My husband brought home a dark red cardboard box that was no bigger than a schoolbook. When I found out the little rat warrior miniatures in the box weren’t for any Dungeons and Dragons story line we were playing, but instead were for a wargame called Warhammer, I quickly lost interest in what my husband was doing…until he started getting into my polymer clay to make unique bases for each miniature, and into my paints and paintbrushes to bring out the detail of the characters. Then, I started thinking, maybe this game is for me.
Warhammer is a miniatures war game that is (from my observations) predominately played by 25-50 year old males. Thankfully, I was not terribly nervous about joining an escalation tournament in a local league. It’s sad there aren’t as many women as men playing this game. There are so many reasons to play!
7 reasons as a wife, mom, or woman that you should play Warhammer:
- Strategy – As a mom, it is always important to not let your strategic skills drop to a non-adult level.
- Spacial reasoning – Use game play as an opportunity to hone your interior decorating skills. If you can deploy and march your miniatures army effectively, imagine how efficiently you could arrange your living space or pack luggage.
- Spirited debate – Even with a four year old I feel like I am constantly arguing with a teenager. There is a fine line between arguing and debating, but one game of Warhammer normally contains at least one rules debate.
- Adult time – Let’s be honest: it’s fun to play games with the kids, but how many games of Candyland can you take?
- Carnage – After a long day, you just want to go ‘Office Space’ on something – ANYTHING! What better way than with dice and fantasy creatures!
- Date – Chances are, if you are starting to play Warhammer as a mom, you know someone else who plays it as well. If the person you know is your husband, make it a date night! If you are lacking a significant other to play with, there are a good number of nice single guys who play (and would probably think it’s totally HOT that a single girl plays or wants to learn).
- Art – Okay, even if you aren’t for imagined blood and carnage, there is an artistic side to this game. You pick your army, you assemble them and you paint them. If you don’t like what a member of your unit looks like, find what you like and create it. You are given complete artistic license over what your army looks like.
I should probably point out that Warhammer Fantasy is a different game from Warhammer 40,000. Warhammer 40,000, or 40k, is a futuristic space-themed game that attracts a younger crowd than Fantasy (‘tween and teen age boys are much more likely to play 40k), but I choose to play a game that I can share company with a (generally) more age appropriate crowd, at least in my area.
I looked at all of the armies and chose to play a Lizardmen army. What army will you choose?
I am not a Warhammer gamer, but I wish I knew someone who was looking to paint & model minis. That isn’t my skill set– than heavens for the pre-painted plastic WotC minis, I say– but I like knowing people who do it. What being said, I’m still partial to 40k’s brand of madness.
My 8 year old son recently got hooked on Warhammer 40k and needed an opponent. I now find myself assembling and painting minis in my spare time. I used to mock Warhammer players thinking they took D&D a bit too far. But the game really is a perfect mix of D&D, modeling, and board gaming. There is also a Lord of the Rings version of Warhammer as well! Great fun for families since there are so many armies that each family member can pick one to play! My son and I use Legos for our “battlefields” currently but pretty much anything can be used. I can not recommended Warhammer enough!
I am not a Warhammer gamer, but I wish I knew someone who was looking to paint & model minis. That isn’t my skill set– than heavens for the pre-painted plastic WotC minis, I say– but I like knowing people who do it. What being said, I’m still partial to 40k’s brand of madness.
My 8 year old son recently got hooked on Warhammer 40k and needed an opponent. I now find myself assembling and painting minis in my spare time. I used to mock Warhammer players thinking they took D&D a bit too far. But the game really is a perfect mix of D&D, modeling, and board gaming. There is also a Lord of the Rings version of Warhammer as well! Great fun for families since there are so many armies that each family member can pick one to play! My son and I use Legos for our “battlefields” currently but pretty much anything can be used. I can not recommended Warhammer enough!
My boyfriend and I like to play. I too got interested in the painting and modeling aspect. I find that the models as well seem to be better in fantasy. My first army I painted was for his Christmas present one year; an autumn themed wood elf army. I am currently finishing his wood elves as well as working on my army. I decided to go with dark elves. Your lizardmen look great!
My boyfriend and I like to play. I too got interested in the painting and modeling aspect. I find that the models as well seem to be better in fantasy. My first army I painted was for his Christmas present one year; an autumn themed wood elf army. I am currently finishing his wood elves as well as working on my army. I decided to go with dark elves. Your lizardmen look great!
Thanks! I seem to play a lot of wood elves. Which is fun. That’s awesome that you painted up a set for a Christmas present!
I took a huge break and moved on to other games, but I’m still going to do the tournament with my hubby this year.
“Warhammer is a miniatures war game that is (from my observations) predominately played by 25-50 year old males”
If you have a Games Workshop store in your area you should have a look on a weekend or during the school holidays. Here in the UK I would say that the game is mostly played by 8-14 year old males.
The stores in the UK run sessions to teach players how to play and paint their miniatures, and run games sessions most evenings and weekends, and all through the school holidays.
I have to disagree about this: Its only the official stores that are overrun by kids, and most of them probably play 40k. You just have to look for independant retailers, local gaming clubs and similar stuff. Only go into a GW store if you dont have an alternative 😉
I’d believe it in the UK. Here in the US (especially where I live on the west coast) Fantasy is primarily an older crowd. Even tournaments are mostly 21 and over.
“Warhammer is a miniatures war game that is (from my observations) predominately played by 25-50 year old males”
If you have a Games Workshop store in your area you should have a look on a weekend or during the school holidays. Here in the UK I would say that the game is mostly played by 8-14 year old males.
The stores in the UK run sessions to teach players how to play and paint their miniatures, and run games sessions most evenings and weekends, and all through the school holidays.
I have to disagree about this: Its only the official stores that are overrun by kids, and most of them probably play 40k. You just have to look for independant retailers, local gaming clubs and similar stuff. Only go into a GW store if you dont have an alternative 😉