A while back we were talking on the Baccus forum about how to get kids and wives going in wargaming and the subject of Heroscape came up. I thought I would throw it up here in case anyone was interested in learning a bit about it. It is a game by a major toy maker, but get this, it is actually pretty good! Seriously!
Real purist wargamers will cringe at first sight, but it is a great way to get kids into gaming.
It is very simple. The battles are all fought in Valhalla. Any great warriors from any time period can show up for battle, including mythical creatures and races. So your Redcoats may have to deal with dragons and robots!
The rules are easy to learn but there is a VERY sinister strategy element, and believe me, it can be quite fun for even the oldest Grognard if given a chance. The real benefits come when your kids start nagging you to be included in your historical games because they are hooked on gaming. Best of all, even my wife will jump in and play this game from time to time with the kiddos, and it shows her the value of my wargaming hobby in general so she doesn't gripe about it. Wargaming is a great hobby for kids because it promotes reading and math. One of mine simply had no interest in either until he got into gaming. Well, problem over, he's a bloody rule lawyer now. My kids started gaming with this game at about 5 or 6 years of age, and they still play it regularly in addition to all the historical stuff they now do with me. My garage is regularly packed with several 10 year olds gaming after school instead of sitting in front of a TV. But now it is 40K, Nuts!, Fantasy, and Napoleonics. This is a good thing in my opinion, and this is the goofy little game that started them off.
Good points on kids and gaming, I will definitively play games with my kids, when the day comes.
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