Recruiting Gamers

[bangorstu]

Well here in the outer reaches of the Kingdom there has been an exciting development.

Some bright spark is trying to start a new club in Bangor! Not only that but it's at the Community Hall about 30 yards from my front door.... so it would be rude not to attend.

So they all seem to be much younger than me (inevitably), enthusiastic and all WH40k/ Star Wars Legion/ board game players.

But they seem happy to give anything a go and so my question is.... what are good simple rules/games to get people into historical gaming that fits into a club night of around 3 hours?

I can probably do SAGA but thought I'd tap the hive mind's greater knowledge.

[Peeler]

Dbn gives a swift game, Volley & Bayonet, anything DBish really.

[Penda]

Rapid Fire Reloaded is brisk to play and WWII is a period most folk have a vague notion of? I'd suggest that keeping it small is vital for player involvement and reaching a definite conclusion.

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

I'd start with something that has few rules - easily learned, but difficult to master, and small initial outlay in terms of figures and scenery. How about SAGA with 4-point armies to start with, then move onto DB-summat as Peeler suggests, or maybe What A Tanker, which can allow them to use some of their existing 40k/Star Wars kit?

Given that almost everyone likes cowboys (I don't, but then I'm weird), move on to either Dead Man's Hand or What A Cowboy. If they've taken to your earlier suggestions, maybe devise a locally-set shoot-em-up game using one of those two sets and some of the many Victorian/Dystopian figure ranges now out there.

[Essex Boy]

And they could use their fantasy stuff with WAC

[BaronVonWreckedoften]

Gun-fight at the Mos Eisley Cantina.....

[Paul]

Obviously Lion Rampant/Pikemens Lament/TMWWBK for a simple historical hit.
Much easier to get into than SAGA and scaleable both on figure count and complexity.
Also ease them in with the fantasy set Dragon Rampant if need be.