magic the gathering, any players?

£100 will seem quite cheap if they really get into MtG. 🙃

^ that.
.
I've a pair of boys into it. Very sociable, they have weekly meets with pals.

Buuuuut

MtG are genius marketeers in needing the next set/special edition/launch weekend games etc.

If you want a cheap start, look for a random box of MtG cards on eBay/Gumtree etc. Can often buy a few hundred cards for £10....

Maybe try find something like this, make a trip of it and see what they enjoy and what sticks?

https://www.airecon.co.uk/about

Honestly, I'd avoid most CCGs (collectible card games). They can be great fun but they are an absolute money pit by design. It's all about the cards, the people I know who do play Magic spend far, far more time building the perfect deck than they do actually playing the game.

If - IF - you want to go down this road then I'd get whatever the current "starter set" is, then do what Matt suggested and get a job lot off ebay. I've had a few two-player starter boxes over the years and they've all been the same, there's almost enough cards in there to almost be a playable game, best run and get me some booster packs.

Got quite into it with a few mates for a couple of years, about 25 years ago, when it was still fairly new (feel old now 🤣). It's actually a very fun, well crafted game. We were lucky in that we had a mate who'd bought/inherited a few card sets from people so had a crap load of the more basic cards from which to build various decks. Never went down the route of spending loads of money on cards fortunately, and we only really played amongst ourselves so weren't disadvantaged not having all the rare ones etc.

If you can grab a big box of old ones on eBay - variety is key more than anything - then go for it, I wouldn't bother getting involved with latest releases, clubs etc or anything though, it's just an arms-race where whoever spends the most stands the best chance, the whole scene is a bit weird tbh, not really something you want to be wasting large sums of money on!

my backup plan is the reprint of heroquest, but at £100 it’s quite an investment

I would absolutely go down this route though! Freaking loved that game when it came out. There are no doubt better crafted dungeon-style board games now, but can you learn the rules in 5 mins, and do they come with all the furniture?! 😃

Buy a starter kit to learn the basics with, should have fewer of the mind contorting rules. Then stick with "off the shelf" pre-contructed decks.

Try Keyforge by FFG - all you need is 2 decks of cards and print off the rules from online .

I was looking at getting an arena starter pack which seem pretty cheap if you can find them.

they are only young do intention is just to play at home and provide some variety from pokemon! I was hoping it would be cheaper too...that said boy#1 came home with a pichacu vmax once which I flogged on ebay for £100....so its about paid for itself already. I was thinking MTG might be a bit less like that

Is 5 too young? he just about gets simple version of pokemon (we don't play status)

my backup plan is the reprint of heroquest, but at £100 it’s quite an investment

Oh, as there has been discussion of the ongoing cost of card games, also bear in mind HQ etc are gateway drugs.
Start down that road young and they'll be in Games Workshop (aside, do they actually call the shops warhammer now) before you know it spending a small fortune week in week out.

Well....I might have recently restarted my teenage GW hobby back up again after digging out space crusade from the loft during lockdown! I can confirm it's bloody expensive. I'm just redoing old models and buying off ebay.

I'm holding out on HQ. I never had it as a kid and always wanted it so want to make sure the kids will definitely enjoy it before I get it. probably will for winter and rainy days inside.

space crusade

Is basically* HQ with 40k models. They may prefer swords and sorcerers but I can't see them reacting massively differently to HQ.

Also 40k is betterer and cheaper so long as you keep them on small squad armies and stay away from orcs.

The cost of warhammer is a lot higher - or was back in my day - a (crap) goblin unit needed a bajilion models and was less points than a single dwarf warrior that cost much the same to buy.

*in so much as its a dungeon romp with die and models, it'll either be their thing or not.
Advanced hero quest put me onto D&D and proper role play games which was much cheaper.
What ever you do so not let them D&D too early lest they become LARPers

I might have recently restarted my teenage GW hobby back up again after digging out space crusade from the loft during lockdown! I can confirm it’s bloody expensive. I’m just redoing old models and buying off ebay.

this is where an investment in a decent resin 3d printer might be a good idea... all the models from HQ including furniture etc are available online, you could realistically print your own game!! Also some SC stuff, could have a whole army of dreadnoughts & androids!

we "graduated" from HQ to SC but looking back I think HQ is the better kiddy/family game. SC is a lot more complex (although some kids might like that) and really does lay the Warhammer weirdness on a bit thick, whereas HQ is a lot more "normal" (just chopping up orcs with an axe, even your gran can relate to that 😃)

Also 40k is betterer

hmmm... we tried to play 40k after loving SC, the trouble is even though they'll never win the Spiele des Jahre both HQ & SC are fun little games; proper 40k/Warhammer are just shite. There's no game there, it's just collecting armies, painting them (that can be quite cool tbf) and then rolling endless dice.
(caveat: some of the newer, squad-based games might be better. I doubt it, but never played them so it's possible 😉)

both HQ & SC are fun little games; proper 40k/Warhammer are just shite. There’s no game there, it’s just collecting armies, painting them (that can be quite cool tbf) and then rolling endless dice.

Ah yes, they're very different things. HQ, SC and similar are very much in the board game moulds. Even necromunda to a small extent.

WH in all its variants is definitely wargaming mould. (I came to both the large scale ones from epic which frequently took several days to play a full game of).

caveat: some of the newer, squad-based games might be better.

All new stuff is rubbish. Be that WH, ebikes, ABS brakes, central heating or hamburgers. I'm amazed someone who has been on STW as long as you doesn't know this.

I came to both the large scale ones from epic which frequently took several days to play a full game of

ironically as it's been out-of-print for many years and will probably never come back, Epic was [I]probably[/I] the best of the wargaming systems. I keep meaning to print out a load of stuff (now I have 3d printers) and have a crack one weekend!

Don't get me wrong, I love the [I]idea[/I] of Warhammer & the fact it's so popular still, and will usually poke around a shop if I see one, but it's very much a hobby not a (family) board-game, as you say!

All new stuff is rubbish. Be that WH, ebikes, ABS brakes, central heating or hamburgers. I’m amazed someone who has been on STW as long as you doesn’t know this.

🤣

just seen this on HUKD, absolute steal at this price! 😃 🗡

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09LKNW9PK?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=pepperugc03-21&ascsubtag=2441192862

Any discussion of HQ *needs* BardicBroadcasts

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