Hobby Survey

[Uprising]

So, I have been wondering lately what other hobby groups are looking like and if any new blood is getting into the hobby.  If everyone could be so kind as to answer some basic questions, I would appreciate it. 

 

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

3. Is your group growing?

4. What games does your group play?

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

8. Average age of player?

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

[Lord_Ikka]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? Hmm, I'm in multiple "groups" due to there being a couple of different FLGS near me. 20-30 overall that are regular, with 15-20 that are more inconsistent for league play but show up for tournaments/random games/competitions.

2. How long have you been in the hobby? Over 25 years, though only been really active in the last 5

3. Is your group growing? Yes, I believe so

4. What games does your group play? 40k (growing), Necromunda (growing), Star Wars Legion (growing), Star Wars X-wing (lessening), Marvel Crisis Protocol/Star Wars Shatterpoint (growing), Battletech

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? New players are more frequent than players leaving, though being a college area means that attendance is spotty during the summer

6. Age Range of oldest player? 50+

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? 13-14

8. Average age of player? Depends on game, but generally 25-45 is the biggest age range

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? 2 LGS, occasionally at people's houses

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. Growing. Both stores I frequent are having more interaction and attendance with their various tournaments and campaigns in the last two years than ever before. Random painting competitions have also helped get new people into the hobby, as those that paint for RPGs like D&D are getting to meet the tabletop community and interact together. 

Edited April 22 by Lord_Ikka

[WrathOfTheLion]

I'm only going to cover our 30k group here, so there's an asterisk with this.

 

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? 5-10

2. How long have you been in the hobby? Around 9 or 10 years.

3. Is your group growing? Somewhere between stable and growing

4. What games does your group play? 30k (40k, Necromunda, Sigmar, etc. as well with the same folks, but focusing on the 30k scene)

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? It's fairly stable, so sometimes a few in. None really out now that 30k has stabilized, but I think one is moving away, so we'll lose him.

6. Age Range of oldest player? 55

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? 18

8. Average age of player? ~29

9.  Where do you play regularly Local GW store

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. Growing. There's a lot of people getting in and doing things. We've got a pretty healthy 40k scene, as well as AoS and 30k. 30k has been picking back up in popularity again recently as 40k has kind of stabilized after the initial 10E hype.

[TheArtilleryman]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

 

My “group” is basically me and my kids at the moment. I just don’t have time to go to a club or anything. I talk Warhammer with my best mate but we live a good few hours away so don’t get any games in and I can’t really count him. 
 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

 

Since one fateful day in 1996 when a young me walked into Games Workshop for the first time and spent his birthday money on a few squads of metal Eldar.

 

3. Is your group growing?

 

Yes, two of them are already taller than me!

 

4. What games does your group play?

 

At the moment, 40K. We also have a LOTR collection and built Helm’s Deep, but have never managed to get a game in. I’ll soon be starting HH and will be trying to get a game or two going. One of my sons sometimes plays D&D with his school friends.

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 
 

When they move in or out of the house XD

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

 

39

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

 

11

 

8. Average age of player?

 

Mean average of 21

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

 

At home, usually in the garage on the boards we made.

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 
 

Growing I would say, because of the sheer range of stuff now available and the massive global reach of the hobby on so many platforms and third party sites now. Both my sons have been in Warhammer clubs at two different schools and regularly got games in, so new people are coming into the hobby. My younger son was actually the one who kicked off the club and got at least 6 friends to start playing!

Edited April 22 by TheArtilleryman

[sarabando]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? about a dozen + 

2. How long have you been in the hobby? 31 years this year

3. Is your group growing? not really however we have a 3 main groups in our small town and the other two groups are deffo growing

4. What games does your group play? 40k/30k/TOW/AOS/Bolt action/ legend of the 5 rings/ etc lots of GW and non GW games. 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? i dont pay attention enough to answer this

6. Age Range of oldest player? 70ish

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? 13ish

8. Average age of player? 30-40s

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? rented hall

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. wargaming i think is shrinking however the "warhammer" hobby is growing 

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

The last time I played wargames with people was before Covid. Since then I have decided to become a dedicated solo-gamer and my decision turned out to be pretty good.

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

Since the early 90s.

 

3. Is your group growing?

See question 1.

 

4. What games does your group play?

Momentarily a New Mars campaign (combination of Legions Imperialis & HH 2.0).

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

See question 1.

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

Born in the 70s.

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

See question 6.

 

8. Average age of player?

See question 6.

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Always at home of course. Transporting stuff is horrendous. You also need to be wary that nothing gets stolen, if you go to public places. At home  you can leave the minis on the table, if the game won´t be finished in a day. That´s the beauty of a dedicated gaming room.

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why.

I don´t care. I just do my thing.

[Kassill]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? 18+

2. How long have you been in the hobby? Since 4th ed

3. Is your group growing? Yes

4. What games does your group play? Biggest crossover is MTG and 40k. Few of them also play AoS and Old World

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 1-2 new people each month it seems

6. Age Range of oldest player? mid to late 50's

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? 17-18

8. Average age of player? 28-30

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? LGS and sometimes friends place

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why.  Growing. Shop opened in my small town a year ago and we have grown the 40k crowd rapidly. Some guys are already on their 2nd and 3rd armies. Started with 5-6 of us who have been in and around the hobby on our own for years. Did a few escalation leagues and each time more people jumped in. I can't remember the last time I have seen this many people excited about the hobby. 

[Mike Zulu]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? 20-30

2. How long have you been in the hobby? 12+ years

3. Is your group growing? Steady

4. What games does your group play? Various games, including 30k/40k across various versions

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? Not often, either way

6. Age Range of oldest player? 50-55

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? Teens

8. Average age of player? 30s

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? Rented space

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. Neither growing or dying, but certainly atomising, across the various game systems and versions of the same system.

[Wolf Lord Duregar]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? I´ve in a new town, just returned to the hobby so have an old group some 500 km away and a much larger city with potential players here now. With several groups, clubs. I don´t know many of those yet and besides I keep in contact with a guy here, a guy there that I play with when we can. None living in the same town. My old group is probably 20 or so with five being close friends however

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby? 30 years I think, I count it from when my older brother bought Epic: Space Marine and I played with him and his friends, I was 12? Picked up my own stuff a year or two later. (40k)

 

3. Is your group growing? Not sure, but it is not shrinking. Probably a small growth.

 

4. What games does your group play? 40k, The Old World, Mordheim, Blood Bowl. I think there is some Adeptus Titanicus and other Specialist Games too I don´t personally play. Maybe some of the AoS skirmish games too.

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? Not often leaving. I´m not regular enough to pick up on either new or guys leaving.  Seems pretty stable though.

 

6. Age Range of oldest player? A have a new friend that is around 60, some around40-50 and then all the way down to 20 or so. Younger players seems to play other games in other clubs. I still don´t have a great feel of the 40k players though. Might be some younger in those "packs".

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? See above.

 

8. Average age of player? 30-ish?

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? Store, big one, with loads of space, romms, restaurant. Not in any small store.. And at a few club houses. I miss playing at home (used to have my own stuff but have a small apartment for a bit longer..) Blood Bowl is played at home as is some Mordheim.

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. Not dying anyways, unless the recent woke-BS make sure of that, but I don´t think it will kill it. It is growing, few drop out entirely even if they may leave for a bit.

[Captain Idaho]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

= 7.

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

= 30 years... at least!

 

3. Is your group growing?

= Nope.

 

4. What games does your group play?

= Soon to be Legions Imperialis enmass once the Necromunda campaign ends. There are Warcry games and AoS occasionally too. Some 40K but that's diminished hard.

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

= I'm old enough for our group to just be still and stable. Forever, until it isn't.

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

= Do you mean age as opposed to age range? 42.

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

= As above query... 26 but he's an anomaly as the rest of us are 39-42.

 

8. Average age of player?

= 39-42... with a single 26 year old.

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

= Either my friend's house or my other friend's garage.

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why.

= Honestly I think it's deeper than that. Getting new people into the hobby seems to be diminishing, particularly younger people. Why put the effort in when the kids can play a PS5 eh?

 

We're spending less. We're not made of money and the costs going up means we buy less as you need so much to get a credible game in.

 

3D printers do indeed have an impact here too.

 

Recent "events" by GW are discouraging folk from buying in too.

 

It's a big hobby though, with GW being the highest corporate overlord so seeing whether there are trends echoing my experience remains to be seen.

Edited April 23 by Captain Idaho

[calgar101]

1. How many regular people play war games in your group?

Over the last 20 years or so my group has dwindled down to 10 of us now; at its height my club had 40 odd members.

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

24 years... wow that makes me feel old! From a boy of 8 to now a man.

 

3. Is your group growing?

No it has plateaued off now.

 

4. What games does your group play?

40k, AoS, other GW games and some non GW stuff and board games and cards.

 

5. How often do people leave your group?

No one has left for a few years now and the last person to leave was a death, the man who founded the club 30 years ago.

 

How often do new people come into your group? 

Last newcomer was 2018

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

50s

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

32(me)

 

8. Average age of player?

30s

 

9. Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

It is houses now, the club is officially defunct and has now place. It is just a group of friends 

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying? Please explain why. 

I dont pay much attention to the wider hobby world, bit far from a large urban area but I'd say its growing still. 

[Interrogator Stobz]

1. About 2-3, and they travel out of town.

2. 36 years

3. Nope, decimated. Literally 10% left.

4. KT, LI, AT, OPR instead of 40k.

5. Who is left to leave lolz.

6. A couple came and went, too expensive.

7. 50s

8. Teens

9. Homes

10. Don't really know, comp seems strong, casual seems weaker.

[m0nolith]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

People that I play with, maybe about 12. People that play regularly at the local gaming club, maybe about 25ish. 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

Started with 40k 2nd ed in...I think 97. Quit after high school for 20 years, came back about 10 years ago and been going strong since. 

3. Is your group growing?

Growing.

4. What games does your group play?

I'm lucky. Our local club plays almost everything (from GW); Legions Imperialis, Epic40k, Titanicus, Aurenautica, Battlefleet Gothic, IQ28, Kill Team, Warcry, LotR, AoS, a whole myriad of non GW wargames and boardgames and RPGs, but the biggest being being 40k, 30k, Necromunda and Mordheim, and maybe The Old World soon as well. 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

Once in a while, but I tend to see more people joining than leaving.

6. Age Range of oldest player?

60+

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

Around 20

8. Average age of player?

Mid 30s to mid 40s

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Rented out space. Like I said, I got lucky here that I have good place to play with great people. Fingers crossed it stays that way. 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

 

Growing, mainly due to four reasons. 

First; Say what you will about GW and their practices, they did make 40k explode as a IP over the last several years. Granted, they got a lot of help from great video game developers, merchandising, and of course word of mouth from us, but credit where credit is due, the hobby is much bigger than it was just a few years ago.

 

Second; The prevalence of social media has done wonders when it comes to not only brining people into the hobby, but also having people find games with other people (if that's what they want, many people are ok with just collecting and painting of course. Even though I play, I would still classify myself as mainly a painter).

 

Third; Paradoxically, the more digitized we become, the bigger I see this hobby being. I cant exactly explain why this is, but I have a theory that there is a natural craving for the opposite the more we sink into the digital world. This isn't universal and many if not most people prefer a purely digital entertainment, but for a segment of the population, an interest develops in the analogue experience that this hobby provides. I should say this with the caveat that this is a completely uneducated guess on my part, but what can't be denied is that this hobby is growing based on the clear numbers of growth were seeing in social media, online groups, and sales figures (they literally cant make the stuff fast enough).

 

Fourth; We may be on the cusp of something really amazing given how fast the tech for 3d printing has grown over the last several years. I see potentially our hobby entering a golden age maybe a decade from now, however whether or not that will work with GW's business model, that I cant say. 

Edited April 26 by m0nolith

[Wormwoods]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

- 6-7

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

- On-and-off for about 20 years, most recent round is at 4 years and counting.

 

3. Is your group growing?

- Slowly.

 

4. What games does your group play?

- Mostly 40k, some Sigmar, and a dash of weird indie games when I can convince them, currently The Weald.

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

- None have left yet, but it's still reasonably fresh.

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

- mid 30's.

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

- Aggressively 24.

 

8. Average age of player?

- Probably dead-on 30. 

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

- Sometimes at a friend's place, bust mostly at the LGS. 

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

- Hobby's fine. People are finding the level of official/non-official/3d printed whatever that works for them and coasting. Doesn't seem to be any difficulty bringing new people in, the local game store has plenty of youths and old-heads. I look forward to reading posts about the death of wargaming/40k/whatever every year for the next 40. 

[Marshal Valkenhayn]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

There are around 40 regulars at my LGS, and more casuals that come in from time to time. My personal friend group is 9, including myself.

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

7 years or so.

3. Is your group growing?

No. My friend group has stayed the same, and the LGS has never fully recovered from the pandemic. We pulled in 60 regulars easy throughout 8th and the start of 9th.

4. What games does your group play?

Traditionally 40K and Battletech in my friend group, with the odd venture into other wargames or RPGs. Lately almost exclusively Old World and Legions Imperialis. The shop as a whole still has a hand full of die hard 40K players, and several other games shift in and out, but 40K as a whole has seriously declined. 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

The friend group is very stable. We've had 3 of us die or move away since I joined, and gained about the same. The shop numbers are all over the place, though it's been a slow, slow climb back toward healthier numbers.

6. Age Range of oldest player?

At the shop itself, 65-70. In the friend group, 40ish.

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

At the shop itself, 14ish, though I haven't seen any of them around in quite a while. In the friend group, late 20s-early 30s.

8. Average age of player?

35 or so.

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

LGS. They have tables in the back that are free for wargamers, and RPG groups can rent them in time blocks for some small amount of money. Not sure how much.

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

40K is definitely dying at my LGS, but the hobby itself is mostly stable. I think the right game in the right moment could get us back up to peak numbers. Then again, the wrong game or decision could definitely kill momentum and shrink us more, so I dunno. Hard to say at a macro level. Games come and go. Shatter Point is starting to gain a presence at my LGS, and that could be big. Old World has legs, Legions Imperialis is on the rise. Any one of those could spark off a rush of people buying in. A lot of previous 40K players are just showing up to hang out and haven't commited to their next project.

[lhg033]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

Play...? I'm not really in a group, I mainly collect and paint but occasionally I play a game with the kids. Pre Covid I'd occasion do a pickup game in store

so, 3 maybe

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

since the mid 90s I think - just before codex Chaos second edition  

 

3. Is your group growing?

I mean, I have two kids who I have loosley inducted though they are not yet that interested

 

4. What games does your group play?

40k though we I do have several options - kill team, space hulk (gorka morka if i dig it out of the loft)

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

probably in the next 4-8 years the kids will move out though with rent prices, who knows!

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

42

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

12

 

8. Average age of player?

22.6, skewed quite a bit

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

home

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

I'm really not the best person to say. The materials for the hobby are definitely improving and growing, the player base, no idea!

 

[Irongert]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

There's 4 of us in the group at the moment.

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

Since the early 90's, I can't rember the exact year but the 4th edition fantasy box was my first experience with wargaming.

 

3. Is your group growing?

No, it's just the 4 of us, we have to much real life interference to try and find more people. Also, considering we're playing at my house there's a space issue that comes into play aswell with not being able to play mreothan 2 games at a time. 

 

4. What games does your group play?

30k, AT, Warhammer Fantasy in the various editions, Malifaux and Battletech. 

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

At the moment pretty much never, this groupd decided to start playing together and we still do. We haven't had new people since we started, None of us do a lot of social media stuff and we're just too busy with Rl to bother looking for players to join. 

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

42

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

37

 

8. Average age of player?

40-ish

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

We always play at my house, finally giving me a reason to indulge in collecting and building scenery :P

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

No idea to be honest, I don't have my finger on the pulse as it were. However, judging from the amount of systems out there and how much stuff gets released I'd say it probably is healthy and growing. Otherwise the hobby wouldn't be able to support this. Specific systems or games might die off or have a hard time but the wargaming hobby as a whole seems to be healthy enough. 

[Doobles57]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

Currently only about 10-15

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

20 years since I started - with a 8-9 year hiatus in the middle.

 

3. Is your group growing?

Sadly no. Our venue closed down at the end of 2023 and we're struggling to find a suitable replacement which has stifled growth.

 

4. What games does your group play?

40K, AoS, Necromunda, Blood Bowl

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

When we had a permanent venue 1-2 people would join each month. Maybe 1 would leave every couple of months for various reasons.

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

50ish

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

19ish

 

8. Average age of player?

Around 30

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Was in a FLGS (RIP Asgard). Now looking at church/community halls.

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

Hard to say. The last couple of years saw a big growth but things have slowed down a bit. Our group probably isn't the best barometer of this though due to the circumstances we're currently in. The lack of regular club nights at the moment means convos around the hobby have slowed down quite a bit as well.

[Cleon]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

I'd say we don't have a group, but there is a chain of about a dozen people who overlap on various games, so my opponent for one game may never play my opponent for another game as they have no games in common

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

30+ years

3. Is your group growing?

No, it's maybe 're-gathering' some people who reach the life stage to pick up things again, but no truly new players

4. What games does your group play?

What don't we? Historicals in everything from 2mm to 28mm for periods from the 7 years war to cold war, Malifaux, Infinity, Dropzone and dropfleet. From GW it's pretty much just 40k, Blackstone fortress, Old World and Bloodbowl. We do 'technically have and have played Warcry, Underworlds and Kill team but they all got a 'not worth the effort' after a few trial games.

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

People more get more or less active, we're probably pretty stable since lockdowns.

6. Age Range of oldest player?

upper 40s

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

upper 30s

8. Average age of player?

low 40s I guess

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Houses and a store

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

Neither, I think it's contracting, but it's a re-balance caused by cost of living going up and it having expanded beyond what was sustainable in the lockdown years, it'll probably level off about 80/90% of where it is now.

 

[Ahzek451]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?
I moved, so still trying to find a new group. I was part of a few groups in the past, about 30+ people total

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

about 25 years. Took a break on the gaming side during 8th. Still hobbied. 

 

3. Is your group growing?

My old group is about the same number, people coming and going.

 

4. What games does your group play?

40k primarily, with smatterings of sigmar, heresy, and an interest in old world

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

As mentioned, mostly the same, with people coming and going. 

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

50+

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

Teens

 

8. Average age of player?

30's

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Depending on the group, hobby store/tournament or friends house. 

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

Based strictly on what I have seen from my old group and the local area I moved to, I think the hobby is slowly going down. Covid was a mixed bag as sales increased for a period but hobby spaces to play were limited. Fracturing the groups a bit. There is also a general exhaustion with GW. With rules-design and codex releases(sick of the edition cycle and buying book after book), model unavailability and FOMO, high prices, general practices, and recent social media drama. My old groups have lessened activity and my new local store recently stopped selling their products altogether due to frustration with GW. A few have expressed interest in OPR and actively using it. 

 

Edited April 26 by Ahzek451

[gaurdian31]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group? I am in couple of groups but the main group is 4 counting myself, the bigger group of 15 is mostly Battlettech.

2. How long have you been in the hobby? Since '01 so 23 years.

3. Is your group growing? It is stable I would say.

4. What games does your group play? 40k, Kill Team, AoS, Legions, Shatterpoint and Battletech split between the 2 groups.

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 40k has been pretty stable at the 4 of us in the smaller group, Battletech seems to be growing a bit more in the larger but there are a few players that do both.

6. Age Range of oldest player? 50s

7. Age Range of Youngest Player? 20s

8. Average age of player? 40s

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)? At friends' houses and the FLGS

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why.  I think for now it is growing due to the spread of the IP in other media, but I do think eventually GW will shoot themselves in the foot with what I think are short sighted business decisions like price hikes and some of the stuff they have done with AoS.

[skylerboodie]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

I have no group as don't know anyone into the hobby around here (sad noises)

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

2nd edition as a kid, then back into it since tail end of 7th edition 

 

3. Is your group growing?

Sad noises

 

4. What games does your group play?

I collect 40K, Horus Heresy, Necromunda, AT/AI/LI, and some AoS/Old World

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

Sad noises

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

40

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

40

 

8. Average age of player?

40

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

Sad noises

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

Appears to be growing but until GW sort out their production issues it just feels like the same amount of stock to be shared amongst an ever growing and frustrated consumer base, so I feel there's a limit on growth as their driving people away as well. 

[armarnis]

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

 

we are an association with 96 people in total, i would say 2/3 of them are regulars (more than 2 games/month)

 

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

 

41 now, started with 15 or something? so ~26 years

 

3. Is your group growing?

 

slow but steady

 

4. What games does your group play?

 

40k, aos, hh, LI, warmaster, frostgrave, conquest, song of ice and fire, bolt action, battlegroup, napoleonic stuff i dont know the names of :D, rapture, malifaux, freebooters fate, starwars... probably more

 

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

 

2023 saw maybe 4 or 5 people leave with 8 or 9 or something joining

 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

 

oof, above 50

 

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

 

17

8. Average age of player?

 

dunno!

 

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

 

we have a rented room with ~150m² space, 24/7 access for all members

 

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

 

i think its changing, not dying nor really growing. from what i see, people leave gw eco system faster and faster, looking for other games, better rules, less greed. 3d printing plays an ever increasing role, especially if it revolves around systems with tiny minis like warmaster, napoleonic era, epic

[Helias_Tancred]

On 4/21/2024 at 7:11 PM, Uprising said:

So, I have been wondering lately what other hobby groups are looking like and if any new blood is getting into the hobby.  If everyone could be so kind as to answer some basic questions, I would appreciate it. 

 

1.  How many regular people play war games in your group?

2. How long have you been in the hobby?

3. Is your group growing?

4. What games does your group play?

5. How often do people leave your group?  How often do new people come into your group? 

6. Age Range of oldest player?

7. Age Range of Youngest Player?

8. Average age of player?

9.  Where do you play regularly (Ex: Hobby store, friend's house, rented out space, tournament, etc)?

10. Do you think the hobby is growing or dying?  Please explain why. 

 

1. 5 out of 9

2. 11 years.

3. No. But we are very careful about inviting people into our "group". Lots of toxic sorts that are gamers, especially in 40k. Lots. Lessons learned from over 30 years of gaming. We range in age from 29-53.

4. D&D. Warhammer 40k. Moving towards resuming some AoS games but not there yet.

5. Extremely rare. 

6. For war games that we play? 52. For D&D or any/all games we play, 53.

7. 29.

8. Pass.

9. In our homes. 

10. Warhammer 40k, and in truth most of GW's games/hobbies have a revolving door style of customers. Most buy a little bit into a game, they play it and fade away, or they consistently play it but on a very modest level which also translates to their purchases. The die-hards are the minority of GW's customers. They own multiple collections across multiple GW games, they play multiple GW games, and they do it regularly. That being said growth fluctuates in these hobbies based on external pressures (what is going on in the economy and job market) and internal (how GW manages their games). At the moment I'd guess we're on a slight negative growth; 40k faction rules continue to piss people off and cause the regulars to take a pause in the current edition like what happened in 9th. As for GW's other games? AoS will get a bump in growth with the new edition, and I'm not sure if the Old World is still riding their growth bump upon release? Honestly I've stopped caring what GW does or what happens in these hobbies anymore. It's out of my control and my sanity thanks me daily that I no longer play in or hang out in local game stores. 

 

Edited May 2 by Helias_Tancred

[appiah4]

1.  About a dozen

2. Since 1999

3. Not really, but there are about a many new people coming in as there are dropping out. 

4. Infinity, T9A and some Kill Team

5. We usually get a handful newbies and a handful dropouts annually.

6. 50-55

7. 20-25

8. 40

9. Our group is organized as an official gaming association in accordance with the law, so has its membership income which it uses to pay rent for a small sized store floor houseing 6 tables in a mall.  That is where we play.

10. I think Warhammer is dying.  The hobby at large is growing.

Edited May 15 by appiah4