Miniatures games for an 8 year old

[Were-Sandwich]

My little sister (the titular 8 yr old) is always asking to join in with me and my brother's games of LOTR, Stargrunt and Full Thrust. She seems quite keen, but can't quite understand all the complicated rules some of the games have. She knows how to play Magic: The Gathering, although she's not very good, mainly through lack of experience.

I'm looking for a sci-fi or fantasy miniatures game, with rules that an (intelligent) 8 year old can understand and play, preferably useable with miniatures I already have rather than ones I'll have to go and buy, and with the rules being either very cheap or free. Preferably a game with few 'special abilities', her major problem with Magic is all the rules text on the cards that she just doesn't bother to read, preferring to just get stuck in and attack. Also, the rules should have some kind of logical results. I say this because w tried playing Robogear once, and the numerous stupidities in the rules had me and her totally confused for most of the game (sniper rifles take two hits to kill someone, vehicle armour acts like a health-bar, men can take two hits from a 40mm cannon before dying etc)

Anyone got any suggestions?

[Albub]

Well, 40k is wicked expensive, but I played it when I was eight and did alright. I can't really think of many because I don't play any miniature games right now.

[Were-Sandwich]

You're right about it being wicked expensive. I use dto play, and had to give it up because of the expense. GW's prcing practices suck. My income won't allow me to get back in to 40K. Plus I don't really like the game either. Also, I think 40K might take a bit long to play. Her attention span can be very short at times.

[expirement10K14]

Its kind of like a miniatures board game more than miniatures, but Heroscape is good is simple and fun, the basic pack is $30 I think, and has enough for 3 or 4 people, it can take time to set up if you don't have good imagination, or are bad at making things off of pictures.

[Hazkali]

The Dungeons and Dragons board game might be a good idea, it's fairly simple and in the tradition of games like Heroquest. Plus the miniatures and boards are great for regular D+D too!

[Narmoth]

Or you could run the original hero quest game. I'm quite shure you can download the magic cards and quests for free, and you can either buy the heroquest miniatures used on ebay or use any other miniatures.
Mordheim also doesn' take much miniatures to play, and it's mostly enough for one of the players (if he is honest) to know the rules.
I've won my first 2 games without knowing most of the rules, only understanding the basic game mechanics.

[Were-Sandwich]

I went to my FLGS (which is 40 miles from my house) and asked if they could reccomend anything for her. They recommended Song of Blades and Heroes, which I bought, which looks to be pretty good, adn within her limits.

[BizzaroStormy]

Thing about minis games, they're expensive. However, if you've got the cash, I say go for it. I personally played Mechwarrior for about a year but had to stop when the place I played closed down. They've opened back up since but due to the extremely low number of people willing to play (just me and one other) MW was not even brought back into stock.

[Leon]

Anyone got any suggestions?

Warmachine or Hordes from Privateer Press - All metal Minis but a good game can be had with just a basic battle box (Typicaly a Caster and 2-5 Warjacks/Warbeasts)

http://www.privateerpress.com
You can find Quick Start rules for both Hordes & Warmachine on the site along with many other useful items

[Jalor]

I would also recommend Heroscape. It's not really a miniatures game but it is good for kids who aren't quite ready for more complex games. If you buy several different sets you can have some really interesting games (Spiderman vs. vikings, etc).