5 Easy Steps to Get Into Wargaming

Wargaming is intimidating, and there’s no doubt about that. Even I, a boardgame store employee, found myself looking at the table of armies and terrain wholly baffled, with no clue as to how any of it works. However, as a great writer once said, “The hard part isn’t doing it; it’s sitting down and starting to do it.” So, with that all in mind, let us give you the first five easy steps for starting your wargaming journey.

1. Pick YOUR Army

First things first, you need to get yourself an army. Some of you will want to pick the strongest army out there – and fear not, I’m just like you – but almost all of our wargaming experts have advised me against this. Their advice is almost universally to pick whatever feels cool to you. You’ll have more fun painting and assembling, and play shouldn’t be too much of an issue, as Games Workshop release changes and updates regularly, which will eventually lead to your army being strong at some point or another. So, once you’ve found something that looks cool, you should either start with a Starter Set (which has two armies and some rules) or a Start Collecting! Box, as these are the best value for money. That being said, if you want something else from Games Workshop, you can just send us a Facebook message with the product link and we will order it for you, because we can bring anything from them in the shop.

2. Tools of War

Now that you’ve picked up your army, you need to start assembling them into the war machine you know they can become. Naturally, your next stop should be a tools & paints rack. As for tools, your must-haves are cutters and glue. A few optional picks are also quite useful, those being a file set, a drill, and some green stuff. To find out more about what each tool does, read our “Useful Tools for Assembling Your Miniatures” article.

3. The Colors of your Army

With tools and armies at the ready, you should now look to start your paint collection. Although many armies have pre-determined aesthetics, you can go with whatever colors look cool to you. But here are a few things you ought to know.

• You are going to need at least two paintbrushes, one large and one small.
• Always get a primer. ALWAYS.
• You need a set of paints, so buy a set with the three primary colors (blue, yellow and red). This will help you mix new colors instead of buying a ton of different pots from the beginning.
• Get a grip on the techniques. Painting is a learning experience, so here’s a head start with the FIVE techniques every beginner should learn.

If you want to find out more about what you need to paint your miniatures, also read our article “Useful tools for painting your miniatures“.

4. Assembly and Rules

Your second to last step is a two-in-one. You should start to slowly assemble your troops, but you can also multitask. Try watching some rule videos while you’re adding those primers, or even while painting the bases (which, yes, you should also do). Take your time and move at your own pace. There’s no reason to rush. The process is as much part of the fun as the playing itself.

5. Join our Community!

The fifth step is the most important for actually playing, and that is to join our community. As much as you’d like to, you can’t play wargames alone, so be sure to become part of our growing Wargaming community. We play everything from Warhammer 40K to Age of Sigmar, Warcry, and even some lesser-known wargames. You will also easily find any advice you might need on painting or rules on our Discord server. If you genuinely want to become part of the hobby, our server is the place to be.

Once you’ve joined our Discord sever, all you have to do is ask questions on the dedicated channels:

• #hobby-day for any miniature assembly and painting questions and discussions
• #warhammer-40k for any Warhammer 40.000 discussions
• #age-of-sigmar for any Age of Sigmar discussions
• #wargaming-general if you want to talk about other wargaming systems, such as Infinity, Flames of War, World of Tanks etc.

In addition, when the play area is open, we hold Wargaming events weekly, from game sessions to Demo Days to competitions where you can win cool prizes!

And that’s it! You’re now as ready as can be for Wargaming. If you still haven’t decided on what army or tools you want to pick up, be sure to take a look at our online shop, where you’ll find everything you might want or need (some of it even discounted).