How did you start wargaming and when was it the most fun?

[Popsical]

So, how and when did the toy soldier battling first enter your life, and when did you get the most fun out of it?
For me it must have been aged about six or seven years old, using airfix 1/72 africa korp and desert rats on my bedroom floor with a varied assortment of WW2 tanks.
Now, why, you may ask does this relate to 40k?
Well, if GW AoS 40k this is pretty much where they will take the game. For me thats great news as i dont attend tournaments anymore (been to 4 in total, finishing 2nd, 4th, 8th and 10th out of over 30 players per event), and didnt find them too engaging.
I had way more fun playing battles with my Wfb and 40k models in the eighties and early nineties. During this time i didnt take much notice of points costs or force organisation charts. I mean what the heck did i want to do book work for before enjoying my hobby? Paper work and maths were for school and college for heavens sake!
Whilst im not a fantasy battles enthusiast these days, i can see the reason people like AoS. I can also see why some folk hate on it so much (change is hard).
When all is said and done GW want to sell their models to the biggest market group they can.
The biggest market group MUST be those who want to have fun, surely?
Feel free to suggest other options to the poll.

[Cactus]

My favorite games are league games run at my FLGS.

I was a mini painter and picked up random 40k models because I thought there were fun to paint. Space Elves, Space Dwarfs, and some sort of titan from Epic were my first models because I thought they were cool looking or hilarious in the case of the Space Dwarfs.

The store I worked at was running a WHFB league and all of the players were having an awesome time and telling tales about these epic games they were playing so I bought the big Wood Elf army box so I could play as well and I was hooked into the gaming portion of the hobby. Necromunda, Warzone, Battletech, 40k all quickly followed.

Even today, league play is my favorite type of gaming, especially when we have some sort of special format for the league, like escalation type rules.

[GlynDaWolf]

i stumbled into a GW store about 23 years ago thinking it was a computer gaming store got into 40k and have played it more or less ever since with one small-ish (6 year) break that ended reccently loved it during 2nd ed, 3rd and 4th ed sucked 5th ed was ok and left just around the start of 6th ed....most fun definately playing in campagins locally with mates and in tournaments once a year up in HQ, most relaxing is when i'm chilling out and painting

[Psychosplodge]

Kept looking at the models in GW meadowhall(now deceased), bought 2nd edition 40k on offer in argos at encouragement of one friend who'd done same. That friend never did anything with it beyond paint the space marines and stick them on a shelf, found out another friend had rather large space marine force, used to play instore some weekends with second friend. First friend briefly tried again on sister's of battle release, did same painted and abandoned them, then tried to sell for BNIB prices.
Used to have a lot fun, There was a small group but uni really killed it for me, then the painting died, and it become a slowly growing pile of grey sprues in boxes.

[grimmas]

When my Brother came home from a friends house with tales of Space Marines and the RTB01 box set (not that we called it that). My first miniature was a metal Ork warbuggy and is escalated fairly quickly from there

Most fun it's a tie between the the time my friends and I evolved beyond points matches and went totally scenario based, we were basically playing 2ed Apocalypse, and when is was working for GW especially my time at GW York I'd come to gaming nights wether I was working or not they were that good.

[Horncastle]

About 25 years ago when I got 2nd edition space hulk for my birthday; this was followed by two dreadnoughts (always have and will be my favorite model in all it's incarnations; had about 20 of them before they were lost in a house fire) a regular one and a furioso, blood bowl, necromunda, and battlefleet gothic. After that it was the third edition starter set and my brother picked up the dark eldar. We always had the most fun playing with a points limit but no force org.

[Mr Mystery]

Kicked off for me back in 1989 with the launch of Heroquest, which I got for my birthday. Shortly after I was shown White Dwarf 131, and that was pretty much that!

Games wise? 2nd Ed 40k Sunday Gaming. Bring your stuff, bung it on, have at it. Glorious.

Other than that, my favourite game (through a mix of nostalgia, and it being a game my friends shared with me) was Space Marine and Titan Legions.

[Kirsten]

I got 5th edition fantasy in 1997 for Christmas, then went halves with my brother on 3rd edition 40k when that came out. I saw all the models in the local Toymaster and basically just wanted them for playing about with like any other toy, but sat down to read the fantasy rule book and battle book, and was hooked. I would say it was most fun in my mid to late teens, as I had multiple friends and my brother all playing, we played a game every week pretty much. rarely get the chance now, and though the games are more fun and the models better than ever, there is a certain magic to playing as a kid.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Some kid brought a plastic 2nd edition gretchin into school, i was amazed that plastic models existed beyond airfix which didn't really appeal much. I ended up buying a fire dragon exarch in the local GW and then collected eldar for the next few years.

[YorkNecromancer]

A boy called John, who'd been a friend at Primary school, brought a RTBO1 Space Marine into form time, back in October 1989.

And that was that.

First, I borrowed the Warhammer 40,000 Compendium from my mate Martin, fell in love with literally everything about 40K, and got one of the old £3.99 lead dreadnoughts for that year's Xmas. After that, I got into Space Crusade, Warhammer 40K proper, got MASSIVELY into Epic (because Warlord Titans at a playable scale are F**KING AWESOME, and why have one tank when you can have hundreds?) and that was that.

Never enjoyed the social side of the game, largely because every single other person into wargaming was a jerk of almost staggering proportions. Then, when I left school, I got into Vampire: The Masquerade until White Wolf decided money wasn't a thing they wanted to make any more back in 2007 or so, and then I just sort of fell back into wargaming. And while I've tried to get back into actually playing the game, all my attempts to do so have been abortive.

So yeah, it's mostly modelling and the narrative side of the game that I like best.

Although I do still enjoy theoryhammer; it's the only way I get to play the game.