I didn't really think this topic had an appropriate subforum but whatever I just need to get this out. How the HELL are you expected to get a girl who's even marginally interested in painting and playing with those pretty pretty toys when any time you walk by a gaming store you see knot of 10 year olds bickering over the rules.

I'd like to know where they get enough disposable income to collect for this game, they obviously dont have jobs. Go play Yugioh or something. It's bad enough we're playing with toy soldiers, I refuse to play against someone who jabs them at me and yells, "PEW-PEW-PEW!"

Ahh whatever, ranting is fun.

Well, to begin with, you'll need to approach the topic and then stick to it. If you start talking about the hobby, and then start complaining about it, you're going to get nowhere. Like this one time I was driving back out to DC from Wisconsin and I needed to take a nap. I was only 5 hours or so out of DC, but I was exhausted. I paid $80 to sleep in a scary Super 8 motel for about 5 hours.

well you can't help picking them up and saying PEW-PEW-PEW.

and as for convincing the GF to play i think there are very few girls who even put up with there boyfriends doing it, let alone acturly join in... maybe i just dont meet the right girls ...

it really just depends on what the GF is like. if she pretty open minded and supportive, she would probably put up with you playing and maybe try playing herself. however, if you got one of those GF who thinks your wierd or something for playing warhammer, then you'll have no chance getting her to play.

My GF likes to play BloodBowl. I think it's a bit easier to get to terms with as it is a bit less "playing with toysoldiers"-ish.

My wife has never shown any interest in playing or collecting so I may be groping here but this is my thought. If you want your GF to play the best way might be to just show her the hobby. When she comes over or whatever have your stuff out and be painting or messing with it. This might start a conversation or interest. But never try to get her to play if she is not interested, that will be very counter productive. If she is interested she will most likely bring it up with you anyway if you have ever talked to her about it. And on the annoying kid thing. I have never had a hobby that didn't have the annoying players in it. It comes with the territory. Like jerks in Highschool or frustrating people at work. It should be expected.

I'm starting to play again after a 10 year break and am trying to get the wife interested. The best tip - Don't bombard new people with rules. Conversation at my place on the weekend -
- How do you play this game ?
- My guy has to roll 2 or better on a dice to shoot your guy. Your guy then has to roll a 5 or a 6 to jump out the way or he's dead.
- Then why is it so complicated ?
- This guy is really bad at shooting so he has to roll a 4 or better to shoot. This other guy has really strong armour so if he rolls 2 or better after I shoot him, it just bounces off.
- Oh
- And your guys can move slightly faster than my guys

Let her observe a casual game or two then find something she can identify with. It may be an army, a particular unit, the strategy etc. Find one thing and build on it. My kid wasn't interested much until I told her Harlequins were like dancing circus clowns that cuts the **** out of anyone if they get close enough. Now she fields a small sqaud with my mate's Eldar when we play. Approach it like you're trying to talk her into a threesome.

Over the last 3 years I've had two girlfriends marginally interested in warhammer and another one who was more obsessed than I am, so I'm lucky. The ones who were a little interested saw my minis sitting around after I had painted them at first. At the time I had Night Goblins (first army, oh the nostalgia) and one said they were adorable, I was a little emasuclated at seeing my vicious, green, menacing minions called cute and cuddly, but it worked out because she started asking me about them and she got really interested in them, though nothing ever really came out of it, she just didn't think I was totally nerdy. The second lady saw me reading the books, then asked me about the game. At the time I played Blood Angels exclusively, and she said she liked the SoB (she was a bit of a feminist, but thats why I liked her) and she bought a small box of six. We played now and then, but that didn't last long. Recently I was seeing a girl who LOVED Warhammer, especially the Vampire Counts and Wood Elves (I explained this in the Conversion forum) and shes still into it. We're still friends and all, and I'm still helping her build an army, so even if we're not still together its the same concept.

Essentially, if your lady is into the whole "Fantasy" genre, she might like it, or at least think its neat. Most girls are supportive enough to at least tolerate it, and the good ones will even come with you to your local shop/pit and watch you play and give you advice (some things you don't see until someone else tells you). I'd say talk about it. At least you can end the discussion by saying you brought it up because you care for her and respect her enough to talk with her about something thats important to you, and that never fails. Hope that helps.

I just let her read the BGB and she decided she wanted to play

Tell her what the game is... How it's played.
Don't go into detail. If you can't explain it in less than 5 minutes, then you have a problem.

Tell her that you think she might enjoy it & you'd love it if she dropped by next time you & the guys are playing.

Assuming she drops by for a session, do NOT bother her about it. let her watch or ask questions. Do NOT offer any information about the game tht you aren't specifically asked about.

next time you see her after that game, ask her if it is something she might be interested in.

If not, let it drop & get over it.

If she IS, then let her -at her OWN pace- start dropping by and moving your units around. offer her advice on why they should move in a certain direction or perform a certain action but LET HER DECIDE. It doesn't matter if you lose the game because of it. It's a learning experience.

Eventually, she'll be in or out.

Most importantly, do NOT press her on it, or you'll just be another gamer with a story about how he tried to get one of his ex-girlfriends to play 40K.


Eric

Approach it like you're trying to talk her into a threesome.

Now that just makes it sound dirty.



But seriousley I suggest you get the person that you think is most compatable with your GF and have them over for a game while she is there. Many women are more affraid of the gamers than the game, so don't overwhealm her with twenty sweating geeks. Just let her meet one or two of your buddys that also enjoy the hobby, so she can see that it's not that bad after all. If there's any interest she'll let you know.

Good luck.

Hah, wow advice. I thought I'd just get some flame.

Maybe I'll have her watch me and my brother play a game when he gets back from Iraq and let her play a little skirmish. I'm not really done collecting my army and no where near finished painting so I tried bringing her to two of the local gaming stores 'cauz she got all excited about the slaneesh deamons. ^_^ Sadly, I saw very (few) post-pubescent players. I'm just annoyed that such a complex and interesting game seems to be dominated by the same kids that use Yugioh cards as a carpet. Tell their parents to stop buying them crap! It hurts me!

I wonder if getting her those deamonettes for a birthday would be like giving her a bowling ball with my name on it?

sweet god no, dont do it, I have done it once, about 4 years ago and regretted it since,

firstly she insisted on picking up each mini as it fired and shaking it at what it was firing at going "kerpow!"

Then there was the assaults, where contrary to what I thought was the rules, apparently you pick up your minis, one at a time, wave them in the air shouting "take this" and smack your opponents mini accross the battlefield with them, gaining much kudos if you manage some sort of domino effect where it smashes into other minis and sends them flying!

NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN

Over the last 3 years I've had two girlfriends marginally interested in warhammer and another one who was more obsessed than I am, so I'm lucky. The ones who were a little interested saw my minis sitting around after I had painted them at first. At the time I had Night Goblins (first army, oh the nostalgia) and one said they were adorable, I was a little emasuclated at seeing my vicious, green, menacing minions called cute and cuddly, but it worked out because she started asking me about them and she got really interested in them, though nothing ever really came out of it, she just didn't think I was totally nerdy. The second lady saw me reading the books, then asked me about the game. At the time I played Blood Angels exclusively, and she said she liked the SoB (she was a bit of a feminist, but thats why I liked her) and she bought a small box of six. We played now and then, but that didn't last long. Recently I was seeing a girl who LOVED Warhammer, especially the Vampire Counts and Wood Elves (I explained this in the Conversion forum) and shes still into it. We're still friends and all, and I'm still helping her build an army, so even if we're not still together its the same concept.



oh i know that one, my gf got involved with tyranids cos they are "cute", big slimy scary hordes of teeth and claws and the only thing she thinks is they are cute

getting a GF to play GW isnt easy, most think its very immature or just silly playing with toy soldiers. My last two got involved no problem but others for the most part greet with a bit of curiousness and then dismiss it entirely

sweet god no, dont do it, I have done it once, about 4 years ago and regretted it since,

firstly she insisted on picking up each mini as it fired and shaking it at what it was firing at going "kerpow!"

Then there was the assaults, where contrary to what I thought was the rules, apparently you pick up your minis, one at a time, wave them in the air shouting "take this" and smack your opponents mini accross the battlefield with them, gaining much kudos if you manage some sort of domino effect where it smashes into other minis and sends them flying!

NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN
Yikes! That sounds bad!

sweet god no, dont do it, I have done it once, about 4 years ago and regretted it since,

firstly she insisted on picking up each mini as it fired and shaking it at what it was firing at going "kerpow!"

Then there was the assaults, where contrary to what I thought was the rules, apparently you pick up your minis, one at a time, wave them in the air shouting "take this" and smack your opponents mini accross the battlefield with them, gaining much kudos if you manage some sort of domino effect where it smashes into other minis and sends them flying!

NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN

Stop, the pain, the pain..................

I tried explaining 40k to my two exs i must have a sadistic streak cos the look of utter bordom on their faces was so funny. I think my ideal girlfriend would be interested in GW and be a great painter.

But maybe i'm just lazy.:shifty:

Well, you could avoid talking about play the game itself and seeing if any of the background stuff has an appeal to her, and show lots of different armies, prefrably well painted models and dont bug her about it. Have some paitence and genrally dont push it.

If you want your wife to play just think she may not like the same stuff as you. My wife wanted to paint some thing one day when i was painting some epic stuff so I went to my bits box and found an old metal eldar jet bike and undercoated it for her. Two days later she had finshed it siad it was dumb and put it down. I aksed here what she didnt like and she siad its to "spacey" so i got out all my white dwars and showed her WFB and she had a look whil she was look at them she said somthing about "rattes" and "rats rats rats I love rats" turns out rats are her favort pets. The next time we went on hoiday we went to a GW shop and se got some Skavn and paints I've gave her a brush and she read the How to paint book and now shes is realy good at painting. God know if shell ever play but that is up to her

It's not all fun and game having your wife play ther are fights!!!! Over who ues the last of the paint and didnt order an new one? Who turn is it to get new models? and the worst of all but you got 4 BFG fleets, 5 Epic arms, 3 40k armys, Starship Troopers and Space Hulk you better let me get that much stuff befor you get any more!!!

Guess I am lucky. My wife is a gamer. From the get go I showed her what my hobbies where and basically said... this is what I do. She slowly got into games, first EQ then DAoC then WoW. Slowly she got into D&D and then D20 Modern and now D20 Future based on the 40K universe pre Dark Ages.

Now she has a 2500 point Sisters of Battle army with Inquistors and Assassins and is kicking collective ass. I hate Exorcists btw. Hate. Hate. Hate. I am sick of seeing my entire squad of Immortals get shot to DEATH by 2 Exorcists. Yes. Hate it.

I think though. What got my wife into 40K is painting. She loves to paint and so I got her painting a few figs from various games. Once she started getting into that she wanted to paint an army. Part of it is we like to spend time together as well and gaming is part of that.

Now...

http://www.librarium-online.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=4166&c=26



oh... I hate the Exorcist btw. Yes indeed I do. :yes:

Approach it like you're trying to talk her into a threesome.
you tried to talk your kid into having a three some? that is illegal.

on another note, i think having some of your stuff out, and the majority of it hidden is a good stategy. some chicks dig the geeky guys, and you never know. you just don't want to seem like the kind of person with no life, or atleast, immediately.

I lucked out. My girlfriend played a Battle for Macragge sample game with me and LOVED the Tyranids. Now she has a much bigger army than mine - I have to catch up.

I can't believe there's been this many posts without someone bringing this up.
Well, I guess it's up to me.


If she IS, then let her -at her OWN pace- start dropping by and moving your units around.

Yeah baby, I'd love for you to drop by and move my units around. Hurr hurr hurr.

thank you mobiusprime, for taking the bullet for the rest of us.

i guess im lucky, my girl friend has no inerest in them so i dont have to awkwardly explain it.

she also thinks its cute in the same way as "a basket of sleeping labradors, or a lil kid with ice cream all over his face"

I didn't really think this topic had an appropriate subforum but whatever I just need to get this out. How the HELL are you expected to get a girl who's even marginally interested in painting and playing with those pretty pretty toys when any time you walk by a gaming store you see knot of 10 year olds bickering over the rules.

I'd like to know where they get enough disposable income to collect for this game, they obviously dont have jobs. Go play Yugioh or something. It's bad enough we're playing with toy soldiers, I refuse to play against someone who jabs them at me and yells, "PEW-PEW-PEW!"

Ahh whatever, ranting is fun.

The thing is DONT, i repeat DONT EVER force or get your girlfriend into a game, EVER. period. If she is interested in it herself, then she will ask you for a intro game or actually paint something up from your collection.

You see, girls arent really into little plastic/metal toy soldiers, on a rare occasion there are a few girls who just like the painting aspects of it (thats why girls are so good at painting, due to their attention to detail and perfection).

If your girlfriend is forced into playing/painting she wont enjoy it. Although you might buy her a battleforce - shes probabaly just playing with you and not genuinely into the hobby.

So DONT get your girlfriend into a game if she doesnt feel comfortable or has no interest in the hobby.

I've seen enough rediculous comments in this topic already...

sheesh, this really is a hobby for nerds.... we are literally talking about the female of our own species as if they were strange and exotic creatures from planet X.

My own girlfriend would collect, but she hasn't got the money for her own army, and is satisfied in buying me stuff for Bday and Even.. get this... valentines day... i am so very special..

HAH! I'm scared to try to explain the signifigance of the Holy Bolter to my GF, I'm happy to even HAVE a Gf to speak of. But if she even knows I play, she prolly wouldn't get into it, but have no quams about my playing.

On the litle kids topic, not ALL of us are nerdy jerks that play yugioh, I have been "into" the Warhammer 40k scene for something like 6 years (and im fifteen now, whip out ye olde cogitator/logic-engine ((better known as a calculator)) and do the math!) and for the most part I have had to earn my money for the Space Marine Chapter (2000 point army, lots of unused models from an ever changing army list). But then again the anoying peons aren't like highschool jerks, because you can't always scare them off with the threat of being stuffed into a locker =).

Most of my thoughts on this TOPIC (getting the gf to play) were already mentioned by other people, just putting my 2 cents in about other crap.

You see, girls arent really into little plastic/metal toy soldiers, on a rare occasion there are a few girls who just like the painting aspects of it (thats why girls are so good at painting, due to their attention to detail and perfection).Erm, excuse me?! :blink: Well, I guess someone forgot to pass me that memo. People never tell me these things until it’s too late; I end up the Admin of a dedicated Warhammer community online and now you tell me I’m not supposed to be really into little plastic/metal toy soldiers? Your timing isn’t the best, honestly. :rolleyes: ;)

oh i know that one, my gf got involved with tyranids cos they are "cute", big slimy scary hordes of teeth and claws and the only thing she thinks is they are cuteNow, don’t start complaining here. I would have you know that there are only two types of women in the world: those who think sleeping kittens and crying babies are cute, and those who think Tyranids and those face-hugger things from the Aliens movies are cute. There are no in-betweens, so think carefully before making your choice; chances are that the baby-lovers won’t be quite as fascinated by Warhammer as the other kind…


I’m surprised that none of the overt females on Librarium Online has made a post to this thread so far; while admittedly rare, I do believe WWF has finally moved us girl gamers off the endangered species list, and so it should be possible to actually see us in the wild if you’re lucky… ;) I for one certainly enjoy all aspects of the hobby, though painting is uncharacteristically not my forte; I have problems sitting still for the duration of a standard painting session. However, I love playing the game, and I especially love the fluff, which is what got me interested in the hobby in the first place.

I was introduced to Warhammer 40k some years ago by my boyfriend, although quite by accident; he’d left his old Second Edition Codices lying around while cleaning out some boxes of his childhood toys, and I was bored, grabbed a Codex, and instantly got hooked on the whole 40k atmosphere. Then I bought some actual 40k novels from Black Library; thinking back, I find it quite amusing that I actually had to have my boyfriend explain to me what a Space Marine was when I was halfway through ‘Angels of Darkness’ – in hindsight it would probably have been easier to start with a somewhat more accessible book, like the Eisenhorn Omnibus.

I do agree with the posts stating that pressuring your girlfriend into joining the hobby won’t be a brilliant move; either she’ll take to it at her own pace, or she won’t at all. Also, be prepared to accept that your girlfriend might enjoy different aspects of the hobby than you do; my boyfriend enjoys painting while I enjoy the fluff, which more than once has resulted in him losing patience with me and painting one or more figures of mine – not a recommendable strategy, although it is timesaving, since whoever paints the figure also writes the figure’s name on its shoulder guard; I now have a Grey Knights Terminator squad including the brothers Fluffy, Darth Vader, and Gus (named after himself, of course.)

So, what I recommend to get your girlfriend interested is to approach the subject casually, explain to her that this is a hobby you enjoy for its ability to provide both creative thinking in regard to both sculpting and painting and challenging applications of tactical understanding, as well as providing a fascinating background story. Let her paint a figure or two of yours as she likes, even if they won’t match your own army. Let her sit in on a quiet game with a few friends, making sure to explain to her what you’re doing and why and perhaps ask her for tactical suggestions after a few rounds, and let her look at the Codices and any Black Library novels you have lying around at her own leisure. Chances are that if she has the least bit of potential for an interest in the hobby, one or more of these small introductions will catch her attention, and then you’ve got her. ;)

Of course, the very first thing you need to do is to think carefully about whether your manly pride will actually be able to handle the inevitable blow of her beating you in an honest, no-holds-barred game… ;)

~Greph.

Now, don’t start complaining here. I would have you know that there are only two types of women in the world: those who think sleeping kittens and crying babies are cute, and those who think Tyranids and those face-hugger things from the Aliens movies are cute. There are no in-betweens, so think carefully before making your choice; chances are that the baby-lovers won’t be quite as fascinated by Warhammer as the other kind…


I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. My girlfriend finds sleeping kittens (really, anything furry and not eating our garbage) to be quite cute while crying babies are pretty close to the top of the list of things that annoy her. Unfortunately, she doesn't think Tyranids or aliens that burst out of your chest are cute, but I'm willing to take small blessings whereever I can.

does anyone else get the feeling they'd be dumped on the spot if their gf ever found out you even touch this stuff? or is it just me :cry:

What you will find with a lot of women is they fully accept that practically all men have a hobby of some description. Just that something to keep you sane and gt you away from the reality of life every so often. How they react to that hobby is the important part. If you really want her to play that much don't ask her if she wants a game, tell her there is no point in her playing as she is a girl and will be rubbish at it (this may or may not be true and I have no wish to be flamed by female gamers) , telling a woman that she will not be able to do something acts as a great motivator :w00t: She will either knock you out cold or the next time you see her she will have a painted army complete with fluff etc and be ready to kick your ass that way (its a bit 50:50 I grant you).

I can safely say I have never had a girlfriend that has expressed any more interest in gaming than "who's the cute little green guy" and to be honest I am happy with that situation. I would rather play the game without a girlfriend there at all pretending to be interested. If I ever did go out with someone who expressed an interest I would let them get as involved as they wanted.

I gotta agree with Dr. Snuggles on this one. I have the sneaking suspicion that if my gf found out that I was into this hobby I'd probably be on my way to losing said gf. Warhammer is my little personal secret hobby that I'll keep to myself.

does anyone else get the feeling they'd be dumped on the spot if their gf ever found out you even touch this stuff? or is it just me :cry:

if i even had a gf i wouldnt tell her about this. no way. or if anyone at my school or even some of my friends knew that i play this........well i would rather jump off a building;)

I guess I'll take a minority standpoint here and say, "Don't try and get your girlfriend into GW stuff." GW is yours. If she wants to be in it, she will get into it, but don't let her do it just to humour you. That will cause nothing but resentment.

(All of this stuff applies equally for the ladies on the board, so please excuse my use of gender-specific terminology.)

You and your girlfriend need not have everything in common, just some things.

If you do everything together, your relationship is doomed, seeing as 'familiarity breeds contempt.'

I would say the best case scenario (excluding the one where you meet a girl who already plays) is where she is supportive of the hobby and doesn't see it as some puerile waste of time. A girlfriend doesn't have to play, but she should probably know that if you play Space Marines, you want the new Dreadnought model for Christmas and not a Wraithlord. She should understand that, if she joins in on a painting session, she's painting a military unit and should realize that one yellow Marine will look out of place in a Blood Angels army.

Of course, the very first thing you need to do is to think carefully about whether your manly pride will actually be able to handle the inevitable blow of her beating you in an honest, no-holds-barred game… ;)

~Greph.

HAH! If that day ever comes I'll shave my head!

...She can beat me in poker every once ina while tho. I think I'll stick to the whole Deamonette birthday present on her birthday, I'll get her a frilly bed canopy and some p0rn to be safe too.


if i even had a gf i wouldnt tell her about this. no way. or if anyone at my school or even some of my friends knew that i play this........well i would rather jump off a building;)

Self loathing is a terrible thing. Havn't you heard, nerd is the new black! :D