible to play low point games and have fun. I don't see that in WFB.

Well where I live 40k died when 4th Edition came out. Oh sure there is now a GW store but their hours suck and it is far to small.

Oh and I don't play low point 40k games and anything under 2000 points is low.

But you are right about Infinity and Mantic games is coming out with another low model count game.

[Sainhann]

I voted for:

Infinity - Low model count and you can play

http://www.infinitythegame.com/infinity/en/

Maliflax - Also a low model count

http://www.wyrd-games.net/content.php?120-malifaux

&

Dystopian Wars - Uncharted Seas also a low model count

http://www.spartangames.co.uk/products/dystopian-world/dystopian-wars

40k, WFB, Flames of War and Kings of War require far more miniatures and the poll was for new players to get into.

So that means a small amount of money out of pocket $100-$150 of so.

I would need to spend nearly $1,500 just to get my Imperial Guard army and forget about a new player buying an Ork & Goblin WFB army like mine over 400 Goblins and nearly 175 Orks plus other stuff.

How Mantic games has another game coming out as well.

Warpath - Written by Alessio Cavatore, Warpath is an easy-to-learn sci-fi battle wargame with an innovative activation system and turn sequence. So written by someone who is far more creative than the current idiots that they have writing the 40K rules. Oh and Alessio use to work for GW before leaving them.

http://www.manticgames.com/games/warpath.html

Plus they have Dreadball, and Mars Attacks.

I would check out Warpath since the rule are free and you can actually use your 40K figures for the forces. Oh and they have Space Dwarves/Squats though they are called Forge Fathers (great looking models as well).

So there are better choices out there other than GW.

Tomorrow's War is another ruleset as well.

[Deadlift]

It has to be X Wing. That has to be the easiest.
Tonight my 6 year old daughter had her 1st ever experience of "wargames" and it was X Wing. Whist it was only using the contents of 1 core set and the starter rules she had fun.

She grasped the basics very quickly and although her "tactics" were not brilliant she understood that she had to do to win. She took down my Obsidion pilot rather quickly but then had some very bad luck with the dice. I won. Then she burst into tears and I felt awful.

But after all that she calmed down and said she wants to play again tomorrow night because although she lost she had fun. I'm going to let her win next game, but don't tell her :)

Anyway after playing X Wing I have to say as an introduction game to our wargaming hobby it's brilliant, especially for younger kids who don't have the resources to buy lots of models to have a fun game. The quick start rules are brilliant and even though we had tears and I felt like a "bad" dad I know we both had fun.

Oh and she doesn't know, but the Falcons on its way to bolster her Rebel scum in the next day or two :)

[Denzark]

I like this Deady I may try it out with my pet gibbon.