Federation Commander

Had my first game with the mini-me. He's 8. I wasn't sure he would be able to play, but he's been bugging me for at least 2 years to play, so I figured it might be time. He wanted the "Enterprise" so I took a Tholian destroyer just because.

1st Turn was basic movement with phasers & DAMCON (no sideslips)
2nd Turn we added Photons and Disruptors (No overload; assumed pre-load on turn 1). He took out my #1 and 2 with good internals.
3rd Turn, He took out #6 with good internals. I downed his #6 and did mostly system and hull internals
4th Turn, he blew me up with his rear phasers through my down #1.

He picked up moving and firing pretty fast. Tactics are pretty non-existent (He's eight). Next game, I figure we'll add sideslips and overloads right away.

He was super excited to play and just loves that he blew me up. He's off drawing pictures of his final shot right now.

"He's off drawing pictures of his final shot right now."

LOL

That's awesome! Great way to start an lifelong avocation off right!

Always great to hear about the next generation of Captains being brought up!

Game 2:

Added overloads, acceleration, and drones.

The mini-me gave me overloaded photons at range 5 and missed!

Next turn, I let him close and he popped my weapons with his phasers.

My overloaded disruptors did a number on him, but all I had left was engines. Literally, everything else was gone.

He loved that...

Care to share his artwork? I wish I had kept the stuff I drew in Jr. High and High School, some of it was not horrible. And, it helped lure in a few new players at the time.

Here it is. He added the photons because "I fired those, too"

The little dots coming off the Tholian DD are my "puny disruptors"

That's great!

Fantastic!

Nice! I'm looking forward to introducing my kids to some of my more complex games in the next few years.

One thing I've learned is to not pay attention the the "age limit"

Games are considered toys so to be rated under 13, they have to do bunches and bunches of testing. Lots of games are 13+ because the manufacturer didn't get the testing to prove the pieces could be eaten by children, stuffed up their nose, etc., etc.

If you think the kids are up for it, play it no matter their age.

My boy is 8 and he played Fed Commander.

My son... Plasmaboy was playing SFB at 10 and F&E at 11. But then again, he grew up in a house where SFB, EAF, and ComPot were used as commonly as Mom, Dad, and food.

Now i'm working on my grand kids.
My First Carcassonne, Catan Junior, and My first Bohnanza are great introductory games... as are Animal Upon Animal, Gulo Gulo, and a few others.

But at 7, 8, and 9 - they are already working on learning grand-pa's board games.

DNordeen wrote:One thing I've learned is to not pay attention the the "age limit"

Games are considered toys so to be rated under 13, they have to do bunches and bunches of testing. Lots of games are 13+ because the manufacturer didn't get the testing to prove the pieces could be eaten by children, stuffed up their nose, etc., etc.

If you think the kids are up for it, play it no matter their age.

My boy is 8 and he played Fed Commander.

Yeah, we've played King of Tokyo. I'm sure my daughter (who's 9) would be fine, but my son (who's 6) is still learning to read, so he needs help. Once I get my FC stuff ordered, we can try out First Missions.