Playing with an 8 year old.

By ArcaneSpringbrd, in Star Wars: Rebellion

My two cents, (well 1.537 after exchange) is play them with the "take back rule". I taught my daughter chess this way. If you see him about to make a mistake, tactics or strategy wise, ask them if that is a wise move. Don't tell them not to, just ask them. Give them a second to see if they can see what you are seeing. This does two things. A) lets you gauge how they are doing, (my daughter quickly started seeing things I didn't.... I no longer play chess with her), and 2) it will help with cognitive abilities. If they don't see it, point out what you see. They will then keep an eye out for that, (mimicry and all), but, the way a youths mind leaps, they will start to see other stuff. He may need help tracking everything he has, so, give him all the time he needs on his turns without pressuring him. In the end I think he will love it. Then, when he makes the nationals and worlds you can quietly gloat in the corner.

Edit, sorry if this comes off a bit preachy. Not my intent. I blame the ADHD

Not at all. This, (along with the other posts) is good advice.

My two cents, (well 1.537 after exchange) is play them with the "take back rule". I taught my daughter chess this way. If you see him about to make a mistake, tactics or strategy wise, ask them if that is a wise move. Don't tell them not to, just ask them. Give them a second to see if they can see what you are seeing. This does two things. A) lets you gauge how they are doing, (my daughter quickly started seeing things I didn't.... I no longer play chess with her), and 2) it will help with cognitive abilities. If they don't see it, point out what you see. They will then keep an eye out for that, (mimicry and all), but, the way a youths mind leaps, they will start to see other stuff. He may need help tracking everything he has, so, give him all the time he needs on his turns without pressuring him. In the end I think he will love it. Then, when he makes the nationals and worlds you can quietly gloat in the corner.

Edit, sorry if this comes off a bit preachy. Not my intent. I blame the ADHD

Not at all. This, (along with the other posts) is good advice.

I volunteer with Scouts Canada and one of my jobs is training leaders, (both new and old), so, I have a tendency to fall into "teacher mode" when discussing youth. Thanks for the vote of confidence tho.

BTW, I'm Canadian too, so your advice was worth the full two cents! (and more) :-)

BTW, I'm Canadian too, so your advice was worth the full two cents! (and more) :-)

NICE!!!

So I did in fact, buy this today. I played the d6 Generation preview of it while we were driving and he was laughing his head off and wanted to get it.

So I did.

I think it's a hit.

As suggested, I told him he should play the Rebels for awhile, and that I would give him the 'take back' rule for awhile. He's doing alright. This game has maybe 3 turns left and it's getting down to the wire.

His only 'mistake' was accidentally blurbing where the base was to his mom when I was in earshot (after repeatedly telling him just not to mention it at all). I told him to pick a new location but give me the Endor card. :-)

We stopped for the night but looking at the board, I know 100% for sure I'm adjacent to the base in some manner, but not sure where it is.I've got the Death Star ready, with the Superlaser ready. I'm guessing it could be Rodia or Yavin...but it could be Ilum, Hoth, Cato Neimodia, or Dagobah.All the other systems are either probed or have had ground units there.

Best story so far was capturing Chewie, but then getting rescued before the Emperor could turn him. :-)

So I did in fact, buy this today. I played the d6 Generation preview of it while we were driving and he was laughing his head off and wanted to get it.

So I did.

I think it's a hit.

As suggested, I told him he should play the Rebels for awhile, and that I would give him the 'take back' rule for awhile. He's doing alright. This game has maybe 3 turns left and it's getting down to the wire.

His only 'mistake' was accidentally blurbing where the base was to his mom when I was in earshot (after repeatedly telling him just not to mention it at all). I told him to pick a new location but give me the Endor card. :-)

We stopped for the night but looking at the board, I know 100% for sure I'm adjacent to the base in some manner, but not sure where it is.I've got the Death Star ready, with the Superlaser ready. I'm guessing it could be Rodia or Yavin...but it could be Ilum, Hoth, Cato Neimodia, or Dagobah.All the other systems are either probed or have had ground units there.

Best story so far was capturing Chewie, but then getting rescued before the Emperor could turn him. :-)

For a child, or a rookie gamer, I almost wonder if the Rebels are a bad choice. Any questions they have about how cards play or what effects happen when can easily drop hints.

My wife during the first game almost revealed the location by asking a question. And when I did reveal the base, she thought the game was done, and the way the rapid mobilization card works is a little tricky. The game itself takes a lot to digest all the info, but the rebels have even more to swallow in my opinion.

The Imps most challenging aspect is the deduction element, and a cheat sheet from BGG can help them organize that info in a way that is easier to understand. The Imperial plays are a little more brute force, and simple to understand and follow.

Also, if you have a rookie playing the Rebels, it helps to be able to play games like this against yourself. Someone can reveal the base to me, and I can still compartmentalize that info and play as if I don't know it.

But I'm very glad to hear that he's interested and enjoying the game. The best part for you will come after a few plays when he really starts to connect the dots. Some turn will come where he will do a combination of missions that will be a major play and will make you go "Wow, I'm not sure if I would have planned out something like that."

My oldest son started playing WOW the board game against me when he was 8. At first he was just randomly picking skills and it was pretty much a bloodbath every game. Due to the size and time it took to play, we didn't play often, but every couple months it would hit the table again. By the time he was 10 though he was building characters in amazing min/max strategies that was actually quite impressive. He combo'd stuff together that I doubt I ever would have thought of.

First game ended with him making a mistake and using the Strike Team mission to make an attack on one of my worlds. And then I just on a whim went to Hoth and there he was. If he'd kept his Base manned up he would have repelled me, but he didn't. I offered to reload before he attacked, but we decided to just play another game. This time he wanted to play the Empire.

It's again getting close to the end, but I don't think he's going to get to my base in time. Despite repeated suggestions that he needed to be moving his fleets more than doing Missions, he hasn't. And now he's at least 4 turns away from attacking Ryloth. He even has a SSD and a 2nd Death Star, but they're primarily in the center or the other side of the board.

Two of my strikes against the Death Star failed. You obviously need at least 3 fighters to get through in order to pretty much ensure that one will survive long enough to score a Direct Hit. He's also done some pretty nifty blocks...and actually has Mon Calamari loyal (although I've got troops there).

I'm glad to hear the two of you are having fun.

Well, as much as you can given that he's really sensitive, and gets upset whenever something bad happens.

Like......discovering the Rebel base on Yavin IV with the Death Star.

Ok, glad HE is having fun....