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Post by muddypaw on Dec 19, 2010 22:13:40 GMT -5
I am planning my first game with my son over the holidays. He a rabid devourer of gamei books and models though so far has little interest in actual gaming itself...so to remedy that I plan a game using models and a genre I know he likes.
So, Star Wars Bounty!
He will be playing a Merc crew made up of Grievous, droid bodyguards and some battle droids facing off against Kenobi, wookies and clone troopers. We will be using pre-paints (boo hiss!) and a nice looking desert board with a scattering of adobe buildings and the edge of a small space port.
The scenario will be the Escort mission. The good guys have captured a separatist spy and must get him to the shuttle craft at the far end of the board. Grievous must kill the spy before he can be taken off world and blab his secrets.
I want to keep it simple and fast. Any tips on running a game for someone with little table top experience would be appreciated. I hope the familiar genre (Star Wars), nice looking scenery and a fast game (where he will probably win as I've slightly stacked the crews in his favour)) will win him over to the Dark Side so to speak, when I can then widen his horizons to Bounty proper... If it goes well I plan on dragging my partner into games too ;D
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Post by Darkson on Dec 20, 2010 0:04:18 GMT -5
You go. Let us know how your plan goes.  |
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Post by abbysdad on Dec 20, 2010 1:54:49 GMT -5
What a great idea! The guy to ping about this is Tom Kiley. He is the king of gamer dads everywhere. But here are a few things that have worked well for me when doing similar things with my kids. 1-explain the rules, play with the rules, but don't let them get in the way of having a good time. If your kid goes off and comes up with an awesome story during the game about what their guys are doing, roll with it. Even if the rules say it wouldn't work that way. If you both leave the table smiling and the kid asks about when you can do it again, you did it just right  2-don't have too many rules up front, and make as many similar things as possible for easy memory. Make all the cover count the same. Don't use difficult terrain. Ignore the focused attack option in CC. Those things can easily be included later, but the first time out, don't worry about them. 3-let the kid come up with their own strategy and talk to them about it, not in a condescending way. Sounds funny, but, games are a really useful tool for kids to think through a problem with minimalconsequences. Let them think it out, and don't jump in with an obvious piece of advice the first time. Let them figure it out for themselves, and when they ask you can to them talk about what can happen and let them decide. Those are the big three for me. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out. Happy Holidays, Chris |
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Post by varagon on Dec 20, 2010 4:13:10 GMT -5
I've taught my ten (just turned ten in November) year-old daughter how to play Warmachine and Bounty is next on my list. I think the Bounty rules work a lot better than some other tabletop games will for younger kids.
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Post by muddypaw on Dec 20, 2010 14:38:13 GMT -5
Mines the same age. Well, 11 actually. Sheesh, time flies by so fast! I will let you all know how it goes. I plan on keeping it fast and fun with a little bit of 'creative' play on my part, to make the escorted VIP a little rash and liable to rush into danger I gave him the mission outline and his eyes lit up, a crafty look came over his face and he started to say how he planned to take out the VIP, but then clammed up not wanting to blab his 'cunning as a fox who is Professor of Cunning' plan. I think it should go well. I agree on Bounty being at the low end of complexity. I mean that in a good way, it's fast flowing and streamlined compared to many rules sets out there, and I think a good start for a young 'un. It also has one of the best 'army' creation rules I know, along with AEWWII. |
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Post by TrueRonin on Dec 20, 2010 21:28:16 GMT -5
My daughter is only four but she has taken a liking to my "live-roleplaying" gear. She runs around the house with my "spellbook" in one hand and the other hand craddles a ricebag. She's yelling "FIREBALL" in a dramatic voice while she tosses the damned ricebag thing at me. She is quite adept at ambushing the crap outta me while I'm infront of the computer too.
I had hoped my daughter would continue down the princess route with toys and stuff, but she seems quite addamant in her wishes to follow me out in the weekends though she is still to young. But the way things are going she will be painting models and rolling dice with daddy when she grows older and not put on her mothers make-up and play dress-up in her clothes. *sigh*
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Post by dijit80 on Dec 21, 2010 7:40:13 GMT -5
There are many worse things for our children to get involved in than wargaming and roleplaying. I hope one day my two year will follow in the same path.
Duncan
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Post by TrueRonin on Dec 21, 2010 8:18:07 GMT -5
I guess you're right Duncan... I am just a vain father who wants more for his children than I've had myself. But besides a good education and a firm grasp of etics/fairness, the only thing we can give them is our love and guidance, while they prepare to go through life. |
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Post by abbysdad on Dec 21, 2010 9:58:24 GMT -5
Those are good things to give. But don't forget ice cream and Teddy bears As for following in someone's footsteps, time will tell. My three love my hobbies and the stories I write for them and the pictures I draw. Buy do they like them because I'm spending time with them? Because I make it fun which is of course because I like doing it? Is it because they are my children and are predisposed to like similar things? Who knows? All three were curious about what I had been writing lately so we had an impromptu play test session last night. It went great until the baby ate the bad guys and drooled on the terrain! |
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Post by muddypaw on Dec 22, 2010 11:42:50 GMT -5
Well, just finished the game a couple of hours ago and it was a great success ;D He spent the half hour before avidly reading up Dirty Tricks and Gear working out what to give his crew, and telling me he had a cunning plan but refusing to tell me what it is! The game was over shockingly fast, the whole thing taking about an hour. Fast and very bloody. Set up on my left flank with the troopers (hired guns with Beam rifle) and clone commander (specialist). The spy and Obi Wan (sergeant with Unkillable hero type) are hugging the far left of the board. Facing them are four battle droids (hired guns wit Beam LRF). Obi Wan planned to hold off the droids while the spy dashed for the oppposite board edge, where a ship waited.  The wookies took the right flank (Cutters) facing off against Grievous (Sergeant with Brute hero type) and two guards (Veteran cutters). They were not expecting to last long but might hold up Grievous for a turn or two.   Obi Wan moves up quickly to face the battle droids, hoping to take them down fast.  The wookies moved up into cover and were quickly engaged by Greivous. They lasted a turn before the inevitable happened and Wookie blood flew.  Obi Wan survies a blasting from the Battle Droids but not unscathed. Light sabre clashes against droid armour but with a string of terrible rolls he fails to do any damage!  Next turn the weight of fire takes down the Jedi who falls unconscious under concerted blaster fire. Kenobi is down!  The clone troopers and commander retreat as Grievous and guards close in, blasters firing all the while. Grievous takes a couple of blaster bolts to the chest but carries on defiantly.  With Kenobi down, the droids close in on the fleeing spy.  He doesn't stand a chance. The air filled with blaster beams, he falls to the ground, a charred mass, his secrets gone to the grave with him.  My son was rather delighted at the outcome, and some well deserved smack talk and gloating commenced...... With the main objective achieved (the spy down) and the secondary objective also a success (Kill Kenobi!) the result was a resounding victory for the bad guys, a crushing defeat for the good guys. It was a great success. We both had a great time, after an intitial wobbly start after my son complained all his forces were a bit rubbish. He soon changed his tune as the wookies and Kenobi both fell in consecutive turns with barely a dent in his own forces. We are planning a follow up mission to rescue Kenobi from the clutches of Grievous. He is already planning how to convert his own miniature collection into Bounty Crews. I have high hopes for the game |
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Post by dijit80 on Dec 22, 2010 13:46:09 GMT -5
Sounds like it was a huge success! Now all you have to o is get his mates into it and the next generation of your wargming club is born Seriously though it looks a great game with some nice terrain and a perfect outcome. Duncan |
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Post by TrueRonin on Dec 22, 2010 15:39:48 GMT -5
One thing that strikes me a bit odd in this setup is the fact that the Republic Spy is trying to get onboard Slave-1, and not run away from it. Sounds like you had a great time playing the game, and I hope you'll be able to redo the success at a later time with the kids mates too. Inspiring to read about your efford to spend time with your kid, thank you for sharing. |
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Post by varagon on Dec 22, 2010 15:49:02 GMT -5
One thing that strikes me a bit odd in this setup is the fact that the Republic Spy is trying to get onboard Slave-1, and not run away from it. Sounds like you had a great time playing the game, and I hope you'll be able to redo the success at a later time with the kids mates too. Inspiring to read about your efford to spend time with your kid, thank you for sharing. That old thing? They stole the keys before trying to make their escape! |
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Post by Cilionelle on Dec 22, 2010 23:23:41 GMT -5
That was awesome! Poor old Obiwan...
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cybogoblin
Sergeant
Monkeys + guns = awesome
Posts: 332
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Post by cybogoblin on Dec 26, 2010 6:16:40 GMT -5
As for following in someone's footsteps, time will tell. My three love my hobbies and the stories I write for them and the pictures I draw. Buy do they like them because I'm spending time with them? Because I make it fun which is of course because I like doing it? Is it because they are my children and are predisposed to like similar things? Who knows? My late father was the one who set me on the road to gaming. He was a railroad hobbyist, but also had some Airfix WWII kits that he let me put together. That love of Airfix was important when I joined high school and my first social studies teacher was similarly inclined. He even gave me a few kits to put together for him. I also met up with people who were into a game called 40k, and the rest is history. Long story short, if your kids like the hobby then they'll stick with it. Don't force it on them, but definitely encouage them if they like it. |
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