Wot's a sensible age...

[Harry Faversham]

To realistically introduce a child to basic wargaming?
 

[Daeothar]

I played my first games of Hero Quest and Lionheart with my daughter when she was about 5 or 6.

She grasped the mechanics pretty quickly and had fun, but that fun came more from the fact she was playing a game with daddy rather than the game itself. She did paint with me on and off from the age of 3 though, which she did like in and of itself.

Fast forward 6 years and now she's into horse riding and making (stage) masks and is not up for toy soldier games with her dad. But I am still contemplating running a small D&D campaign with her and her friends, so I haven't given up completely yet 

[modelwarrior]

My lads were playing Space Hulk at 6 years old

[Mammoth miniatures]

I got into the hobby via the lord of the rings films in 2001 - I was 7. I've run games for players around that age who were more than able to grasp the rules.

[boneio]

Mine were as early as 4-5. 'Basic' then has to be the key word of course but it was easy enough for me - they live with the house full of wargames gubbins so inevitably they just asked if they could play!

I think that's the real key, let their interest, if they have one, develop naturally. Accordingly my daughter will very occasionally play but mostly isn't bothered about board games, wargames etc., but does love video games. My son on the other hand is a reflection of me and loves the lot 

The other tip is to let them modify the game as it's being played, however they see fit. It's then a little closer to the sort of make-believe play that young children universally engage in. Indeed often after a battle my son will insist that we then do a "free roam" i.e. just use the models as toys and make up a little story.

Ultimately, that's what most wargaming is anyway, so... 

[Hobgoblin]

Yes - five or six. I got back into ALL THIS by painting up some miniatures for my son's sixth birthday, along with the Song of Blades and Heroes rules. We'd dabbled in Brick Wars (a Lego-based wargame) beforehand. Song of Blades proved a huge hit.

Lionheart, which I picked up on a whim (and for a fiver!) a while back, is a great suggestion from Daeothar. I have vague plans to recycle the plastic figures into multi-based elements for TTS and KoW, but we've discovered that penny-based 25mm or 1/72 figures - four to a 50mm square sabot - work perfectly as substitutes for Lionheart itself: a great option if you want to play the game with a more 'wargamey' feel. It would work perfectly with small kids, and it introduces some foundational principles of rank'n'flank games: flanking, support and the like.

Another game that kids can pick up easily (through play rather than rulebook) is Hordes of the Things (or DBA). Set the 'paces' measurement as your base width (or whatever - but make clear how much each element moves), photocopy or print out the table of combat results and it works really well. If the kids have started with Song of Blades, the combat system is essentially the same, so it's an easy switch.

Also, things like Lion/Dragon Rampant and Ravenfeast/One-page Fantasy Skirmish are simple and intuitive. Six-year-olds might not make much sense of Lion Rampant on their own, but they'll have no problem playing in and enjoying a game with some grown-up facilitation.

[v_lazy_dragon]

I've played a slightly streamlined version of Donnybrook with my daughter from about her 6th birthday - we play a lot of boardgames anyway, she regularly choses to play Zombicide and often asks to play wargames too. We typically play stuff on the pulpy-swashbuckling end of the spectrum and switch it up, from Atomic Cafe-esque post apocalypse to Warhammer Fantasty style black powder fantasy 

[Easy E]

My kid and I played a Gorkamorka campaign at about 7. 

[FifteensAway]

Put paint and brush in child's hands along with a model - and be prepared for purple Sherman tanks!  But letting them 'create' something of their own gives them a sense of ownership which MIGHT get them more invested in the hobby.  Worked with my nephew who 30 years on is still going, better painter now of course.

Also, kids don't need rules, they have this magical device called Imagination (as referenced above).  Let them use it.  Pretty sure that's how most in my generation got started - Airfix plastics, Lego buildings, blanket or dirt hills and away we went until somewhere along the way we discovered rules and started down that long road to ruin.

If you can find a copy of the American Heritage book on the American Civil War, or something similar, with its lovely illustrations of battles, might be a great way to whet a kid's appetite for more.  Certainly did it for me, I found that book in a school library at an early age and spent hours and hours drooling over those images.  No doubt that was my largest inspiration - though I have left ACW behind these days, figures sitting forlornly ignored.  If you prefer some other period, maybe an Osprey or three - not the MAA series but the ones with mutliple battle maps types (not sure of series name).

And I have to ask, this question isn't being asked because there is a new grand baby in the mix and as soon as eyes laid upon infant, visions of shopping expeditions entered grandpas head?!  . (or uncle or whatever relationship, neighbor's kid, etc.). 

[HerbertTarkel]

I used to run an all-ages club at a shop for fun. Seemed like somewhere around 10 was the age when the younger players could game and not have to be “babysat” of that makes sense. There were a couple of maybe 9 year olds, but they had brothers.

[infelix]

I didn’t get started until I was about 14 years old (30 years ago) but I’ve run club events with much younger kids and it’s worked great, depending on what rules used of course.

[Will Bailie]

Notwithstanding all the comments above, remember that it depends on the child!  Some kids will love wargaming and some won't.  My firstborn loves the hobby, my second child has zero interest.

[carlos marighela]

Any age really if you explain that the alternatives are being a chimney sweep or garment manufacturing.

Yes, yes, I know there are those pesky child labour laws but it's a hobby you won't be paying them to be your stand-in opponent.

[Cat]

It was about 7 for me with Milton Bradley's American Heritage series of games: Broadside, Battle-Cry, Hit The Beach, and Dogfight.

[Dubar]

I had a Dungeons & Dragons-like game that my kids liked to play when they were 6 and 9, it even came with figures.  My daughter, now 46, asked me yesterday what the name of that game was and for the life of me I can't recall.  She was hell on wheels with that and Monopoly though, and even beat the old Impossible Mission I had for my C-64...Stay a while, stay forever!!! BWAHAHAHAHA