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...