What was your first introductory game of 40K?

[kabaakaba]

For me it was last weekend of 2001. I've got my birthday money and take adventure to another end of city to the only lgs at that time  to buy a steam tank for my little wbfb army. And got to the 40k introduction day. I was curious, i have no internet access in that time and don't know about 40k. There was few oldmans(30-35 year ) who gives small army to newbie and explain rules. I've got little tau army with broadside few infantry and crisises. and paired against necrons. I loose. Then game against IG. I'm loose again. Needless to say i don't buy steam tank and heading home with LRBT and few infantry squads 

[Grotsmasha]

It would have been ~'97 or '98, 2nd Ed. The first WD I'd bought for myself was 212 (Aug '97) with that classic Sisters artwork. There was four of us, and we played 2v2, or Free-for-All basically every game, as we only had one board, and typically not enough time for multiple games. I don't really remember the specifics of my first game, but I do recall my second. My friend had just bought and painted his brand new Commissar and Ogryns, transported in his brand new Chimera. I had just painted my brand new triple Las Predator, and managed to get 1st turn. I shot everything at that transport, he rolled the worst possible result, everyone died, and the resulting explosion also damaged one of his other squads (maybe guardsmen, maybe Ratlings), they failed their morale check and bolted, and never recovered.

This started a tradition in the group of new units never surviving their first game.

[Bouargh]

Summer of 92, Southampton's suburbs.

RT rules, Harlies against SM. The latter with a Land Raider. I had been lent Harlies and the other player cheated in big ways, making the exhausts of the LR count as flamers, (plus the Lascannon, plus de HB) plus the fact that I was probably outmatched pointwise by a 3 to 4 fold factor. I had no idea of the rules and mechanisms at the time.

 

Despite this I have been hooked, even if I was at the time mainly a WFB player. within the follong 12 months, I bought the RT rule book, the Compendium, the Compilation, Battle and Vehicle Manuals (wonderful bad idea this targetting matrix on vehicle silhouettes...) and, stimulated by the release of the metal SW, I dived into the grimdark for good.

[Valkia the Bloody]

I have been in the hobby for nearly 30 years now, but in the beginning, I stuck to Fantasy (I very much liked the "historic" look of the old Empire and Dogs of War ranges). 

At uni, we had a great club, in the beginning, I also played Fantasy there, but then some members of the club finished creating some awesome 40k boards to play on- all hand-made, they made a trench warfare board and also a space hulk! To celebrate the new boards, we had a 40k party! So my very first introductory game was a game of Space Hulk on the new board. I remember I even brought my flatmate along who had been wondering for a long time what exactly we were doing at the club and why I had this strange hobby of painting plastic / pewter figures (he thought this was for kids and I was wasting my time). It was like opening a new world for him (he did not join, but at least he could acknowledge that this was a fun activity and we were less weird than he feared). 

It was a great game, great atmosphere, there was pizza and lots of fun. 

Club members also introduced me to the novels by Dan Abnett (Eisenhorn and Ghosts) and after reading those, 40k was completely sold on me. I stopped with Fantasy, sold most of my fantasy armies and pledged my soul to Chaos (my first 40k army was a heavily converted Death Guard army, years before they got actual models beside the pewter plague marines- luckily hanging guts and gore are easy to do and did not stretch my green stuff skills). 

Very fond memories. Just have been hit by a wave of nostalgia.