Posted by Anzelak on 2014-01-05 04:02:25

With the amazing picture in your profile in mind, I'd say 11/12 is probably a decent age to expect kids to start getting into BB properly. Younger than this and you might struggle to keep their attention.

I'm a teacher and I run an after school club for some year 7 kids (11/12) at my school. They have a blast.

However, have a look at this: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/1064845/blood-bowl-living-rulebook <<< What the hell do I know?

Posted by Jeffro on 2014-01-05 06:51:44

I taught my 7 year old how to play and he loves it. He'll watch me play FUMBBL, we paint models (I gave him my plastic orcs and humans from 3rd Edition because I still had my 2nd edition metal minis). We also mix it up by playing Bloodbowl Team Manager because he can play that as well as I can. It keeps his interest in the "world of Bloodbowl"...

That being said, I don't really play a simplified version with him (kinda)... I give him options and let him roll the dice. I bring in rules for skills as they come (Block, Dodge, Pass, Catch, Mighty Blow, Sure Hands, Sidestep... I think that's all we've covered so far). But it's mainly about giving him the best opportunity to succeed without just "letting" him beat me. He couldn't play on his own by any means... doesn't mean we can't have fun playing together :)

Posted by Badoek on 2014-01-05 07:56:03

my daughter (3 years old) practically begs me to play "that difficult game". We use it to count but she loves to throw the block dice :)

Posted by roante on 2014-01-05 11:05:25

Great question!

There was a thread at TalkFantasyFootball forum I believe you will find interesting:

"My Son's first day with Blood Bowl":
http://www.talkfantasyfootball.org/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=38425

And there are "cute" tabletop teams available, for instance the Holloweeenies team from Greebo:

http://www.greebo.it/public/oscommerce2/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=129

Although on second thought I wouldn't give zombos to a 3 years old girl :-)))

Posted by Rabe on 2014-01-05 12:30:29

My older daughter is 6 years and eager to play a lot of boardgames with us (Dominion for example, and 7 Wonders). She has been interested in me playing on FUMBBL as well... if I started playing TT when she's abler to watch, she would probably like to play, too. And I'm pretty sure she would "get" a lot of it.

Someday... :-)

Posted by cthol on 2014-01-05 12:39:46

My 13 y.o. can play but lacks the attention span for a full game in one go. He is on Fumbbl but I don't let him play anyone except me and a few personal friends yet. For all that the site is family friendly there are a few coaches who are decidedly not, and until the discriminatory language issue is taken seriously by everyone then he'll have to wait a few more years.

Posted by koadah on 2014-01-05 14:03:14

The "discriminatory language issue" will never be taken seriously by everyone. But then, he probably hears worse at school.

Or are you worried that he'll get banned due to a 'robust response'. ;)

Posted by JackassRampant on 2014-01-05 15:05:24

I used to run game-store TT leagues, so I've played a lot of games with teenagers. Their parents (gamers or not) always insist they do fine, but the truth is that this is a game for adults, and teens or pre-teens or even younger kids can get involved, learn the rules, get their feet wet, see why older players like BB. But 80% of them don't ever get good and frankly I think it's because the game is about a potpourri of really specialized brain activities (that's why we love it), some of which haven't finished developing in teens yet.

Posted by uzkulak on 2014-01-05 15:47:39

fumbbl is a lot easier to play than TT bloodbowl for younger players as so many of the choices are clearly displayed before you roll the dice (ie green/yellow/red block dice, required die roll for dodging/leaping/gfi etc). Meaning you dont have to be so patient during the other guy's turn and no need to work everything out in your own turn.

Posted by sann0638 on 2014-01-05 22:47:00

This may make me unpopular, but my two boys (7 and 9) have just got massively into the Cyanide game. The AI is a good starting standard for them, and it's incredibly easy to play, plus at that age the graphics are important.

Posted by cthol on 2014-01-06 10:46:34

@ Koadah: heh, yeah, a robust response might be an issue, but he's pretty good at dealing with things without going off the deep end. A while ago, one of his "friends" asked him if he believed in god, and when he said no, told him he was gay, and a jew. Rather than getting angry, (like, what's wrong with being gay? or a jew?) my son said "that doesn't even make any sense" and proceeded to explain how atheism was unlikely to be causally connected to either homosexuality or judaism (cos, you know, all those gay jewish atheists, they're the real problem...).

No, I guess I;m more concerned with him picking stuff up and repeating it, thinking it's ok. Particularly the casual sexism that goes on here, which I have spent a lot of effort on trying to avoid in other areas of his life. Maybe I'm some sort of maverick crusader on this one, but I think that the crappy treatment of women by men is the single biggest problem in the world, and has been for thousands of years. And I think the only way to combat it is in the way we bring up our boys.

Anyway, /rant over :)

Posted by MrFoxTalbot on 2014-01-06 10:56:40

Thanks everyone for your thoughts, I think I will start with fumbbl since it´s pretty much the only BB I play these days anyway. @cthol I love your boys response to being called a gay jew for no believing in god ("That doesn´t even make any sense") and I also agree with sexism being one of the main issues.