Any teens here?

[best75]

I am only 14 and I have been wondering if there are any other teens out there who play wargames as none of my friends have interest in the games I have.

[Wadeshervin]

I am not a teen, but yes i too love playing games.

[Dragoon.]

Wow that is young for a wargamer. I think most people here are in their thirty-somethings. My serious war gaming started with Gary Grigsby Pacific War Matrix Edditon, and according to the creation date of my Matrix Forum account this was 11 years ago when I was 25.
Maybe you find some more like minded people in you age range at the Matrixgames or the forum at Wargamer.com

http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/
http://www.wargamer.com/

[IainMcNeil]

I started when I was 6

I was 10 before I won my first competition though!

[MrsWargamer]

I have never met a teen wargamer.

Sadly it seems a doomed situation.

As for predominant age, I think instead of 30 somethings, you might mean 50 somethings Because to be honest, I think I am likely able to say I don't really know any wargamers in their 20s or 30s either We tend to consider the 40 something the 'youngun' in this hobby.

But it is always nice to know there is some interest in the young.

[Dragoon.]

I started when I was 6

I was 10 before I won my first competition though!

You mean playing wargames? If I may inquire, board or video game and which one?

I have never met a teen wargamer.

Sadly it seems a doomed situation.

As for predominant age, I think instead of 30 somethings, you might mean 50 somethings Because to be honest, I think I am likely able to say I don't really know any wargamers in their 20s or 30s either We tend to consider the 40 something the 'youngun' in this hobby.

But it is always nice to know there is some interest in the young.

Most people I know switched to playing wargames at a later stage of their life. All were already playing various strategy games, and as live progress and "age" comes , they developed a desire for more serious, slow pacing but more complex games.

I myself are an history lover. During my army time I started to read history books on the job out of pure boredom. When my service ended and got back home I looked for computer games that portrait realistically historic conflicts. I already knew Matrixgames because the free Steel Panthers Matrix Edition, and people there after I described what game I wanted pointed me towards Pacific War.

I remember after reading half the manual, I thought what mad man has programed this crap and only monks of the monastery order of self-hate and flagellation would play this game. The complexity was so overwhelming and I deiced to kick it, but I keep browsing the manual and there is a history section in the manual. Describing the events leading to the war. That got me so interested and enthusiastic to replay the events, that I went through learning the manual and playing the Guadalcanal campaign. That's when I got hooked up to serious wargames.
I have to admit even I own WitP AE, I find myself often go back to Pacific War for the old time sake. Just planing the whole Japaneses invasion in my mind and then load the game and put it in motion is really fun for me.

[MrsWargamer]

I think there is a fundamental difference between a serious wargamer, and a serious wargame

My first game was Tactics II, but I was seriously hooked on serious challenges. Then it was Midway, and after that Squad Leader and Third Reich.

Generally a serious wargame will demand a wargamer be a serious wargamer in order to really give it any serious interest.

I for instance can't take anything shooter of RTS seriously, as they don't demand anything serious from me.

Of course, some games go to far with the serious. I can get just as much challenge from Strategic Command as I can from War in the East. But one takes no effort to learn to play, and as a result is more likely to end up actually being played. But both can be equally difficult to win in vs a thinking person.

But games like Hearts of Iron, I find impossible to take seriously, they are too wrapped up in their belief that no turns makes them more real. And the only thing they offer to make them difficult, is a morass of micromanagement tedium.

I get very annoyed when games are labeled as 'dummied down' all because it doesn't take a think manual to explain the interface. The interface doesn't determine the challenge of the game, it only determines the page count of the game manual. The challenge of the game comes from how hard was it to win against another person.

How serious the wargamer is, will determine low much effort they will tolerate in tedium to play a simulation.
How 'skilled' a wargamer is, will decide though how hard it is to beat them.

[Toby42]

I started playing wargames when they first became available commercially. Avalon Hill, SPI, GDW, etc. First computer game was Midway on the Commodore 64! And no, I'm not a teenager

[rjh1971]

First time I played a board war game I was ten and became fascinated, in fact I got that game for my eleventh birthday. Looking back it couldn't be a more simple game The Second World War commercialised by a company called NAC. One of the hardest things was to find an opponent,I had to play solo games. Computer games solved the opponent player but we all know the AI limitations, internet and PBEM or online play definitely solved the problem. Wish I was a teenager now and had all the spare time I had then!!! LOL

[l3gacy]

I am only 14 and I have been wondering if there are any other teens out there who play wargames as none of my friends have interest in the games I have.

I don't know anyone that even remotely likes wargames either, I am not that old either, less then a decade older than you

[best75]

I Mainy play on iPad and the thing is when I show a friend the game I play they say" That looks boring".
Maybe wargames are not visual appealing enough for them?

[IainMcNeil]

I was playing tabletop wargames from 6 though initially all I did was roll the dice

We used WRG 6th Edition at the time though also played later versions and DBM, Napoleonic, WW2 etc.

[timmy1]

I am not a teenager but started tabletop wargaming before I was a teenager - when Charge! was published so I would have been about 11.

btw for those who don't know Iain, the comment about winning his first competition does not cover the whole story. Iain may well have been the youngest ever wargamer to represent the UK, as well as being the youngest ever world champion...

[colleen88]

a young teenager wargame huh, I am not teen also when I was a teenager the only war game I played is command and conquer Generals.

[cupoftea]

I'm 11 and I prefer Wargaming over FPS. Age doesn't really matter.

[operating]

I think every age group appreciates computer war games. The one thing a computer does not do: discriminates from man, woman, younger or older, but as a MP player; all I expect is someone who is competent in a given game.

[Dennis56]

Don't worry, bro. I also started playing wargames when I was 18 (late teen). I think playing wargame earlier or later in your age doesn't matter, as long as you like it. It's your own interest. you can read more about what I am doing and how I live in my blogg

[Jenny90]

I think there are a lot of teens out here, but mainly the late teenagers, because most of under 16 y.o guys don't like this kind of game, there are several other games out there that more lure them.

[CGGrognard]

I started out with the "bookcase" war games in my early teens and was happy as these began to transition into computer games. No lost counter "chips".

[Gilmer]

Not a teen, but I became interested in war games as a teenager. I read Toland's The Rising Sun and had seen Midway and Tora! Tora! Tora! and became fascinated with the U.S. Navy. I bought Flattop. I had no one to play it with, so played it solo, as much as possible. I also read the Herman Wouk fiction on WW2 and King Rat as a teenager, so I was fascinated by WW2 in general as a kid.

I'd say I was about 14-15 at the time.