As I write this we are in the middle of the convention season,. Historicon and Cold Wars are behind us and Fall in is just around the corner, not to mention the myriad of other local conventions going on. There are literally thousands of games being put on attended by thousands of gamers many of them young people, no graying of the hobby here! Or is there? I was somewhat disappointed at the preponderance of games at Historicon that denied “admission” to gamers below a certain age, often as high as 15 without the accompaniment of an adult actually playing in the same game. Standing by and watching your son/daughter play was not good enough, you had to participate! Based on the discussions on the Game masters newsgroup, it would seem that such an attitude is prevalent in most conventions, big or small. No wonder that there is a graying of the hobby. I am proud to say that many of the adult gamers at the convention started at the age of 12/13 bellied up to our table at Old Colony Wargamers (AKA New England Wargamers Association), I sincerely hope that they did not forgot their gaming roots and are putting on age limited games. I brought two boys to Historicon with me, my grandson, age 10 and his friend age 11. They do not meet the age criteria, yet they have been gaming with my, and later their own, miniatures since my grandson was 6. I would match their care and handling of figures, not to mention their ability on the table with the rules they are familiar with against any adult at that convention - my grandson came in 2nd in all adult CrossFire tournament at Historicon! I am sure that there are many more like them at these conventions. Most gamer parents are quick to to teach their offspring the morals and nuances of the gaming table and the care and handling of figures. I suggest that most of the kids at the conventions are with gaming parents. The GM group has been pushing for recognition of all the work they do to make conventions a success, and they deserve these accolades, but perhaps one of the criteria should be how they treat the young newcomers to the hobby at their games. I understand the fear that people have over their figures and terrain being destroyed or stolen and perhaps some kind of criteria of gaming maturity is required. I’m thinking of some kind of written affidavit signed by a mature gamer, (parent or guardian) taking full responsibility for transgressions by the child in question - no questions asked, should allow younger children who have the necessary maturity to play in any game regardless of accompanying parent in that game. The whole process of “accreditation” could be overseen by HMGS and/or the Game Master Association. I welcome your thoughts. Back to Table of Contents -- Courier #86 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com