How would you rate wargames?

[green stuff]

The GW painting standard? thread made me wonder if it was such a good thing putting wargames in the hands of our little ones, so here\'s a poll for the sake of it ... OK, I\'ll also admit that it\'s friday and I\'m already longing for the week-end, so sue me .

 

[Sturmhalo]

In the immortal words of Rev just now...

For f**ks sake!

And I agree!

 

[green stuff]

@Sturmhalo : Don\'t say I didn\'t warn you .

 

[shinjikun1]

well i have a blister here that says quote:\"Not recommended for children under 36 months due to small parts and essential pointed components\" so someone has set the bar. 37 months and up, who\'s to say...

 

[vincegamer]

I can\' t choose because \"war games\" is too broad.

I would allow any one old enough to comprehend the rules to play \"Stomp\" or \"Magic Realm\" or \"Wizard\'s Quest\" but I might not let the same person play the Castle Wolfenstein Flavor of the Month.
I would certainly not let the same kid play \"Advanced Squad Leader.\"

As to miniature-based table-top games I would probably put them closer to \"Wizars\'s Quest\" though maybe not fully in that arena. The graphic nature of some minis I think is a bit much for small children so to grossly generalize, most would be PG. However for my personal convictions I would put historicals into PG-13.
I don\'t believe in R.

 

[Infidel Castro]

For feckitty-fock sake! Leave it! Why dissect the hobby in such pointless fashion? lol

 

[Levdir]

@Rev: Simple. My local wargaming club has a number small kids (the older guy\'s sons, mostly) who are simply not mature enough to take part in a serious wargame. They spend their time when they should be playing or painting or discussing game-related stuff running about and screaming and making a nuisance of themselves. I have no qualms about letting young people play wargames (40K is the one in question at my club) as long as they are willing to behave like they should be there. That\'s a tall order from a seven year old.

 

[vincegamer]

well that\'s different.
rating implies you may want to protect young minds from emotional scarring.
Your issue is the \"players\" are too young to have the attention span or comprehend the rules of this particular game.
give them a bunch of medieval legos and tell them to make up their own game and they will be much happier and out of your hair.
(p.s. I made a lego war game on the spur of the moment in college once - great fun)

 

[green stuff]

Message original : reverend
For feckitty-fock sake! Leave it! Why dissect the hobby in such pointless fashion? lol

1. I was bored at work;
2. We haven\'t had a pointless subject in a while;
3. This a forum, it\'s made for exchanging ideas;
4. Come on Rev, usually, you have better arguments than that .

 

[Dr Sanch]

I\'d rate it highly. A great 80\'s movie from my youth.lol:bouncy:

@vincegamerlego rocks

 

[Levdir]

Caption Contest!

\"Come, Dooku, it\'s time to give that irritating Obi-wan what\'s coming to him!\"
\"Sandwiches?\"

Okay, that was sad. Best me, it\'ll be easy!

 

[Infidel Castro]

Originally posted by Levdir
@Rev: Simple. My local wargaming club has a number small kids (the older guy\'s sons, mostly) who are simply not mature enough to take part in a serious wargame. They spend their time when they should be playing or painting or discussing game-related stuff running about and screaming and making a nuisance of themselves. I have no qualms about letting young people play wargames (40K is the one in question at my club) as long as they are willing to behave like they should be there. That\'s a tall order from a seven year old.

What makes me laugh is your insistence on suggesting you played a \'serious wargame\' lol You played with toys! Kids love toys too, so why not let them join your \'grown up\' games?

@greenstuff:

Quite right, I haven\'t got much to offer on this one Can\'t argue with you there lol

 

[Levdir]

Originally posted by reverend

What makes me laugh is your insistence on suggesting you played a \'serious wargame\'. You played with toys! Kids love toys too, so why not let them join your \'grown up\' games?

Okay, you have me there . Toys these are, though expensive and time consuming. It helps if there\'s a number of kids there that can play together and keep one another amused. It tends to break up the flow of a game when one is being asked not-totally-relevant questions every three minutes, though.

 

[Infidel Castro]

Aye, but that\'s kids lol

 

[Avelorn]

I think this hobby is as serious as you make it. Some people get very worked up some issues, but that happens with every other hobby as well.. from Soccer to politics.

I don\'t think there should be so many strict regulations, but I believe that the parents have to take some serious talks to their kids about some issues of this hobby as well as computer gaming. Kids are kids.. and I read that most kids don\'t have the motoric capacity to brush their teeth before they are 10 years old.

 

[MarkusTay]

Long Winded, as usual...

Several points I\'d like to make.
I\'d have to agree with Vince for the most part. Video games are a whole new ball of wax. You have to take them on a case-by-case basis. Warcraft is great fun and I let my kids play that game starting at 13. I don\'t think I\'d let my 13 yr old play a first-person-shooter like Medal of Honor, but I do let my 16 yr old play Grand theft Auto because I think he is mature enough to realize it is just a game.

As for tabletop, I think Vince hit the mark with a PG13 rating, more because of the maturity level required to play, not because of the violence. Do to the graphic nature of certain \'fantasy\' models perhaps a regular PG rating for them is in order (Mmmmm... Daemonettes).

To respond to Levdir, it really depends on the individual kid. I would let my son who just turned 14 play 40K because he is very mature for his age. I\'ve seen early teens at my LGS pointing and giggling at the naked breasts on some models, and I don\'t think they should be playing. I\'m lucky enough to have two stores within 5 miles of my house, and they cater to different clientel. The one has tons of screaming and yelling little kids running around like lunatics, mostly on the weekends. The place is very large and has many tables and seperate areas for gaming. The kids come in mostly for CCG, Like Poke\'mon, but they spill over into the other areas and it is hard for the older people to concentrate on their games. The other store is smaller, and enforces a strict \'NO children under 16 unless accompanied by a parent\' rule. That place has less tables and their usually is a waiting list to play. Both places serve a purpose, and I frequent both. I would however like to add that 7 is way too young to play any kind of game with adults. I tried letting my 7yr old play in a D&D game I was running for his older brothers, and he was too disruptive for the rest of us to enjoy our selves (and he\'s my GOOD kid).

Just my two cents - Mark

 

[No Such Agency]

If I ever have kids, they\'re going to play first-person shooters as soon as they\'re old enough. The more graphically realistic, the better. And I\'ll say, \"See? In a real war, you\'d be dead now.\" Hopefully that\'ll teach them how stupid and awful war is, and to never participate in one.

OK, maybe not... They\'re just games, I especially can\'t see how *strategy* war games could be bad for kids... after all that\'s what chess it. I could see the argument that FPS\'s might desensitize kids to real life violence (I DON\'T believe they cause kids to be school shooters or whatever!), but what\'s a kid going to do, play WH 40,000 until they gonuts and lead an army of genetically-enhanced super soldiers on a multi-continental campaign of destruction? Unlikely.

 

[green stuff]

Message original : No Such Agency
OK, maybe not... They\'re just games, I especially can\'t see how *strategy* war games could be bad for kids... after all that\'s what chess it. I could see the argument that FPS\'s might desensitize kids to real life violence (I DON\'T believe they cause kids to be school shooters or whatever!), but what\'s a kid going to do, play WH 40,000 until they go nuts and lead an army of genetically-enhanced super soldiers on a multi-continental campaign of destruction? Unlikely.

Actually, when I fist thought of this poll, I figured people were going to argu about the background of most wagames. Plot lines are often dictatorships at war for survival, genocide, ... and I\'m not even talking of the iconagraphy taken from historical references (one could of course always argu that the nazi eagle is first from the roman empire and that the nazi cross used on some Orks is from an indian cult and is a symbol representing the sun and strength).

Speaking of WH40K brings up the subject of eugenism (mutants, psykers, ...). I also remember one of my familly members flinching at an artwork from John Blanche in Rogue Trader (the scene with the mechanicus priests). Just to bring up the maccaber and almost necrophilic iconography.

I have no particular opinion on the subject except the fact that depending on the age of the kid, it might be good to explain what the background is about. And even if what I stated above is mostly oriented towards WH40K, some points are likewise in other fantasy games (Chaos in WFB, Dirtz in Confrontation, ...).

PS MarkusTay : I didn\'t even think of the Daemonettes ... go to a french beach and you\'ll get over it .

 

[MarkusTay]

Those crazy Nakit frenchies

We actually do have Nude beaches here on LI, just not too many of them. I suppose we do have a somewhat more \'puritanical\' viewpoint when it comes to women\'s breasts.

 

[green stuff]

@MarkusTay : actually, they\'re dressing up again here (breast cancer do to sun exposition was getting alarming).