If I Was Starting WARGAMING in 2024 

OPR have recently made all of their paper mini army bundles free for all. What a great way to get people into this hobby.

My bit of advice to a newbiew looking to get into wargames is to ask around the local game shops to find out what is being played. You can watch vidoes online about a cool game, buy, build, and paint an army only to find nobody nearby plays it. Which you can maybe fix by being a game ambassador, but is an extra barrier to entry that a new player probably isn't up to.

Battletech is an incredibly scalable game from 1 on 1 duels to Interstellar campaigns The rules have more or less state the same since the 80s. And the learning curve is not too steep as the rules themselves are scalable. While catalyst game labs does make and sell plastic miniatures metal miniatures are also available. But the best thing about the game is that you don't need miniatures at all if you don't have any.

My advice for people thinking about getting into this hobby? DON’T! For god’s sake, save your money, invest wisely, retire early! I’m 66 and working a part time job to support my addiction to tiny plastic soldiers. It’s too late for me, but you can still save yourself! When you see that Warhammer sign... turn and run. That way leads to financial ruin!

I'm 40 and just getting into wargaming. While I've been on the periphery for a while (all the 40k videogames and books) I was never in a position to actually buy in as the models were crazy expensive and all the supplies to paint them / etc even more so. Plus I lacked a friend group that was interested in that sort of thing. 3d Printing has changed that for me. The hobby is finally within my price range and I love it. I found a local game shop that is friendly to OPR / 3d printed stuff and suddenly I have a reason to buy paints and brushes. It feels fantastic to finally be able to get into wargaming proper.

If I was getting into wargaming today, I'd tell myself to stick with Historicals. You don't have a figure limitation by manufacturer.

I have three tips. First, be goal oriented and start with small goals. It's a big hobby and not all aspects of it appeal to people the same. Find what you like and do that. Second, if your goal is to learn to paint, get a kit that is a basic squad of dudes. It's gonna be your garbage squad. Seriously, you're never gonna use them to game, they're for testing and learning how to play with the paint. Eat the cost, now you're painting with house money. I want to stress that word though so I'll say it again. Learn how to PLAY with the paint. You're doing it for fun, so have fun. It will be SOOOOO much easier to paint when you've figured out what the capabilities of the paint are. It's not JUST about your own talent, it's about what the paints can physically do as well. You want to find that out sooner rather than later. This leads directly into... Tip three, learn how to strip a model. You're going to mess up. You're going to be unhappy with a paint job. You're going to want to start over. Way better to get that out of the way up front than halfway through a project and decide to learn then. Or worse, to never learn and saddle yourself with being unable to fix a mistake or start over.

One advantage to having a cold is I'm awake when the new video dropped. Maybe a follow up video about where to find people to play these indie games.

I picked up all the books for Killteam 2018 for £10 off ebay, some I might not use as much as others but it's now a full self-enclosed game which isn't going to be messed about with balance pat patches etc and I can use random assortments of cool 40k or 40k proxy miniatures that I may have picked up because they're cool or maybe 3d print.

Best advice I can give, though it may be obvious to us already in the hobby, is to see what games your friends would recommend! Any game where you already have a playgroup willing to help you get in to it will be a smoother on-ramp than solo

Great video as always. As the resident middle aged gamer, I'm obliged to mention that Bolt Action from Warlord Games has excellent rules and a good value starter set. Also for historical skirmish games, companies such as Grey for Now games have great value starter sets with some of the best rulesets around. Both are also easy to play, and if you want 'lore' there's always history books, YT history videos and museums too!

My wife and I recently got a 3d resin printer and didn't know about one-page rules. Both the rule sets and models seem like a great start for us! thank you for highlighting this!

I would have to include Mantic's Deadzone Starter Boxes as the perfect, value for money, place to start if a SciFi setting/game is what you're looking for. Great gameplay and no measuring tape required.

Osprey's series of wargaming rules is also a great place to start as well. They tend to be more historical focused, but there are sci-fi and fantasy rules as well. Xeno Rampant is a great, easy to play rule set for sci-fi and lets you port whatever figures you have into the system.

Space Wierdos is the best. A fantastic rules light skirmish game with enough tactical depth to keep things interesting. It is model agnostic too so you can use whatever models you like. It has a great warband builder online and best of all it cost $5 on wargame vault. 5 stars

One thing to add on the $5 rulebooks from OPR - the $5 tier of their Patreon gets you all of the main games for the same price, including the updates when they change the rules. Plus they have an early release for their paper minis as well as scenarios for their main games. (Their most recent scenarios included one where the two opposing forces are protecting each other - I am working that one into a narrative campaign.) That said, if you DO have a 3D printer, their $10 tier is insanely good.

I liked your Innsmouth U shirt so much I tracked it down and bought one for myself. And then I also treated myself to a lovely Pa-Chow! shirt because how could I not?

Buying a board game like zombicide is a great way to get a large quantity of higher quality minis to practice painting. The price per mini is excellent and the box is easy to obtain with no assembly

Have you talked about standees? There's games where you can use standees before committing to big plastic spending. Like the Multi-Award-Winning game Moonstone. Some games even go as far as flat tokens! (Side note it's a like colourful sparkle if I hit like)

Thanks for this! Really been loving all the info I've found online since coming back to the hobby. I appreciate that your channel isn't just about painting/making minis, but also being inspired to work on things and ways to get into the hobby at a good pace. Been trying to take your advice of not buying tons of minis and resisting the urge to Necron all over the place lol. But I have spent a decent amount on paints (curse you army painter speed paints and certain technical paints from Citadel and AK terrain paints for being so fun) and some tools (but feel at least those are good long-term investments) as well as some DnD minis to practice and get better with (found a sweet box on Amazon with 36 various DnD type minis for $30). Definitely going to hit up the stuff you talked about here! Thanks again Atom :)

Adam, sir. You forgot to mention Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game. GW's actual best rule set ;) Maybe not, but still, it is a great option for people who love the LOTR and Hobbit franchise, both books and movies and want to bring that experience to the table top. GW has made a great gaming system that is easy to learn, hard to master and plays well in both small scale skirmish style encounters as well as massive battles. One rule book to rule them all. Additionally, MESBG offers really great game play with the best terrain rules in wargaming IMO. Full disclosure, a lot of the GW sculpts are hard to find or often out of stock. But as you mentioned, 3D printing is alive and well. "And the Printing Goes Ever On" has a great collection of Middle-Earth inspired models that fit nicely into the existing model lineup. I know you like skirmish games. If you haven't explored MESBG, and for you, I'd say Battle Companies would be a great place to start. Maybe even do a video on what you think of the game? Thank you again for all your great content. :D

I could not have thought of a better more inclusive video. Great job! I might suggest part 2: Where to start with terrain/battle mats.

Go straight for two most fun, accessible versions of historical wargaming out there - What A Cowboy & What A Tanker, by Two Fat Lardies, using 28mm mins from a variety of sources

For me I got into Warhammer fantasy and 40k by just reading novels and playing video games(not all of them). I watched a friend of mine went broke because he was so addicted in war gaming to the point that he also paid artists to paint his figurines. Oh boy in a span of 30 years he lost his wife home and living in a tiny apartment...and still into war gaming. 🤗

One Page Rules is 100% a fantastic way to start. I also really like Relicblade by Metal King Studios. Super characterful sculpts, a really simple and fun ruleset, low model count (4-5 models per side) and a 2 foot by 2 foot play area. And anybody coming from RPGs finds a lot of familiar things to like combined with new things to explore. Thanks for the vidya Uncle Atom

Yes please keep up the every friday videos! I LOVE these!

Great video, really appreciate the good work your doing to bring people to the table (literally). Personally, despite being a 40k fan boy since '87, I tend to direct people away from GW to start, simply because its the most expensive way to get into wargames and that puts them off once the initial hook buzz wears off. Mantic, Warlord Games, One Page Rules, all great options. If you START with the idea in your head that "everything comes from one company and this is expensive" it's very off putting, but if you start with "I can buy what I want from where I want and budget how I choose to" you are more likely to stick arround BUT it CAN be overwhelming at the same time!

Thanks for all the great tips!

Lending my voice to the growing crew of Mantic recommeders. Great company, great games, and now great models also.

Appreciate the mention of Corvus Games Terrain Adam!

Great suggestions! Thanks Uncle!!

your voice is so soothing and calming. i love it thank's for being here.

Nice video. Very helpful video. That OPR rules and sheet is super helpful. Keep up the good work.

I love how you are always down to earth with advice to new people, keep up the good content.

appreciated this video. wasn't aware of Only-Games, that's huge.

I am getting away from WM40k/WHF I have not played in a long time BUT the OPR sounds like a way I can use my old armies. Keep up the good work you do Sir.

Alwys helpful and informative. Keep up the good work.

Like stompy robots? BattleTech starter box is $60. Comes with 13 unpainted units and everything you need to play right out of the box hour 1. There are two tiers of starter boxes even cheaper and still contains everything you need to go from square one. In depth lore and universe info all free online. 40 years of heavy metal mayhem baby.

Thanks for all these wonderful recs on minis! I may have to finally try Warcry

Spot on! Particularly the non GW parts. Good stuff as always.

Some of the Mantic starter sets are a fantastic value. Firefight, Dead zone and Kings of War are really great

Excellent video detailing starting options for new/returning players. There are a lot of great options for miniatures and rule sets out there these days and having a good starting point for research will help those not familiar with the current gaming landscape.

I’m not new but this was a great video! It helped to take a step back and look at the whole environment with a new person’s eyes. Thank you!

I think painting puts me off quite a lot with having a family now and other various adult responsibility things that sap my time. I love tabletop so find myself drawn to ready made painted games. Got very into x-wing and attack wing for that reason. Simply set up and play. Love your videos man, thank you for the insights - some very useful stuff here, as always.

I think a good bit of beginner advice is: wargaming is at its heart, a social hobby (unless you go the solo-gaming only route). So find local players/playing locations, or friends interested in gaming and see what common interests you have. You're more likely to get something off the ground of you're not the only one carrying the torch.

Space Weirdos and Frostgrave FTW. That's what I have been learning and playing this fall and winter.

You covered this topic well. Start small, play often, grow your collection with the energy and excitement that you get from being with friends at the table. Thx!

Thabks man. I love your shirt

OPR is really great. I started for the kids, I wasn't a wargamer, but now I've got printers, miniatures, and paints everywhere. Very relaxing hobby and Speed Paints are great for the less skilled.

I just always love your videos!

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

100% agree with the Warcry recommendation. Its also nice in that if want to do various types of models you can purchase very few of them and do lots of different types that you can field for a game.

6:42 I just finished my Bulldogs kit and they're incredible also GET OUT OF MY WALLS GET OUT OF MY WALLS GET OUT OF MY WALLS

From my experience, the most important step is finding a club or group of friends who you like gaming with. Your hobby time is precious. Spend it with gamers who's company you enjoy. The game system is secondary.

I’d like to quickly shout out a tabletop game that is inexpensive to get into but doesn’t get mentioned much on this channel: BattleTech You can pick up The Game of Armored Combat Box Set and have everything you need for long time. Lots of nice plastic minis & extra standees, maps, dice, the rule book, etc. Great value.

A couple of my friends are thinking about getting back into tabletop miniature games so I’m trying to convince them to try out Forbidden Psalm (as opposed to them getting back into 40k 🤢). FP is a pretty simple game with a good bit of grim humour and it’s miniature agnostic. Need very little to actually get into the game as you can proxy the enemies and your warbands are only 5 models. My favourite game of recent years (coming from a 30+ years hobby veteran and I played 40k for over 20 years).

Interesting video again. I would check second hand sites/shops, stuff like that too. And it's definitely fireworks you get.

Fantastic video! I wish when I first started out that I had access to more starter sets. I think they're amazing for those just starting to get into the hobby and it's something that most companies don't do well. They include a rulebook and two armies. What's not to like?!

Loved your video thank you for informing me of so many different things I never knew and also I found out that my best way of being able to do World War II miniature tabletop wargaming is by just getting regular plastic army men from like when you got when you were a child and just painting them it's like a fraction of the price and you get so much more and so much variety and my best websites to get them or Amazon and BMC toys❤

This is definitely the video for me. I haven’t gotten into the craft side yet, mostly playing 5PH on a virtual tabletop.

Great big picture explanation

As someone new to hobby, perfect video.

As a stingy hobbyist who’s amassed a huge collection for very cheap, i can recommend playing games in smaller scales. There is an absolute wealth of indie games that work in most scales, and the price difference from 15mm minis and 28mm is immense

Magic word in all of this: Proxy. Every mini on the table is a token to represent a unit/model in the rules. Helps bells, you could use dollar store army men to represent terminators if your just getting started.

If someone is coming into wargaming from TTRPGs, especially D&D, I'd recommend starting out with Frostgrave and/or Rangers of Shadowdeep. Both games are by the same author, and use essentially the same mechanics. Frostgrave pits players against one another in skirmishes between 10-figure warbands, while Rangers is a solo or cooperative game with a strong roleplay/campaign aspect. Both games are model agnostic, and can be played with your existing D&D figure collection. If you've been playing D&D without miniatures, you can use the inexpensive WizKids models made for D&D, as well as the excellent and very reasonably-priced Frostgrave miniatures from North Star Miniatures. And of course you can play either game with 3D printed miniatures as well. The rules for creating warbands in both games are specific about the equipment each figure carries, but vague about what species the figures represent, so you can make your warband all human, all dwarves or elves, or whatever floats your boat. I played Frostgrave a couple of weeks ago against a warband made up of GW Skaven (ratmen). Bottom line, Frostgrave and Rangers of Shadowdeep are both excellent bridge games to help a TTRPG player move into wargaming with minimal stress over rules, play styles, or miniatures.

The games I would recommend for a new player for fantasy are frostgrave oathmark and warcry for sci-fi based games I would recommend infinity x-wing and the one page rules for 40k. stargrave is also ok but it's not as balanced as it's frostgrave counterpart. Also anyone getting into RPG games I would highly recommend castles and crusades

Thanks for the video. The “Made in Wisconsin “ is awesome.

I think I need a friend!😂

This was great. I can see where a gameshop could own some 3d printers and print out units to a couple of miniatures systems, whatever is popular, and run events for it.

Great video -thanks

Have you seen the newly announced Spearhead boxes for AOS? looks like they are preparing for those Combat Patrol equivalents ahead of 4th edition already!

players.. friends, and good habits. Each time I play a game, it gave me purpose on the next hobby session. Even if 80% of my time spent tabletop gaming is the "'hobby" side. Each game motivate my next painting session.

one page rules is more than one page of rules

Great Video! I think a person new to tabletop miniature gaming needs to look for a game that appeals to their interests. That could be a game derived from a book, a movie, a TV show, or something else entirely. If you already have a friend or two who shares that interest, then all the better. And if you have local hobby or game store that has game tables and an existing group that plays games like the ones you like, that's an added bonus - one that will keep you working on getting your miniatures ready for the tabletop. It also helps to have kindred spirits to bounce your ideas off of, and to get their input, as you do the same for them. I doubt that I would have improved my hobby skills working on my own, and learning about all of the different products being made around the world is so much easier if you aren't doing it all alone! Two companies that I would add to the list of plastic kit manufacturers would be Fireforge Games and Renedra Ltd. Great stuff from both of these companies over the past few years, Fireforge for miniatures, and Renedra for terrain.

I really love your videos, calming and the voice of reason. I absolutely loved warhammer as a teen (i'm from Nottingham). The price is so offputting and having worked at the warehouse, i'm massively disappointed by the companies culture. That said I'd still love to get back into it one day, although it's time and space consuming. Can you do a video on storage solutions at home. All the best.

Watching your video as a dinosaur from One Page Rules 3d prints on my P1S. Glad to know I'm doing the right things as a newbie.

My tip for a beginner: Listen to your heart, do what makes you happy.

I started years ago with Frostgrave and D&D and board game minis. Now with 3D printing the possibilities are nearly endless for minis. The "sad" thing is that I ended playing Warhammer (both AoS and 40K) because all my friends and other groups in nearby town played Warhammer so it was easier to find players. But I still wish we would play some of those indie skirmish games that are less "crunchy" and more casual. At least Warcry does that for me and I also think it is the best ruleset from GW.

Love the Innsmouth U t-shirt!

love the fighting deep ones t-shirt

If I were staying in 2024, I'd stop immediately, or go 100% 3d printing. The cost of almost everything is ridiculous. $0.56 of plastic goes for $170. No thank you.

Step 1: Find a friend who is willing to start with you. Even better, find a group of friends who are willing to start with you. Decide on a game and then support and encourage each other.

Total agreement - *especially* about OPR!

I would suggest the Rampant series from Osprey. One of the appeals of Whammer etc is the rules are similar to each other so you can easily learn. The same goes for the Rampant series but they are miniature agnostic and have a great system for fielding any models you like.

I love D&D and have started a a little hoard of terrain and miniatures that I create/paint. Wargaming is something that I have wanted to get into but have not really had a lot of luck. I bought 5 factions for an Oop wargame to host games for my friends and it always fell through. That sucked. There are a few stores that are like 45 minutes away but they are very Warhammer heavy.

I would get into Pulp Alley. It's the most fun set of rules I've played in 30+ years. And one doesn't need to paint masses of figures. Beyond that, maybe a WW1 naval wargame like Fleet Action Imminent. I use laser cut MDF buildings and ships, and some diecast or plastic toys.

Thanks Uncle!

Check if you can afford the hobby before doing ANYTHING. Then check if what game you like is actualy played where you live , assuming you want to play.

Godtear. If I was starting wargaming in 2024 I would be looking at Godtear. Choice and interest are massive factors though, and as others have said, depending on what your friends/FLGS are playing and what your interests are (medieval, fantasy, sci-fi, modern warfare, ect.) then you are spoilt for choice.

Opr and 3d printing is the way if you’re starting today for sure

I just got started with Warhammer 40K over the holidays after lookig from afar for about 2 decades, and I started with the Introductory Box (comes with 5 Space Marines, 11 Tyranids, some paint, a brush, and little intro book) as well as an Army Painter intro set (paints, glue, snips, etc.). There was some overlap between the 2 boxes, but it was a good jumping off point. However, I just managed to get my hands on a Kill Team: Salvation box, which I think if I had to go back, I would've rather had started with than the intro box. The price isn't too outrageous (and 10% less at my local hobby shop), and having the models as well as a full-on game that can be played with them seems like an ideal place to start. The Intro Box I got has instructions for a little game with the minis it came with, too, but it doesn't seem nearly as comprehensive as the Kill Team game. Other than that, I've been definitely going with the build an army piece by piece, route. As for 3D printing, I'm really kinda on the fence about it. Apart from the cost, set-up, noxious fumes/chemicals, etc., one of the things that really interested me in this hobby was also the modeling side of it and not just the painting and game side of it. And I get the impression that 3D painting is more for the painting enthusiast than the model enthusiast (but I could be completely wrong on this). I can see the value of having something that can print extra pieces or custom bits *for* models, but that by itself doesn't justify a 3D printer to me. I'd rather keep practicing and experimenting with green stuff/epoxy sculpting.

Cool as always. 👍

I think a cool follow up video would be "what kind of gamer will you be?" Now that you've got some models and you've played a game how will you interact with the hobby? Will you be a tournament player? A pick-up game player? A narrative player? What scale will you play in regards to warband size or in regards to physical figure scale? What do these terms mean? What games fit well into these categories?

Interesting shirt design!

Damn, I pressed that like, was scared at first no gonna lie and I was surprised by the feeling of showing my appreciation😮 Interesting🤔😁

Damn. I just started collecting Cities of Sigmar because the idea of narrative play and the dawnbringer crusades grabbed my attention

For people looking at AoS, i would recommend the Harbinger set. Comes with 400 points worth of Stormcast Vs Orruks, a Mat, set of the core rules, set of die. All the basics. You can also combine it with the smaller 'Warrior' set for 600 point armies. Definitely the most approachable jumping off point for AoS at the moment. Though 4th edition will likely bring some revisions soon.

Dan Carlin is the reason I’m here. This is the first piece of media I’ve listened/ read on wargaming. I’m sure everyone else has noticed but this dude needs to narrate audiobooks. Silky smooth voice

I got in to infinity recently and played their code one version which restricts rules alot. Slowly added in rules until I was playing with the full N4 rule set. Quite budget to get in to and not loads of minis to paint which I appreciate!

Great breakdown. I am looking to get my son into 40k. This will help