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So, me and a mate are considering getting into Epic, and to be honest we're just looking for some help really. It will be my first time playing at that scale, and his first experience to the hobby in general (however, he's seen some 40k games and says he's more interested in a tactical wargame than the painting and modelling side). So we've just got some questions we hope you can answer-thanks in advance.

1). What do we need to get to start playing?
2). How easy is it to learn the rules, especially for someone who's never done anything like this before?
3). Which armies are best suited to beginners?
4). How big should our forces be for our first few games?

Excellent, good man.

First you have to decide what rule set you will be using. I personally prefer NetEpic as its a fan based glossy version of 2nd I played in my youth. The rules are free and can be found at the epicentre (not sure about its current status so google it) but if not PM me. The rules are relatively easy as even special unit rules are clearly laid out and straight forward. I haven't played Epic Armageddon but it has many followers so can't be all bad.

You need approx 3 to 5K points to play good games (although you can easily play with more) and miniature wise this varies greatly in numbers (massed orks are very cheap ). I'd start with a couple of K of basic troops and then add in more specials as you go along and become more familiar with the rules.

If you want straight forward troops maybe start with space marines which you can both play against each other using counters or proxies (don't spend too much until you've found your chosen race then scour ebay). After that I'd read the different races rules and see what 'flavour' suits you're game style.

I personally have 20k+ of Squats and 18K ish of Orks.

Epic was one of the first games I played back in the murky eighties and I've loved it ever since.

hope that helps

Dances

Wow, didn't expect replies this quick (BTW, you're sig concerning the Tyranids=GENIUS! )
To be honest, I think we will go with Armageddon in the end, as he's quite competative and wants to be able to play his army in tournaments. I also despise carrying around large ordinary paper rulesets as they are so easily damaged, so we will pool our money and buy the "Hard" copy.
I haven't had a chance to sit down and properly read the army lists yet, so I suspect we'll start at about 1k (using counters, don't worry ) points from what you describe. Modelwise, I'm liking the look of the Imperial Guard seige masters, whilst he's taken to Marines-would you reccomend these as good starting armies?

Thanks for your help, I really do appreciate it .

Epic Armageddon is really really good. Player support has kept the game alive and you can normally go to a tournament a month nowadays.

1) Beyond two armies and the rulebook? Some scenery is useful, although a number of players of games at this scale will simply use felt or foam to mark out areas of terrain. You really need a 6 by 4 board, although you could manage on 5 by 4.

2) The rules are really simple. Their interaction becomes complex however, and you need to sit down and play with how things interact and move on the table. Fortunately the rulebook provides 'training' scenarios for each chapter and includes a description of engagment at the end.

3) I think the rulebook armies are the best beginner armies. I find marines a bit tricky until you start using air power (Thunderhawk assaults ftw!). They're my favourite Epic force though, feel like marines should.

4) Probably start at around 1500-2000 points. For a 2 hour game 2700-3000.

Armageddon sounds pretty good if you want to be competitive and enter tourneys, and it is still supported-ish by GW (they allow you to buy the models ).

Force wise it depends what floats your boat, but as I don't know the ins and outs of EA like command distances and force organisation so you may have to wait for a more informed advisor.

Either way well done for taking your first steps in playing an excellent and often overlooked game (and scale) oh and if you find you love 6mm gaming then look up dirtside 2 (the rules are free on GZG's website) because its excellent (although more hard sci-fi) and can be a pleasant change.

After opening a large box from eBay last night I fear my squats are now over the 30K point so I'm going to need a much bigger table now!

I have three Overlords, two full Land Trains, a pair of Colossi, a few Gyrocoptors... but that is it for big stuff for Squats.

I'd hate to think how much I'd have if I put together all of my Titans, Marines, Guard & Squats.

I'm glad its not just me who is scared of his collection Fifty (9 ovelords, 2 colossi, 2 trains, 1 cyclops, 15 gyro's, 12 termites, 5 moles, 1 hellbore, 3 big cannony chaps? 4 leviathans etc)

As you can see Little lord Fauntleroy there is a distinct chance you dabblings into epic may lead to insanity.

Good luck my friend

Honestly 2nd ed Epic was my favorite game, easy to make an army with the cards, easy (if at time incongruous) rules, and pretty quick (well compared to 2nd ed 40K and 1st ed Warhammer anyway). Just a massive feel with Titan Legions and everything. I was very sad when they restructured it.

Epic Armageddon is a good game also, just different, more like giant games of 40K.......sort of. Its more like controlling a bunch of task forces than giant armies.

Id go with 2nd ed/net epic. But you can play both with the same miniatures and pic your favorite. There are vastly more units and armies in 2nd ed though. Things like titans have so many options, you can kit them out for individual roles as opposed to the rather vanilla titans of Armageddon. Plus you get to use knight titans. Sweet.

Really though my favorite game, its a shame GW dropped the ball on that one.

Epic Armageddon does provide stats for all of those older Titan weapons though in the collectors section so it is still very easy to put them into play.

Not to mention the Adeptus Mechanicus Titan Legions NetEA list

I guess another key question is where you are based. There may be Epic groups around you.

Did someone say Epic? (Assuming that this is EA right now...)

1. To get started, all you really need - aside from the regular tape measure, six sided dice, etc - are the rules (downloaded), the force list and stats pages, an army and something to represent blast markers (jelly beans work great to start with!). I would recommend that you keep things simple initially. Just use infantry and standard vehicles, and avoid War Engines, fliers, space craft, Titans, etc. Also, ignore all of the rules and alterations online for now. If you play in store you will get people telling you how rule x has changed, etc, but thats not important for starting out. The first version of the rules is totally playable.

2. The rules are fairly accessible for people totally new to the hobby. Essentially, you are looking at rolling for initiative, activating each formation - pick orders, move, fire and fight - and counting the blast markers on units. Then, rinse and repeat. The fact that the blast markers are equal to the number of unit s remaining really tidies up potentially complex morale and fight-or-flight tests and is intuitive.

3. For starting out, you should really stick with the 'official' force lists. That is the Marines, Orks and IG in the core book, or Eldar, Orks and Siegemasters in Swordwind.

4. Start with around 1000 points, then take it up to 500 points by adding some more interesting units that were initially left out. 'Standard' tournaments run at 2700 points (because 1/3 is 900 points), but 3000 is very popular too.

Be careful with Marines. GW goes on about how Marines are a 'scalpel' force for 'surgical strikes' and how they can be overwhelmed easily.... and then makes them all-powerful on the battlefield. This is not true in Epic. Marines play like they should, and can be really tricky to use and disappear quickly if pressed into a bad position. They can be devastating in the right hands, but also frustrating.

Have a look for players here:
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/archive/cgi/players.cgi

I wont get into a discussion on force sizes, but I do have around four or five Hellbores and about the same number of Capitol Imperialis..es....es...ii (?). My Tau force is currently over 10,000 points! (Although not much is actually painted of it.)

Thanks for your help everyone-we'll stop this Ork invasion if it's the last thing we do.

Maybe.
Possibly.
No.

Out of curiosity, what is everyone's favorite version of epic? pro and cons.

I like 2nd because you can field some giant armies, I also liked the more regimented units.

I do like some of the tactical abilities of the later games though.

2nd was a bit beer and giggles really. It was fun, but winning the turn roll could be pretty devastating... But you got more on the table and it felt good putting all that stuff down (even if it left pretty quickly as well!)

E:A is the best rules set, one of the best wargames rulessets around.

2nd was my favourite but netEpic has replaced it in my heart (and because 2nd was years ago now and makes me feel old ).

Epic always strikes me as being what apocalypse wanted to be. You just don't get the scale without hordes of 6mm chaps and massive machineries of destruction striding around.

2nd was my favourite but netEpic has replaced it in my heart (and because 2nd was years ago now and makes me feel old ). Hear you on that one.

Epic: Armageddon is a fine game, though its been a fair while since I last played it. Armies work properly i.e. Eldar are really really mobile and, as mentioned, Marines are a proper surgical strike force, striking from nowhere in droppods and thunderhawks.

As to editions, my favorite is 2nd. Mainly because I've not played enough games in the 4th (current) edition to compare it to. 3rd was alright, but most of my army of choice (Titan Legions) was made obsolete when the new system was launched.

NetEpic Gold, heavily based on Epic 2nd edition, includes all the 'modern' armies (Tau, Necrons etc) and has all the special rules that gave the races their own particular idiosyncrasies’, best of both worlds really.

Once you're ready for tournaments hit the calendar at www.epic-uk.co.uk/calendar.shtml and you will find all the details of the events running this year in the UK that we know about.... and we keep a pretty close eye on most epic forums!