I've managed to play yet another game, this time a 250 point skirmish using Epic 40k!
Epic 40k
Now Epic 40k is possibly the game I played most back in the day and have very fond memories of playing epic battles fielding my Orks against my friends Imperial Fists and I've always found it a shame that folks didn't warm to the ruleset.
Sadly my mega Ork Waaargh got flogged off many years ago but I thought I'd use the opportunity to play a game using the smaller warbands I have kicking around and while the game wasn't very long and the detachments were a bit wonky, I really enjoyed playing the game for the first time in about a decade!
Sneaky Xenos lurking in the undergrowth
The Eldar won the game rather quickly by winning the initiative for both movement and shooting and proceeded to use their Falcons to blow up my Landraider and it's speeder outrider while the main Eldar force lurked in cover and their Dreadnought and Dark Reapers sniped the Imperials as they approached.
Ultramarines deploy
After killing my Imperial flankers, the Eldar Falcons started shooting up my main detachment of Marines and the Imperials couldn't get close enough to the nippy Eldar to give them a taste of bolters and the survivors were forced from the field.
Snipe!
The game was great fun and very nostalgic but I did find that I could have done with a more balanced force on each side rather than whatever I had painted at the time. I'm tempted to use the approach that they showcase in the rulebook and form small detachments based on 2nd edition sized armies:
An Epic 40k Detachment
I'd highly recommend folks take a second look at Epic 40k as it's a wonderfully simple and streamlined ruleset that allows you to have a decent sized game in a short time. I love the effects of blast markers resulting in pinned units which then can force them to retire, the short range and deadly firefights and the brutal close combat phase!
Compared to earlier and later editions of the game, there's less crunch in the rules with most units having a Firepower rating instead of lots of different weapons but I must admit that I really like this approach as it makes for faster and more fluid games.
Sadly while Imperial, Chaos, Tyranid and Orky armies are getting lots of lovely new proxy miniatures, the Eldar seem to have been largely overlooked so I've added an EPIC WANTED PAGE for the odds and sods that I'm missing from my collection. It's mostly infantry that I'm after so if you've got some spare Epic Eldar gubbins, I'm more than happy to trade! I've got lots of Rogue Trader era Eldar and an assortment of painted stuff I'm willing to trade for them!
Sadly I'm now having to head out to work but I'll try to get another 15mm scale skirmish played this evening and another battle report soon but in the meantime, All the best!
I likes this version of 40k as well and the fact they used the same rulesystem for BFG. I really should pick these back up.
ReplyDeleteOh, I loved this game back in the day, I'm so happy to see there's someone out there still rocking! :D
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the comments folks!
ReplyDeleteEpic 40k was a really unappreciated system which is a little odd as Battlefleet Gothic got lots of love in comparison.
I'm looking forward to having another game in the not too distant future but need to have a look at what I have to paint in order to get some more balanced formations!
I loved this game! I loved the simplicity of the rules that gave you the feel of commanding a large force and did away with the micro-managing of previous editions.
ReplyDeleteSadly I was in the minority and it's small community got killed off when Epic Armageddon replaced it, bringing in the worst of all editions and doing away the character of detachments while returning to the idea that it was important to know the difference between the small arms that 6mm models were carrying. I must dig out my epic models and play this again.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Epic 40k was great for making games fast and deadly without having to roll a bucket of dice for a single superheavy tank, each with a different range, to hit score and armour modifier!
DeleteI've seen the odd flash of Epic 40k here and there around the interwebs but not much of a community as I think a lot of the 2nd edition gamers were put off by the concepts and then Epic Armageddon hybridised the two systems!
Hopefully I'll have more games to play later this month!
Love epic, though I must admit I enjoyed Armageddon too. Have you seen Squad Hammer? https://www.wargamevault.com/product/222978/Squad-Hammer-Dirt-simple-gaming-for-many-settingsor-all-of-them totally diffferent type of game but it's perfect for the 'scale' you're talking about (that detachment above would be a perfect army). It's my go to now because that the scale of encounter I really like in 6mm too. It also let's me play 6mm stuff on a 2x2 with the right terrain.
ReplyDeleteI've not actually had a look at Squad Hammer yet!
DeleteI picked up Five Parsecs From Home a few years back, inspired by Spacejacker's blog but didn't really warm to the system it came with but did find it an interesting way of creating unusual characters!
All the best!
Yeah first edition is worth it for the tables alone. Squad Hammer works on the basis of an 'average' unit, determined bythe forces in use. So I use a 5 man infantry squad with a squad level support as my 'base point' then every other unit's stat's relate to that. It's time to table takes a little bit of working (I keep 'stat cards' so I've always got them). Then it's takes a collaborative or GM style approach to target numbers (though there's lot's of guidance, it's not free-form). I've yet to find a game that can handle small-ish but multi-based units as well.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a peek!
DeleteI quite like Gruntz as well but I really need to have a few games to get to grips with the rules properly. For a while it seemed to be the go to ruleset but interest seems to have moved on in the last few years...
Bit of a late reply, as I'm only just catching up with all your posts for last year so only just saw this, but are you aware that vanguard miniatures do Eldar proxies now? Not a huge range right now but I'm sure they will flesh the range out more very soon.
ReplyDeletesadly I don't have anything you need on your wanted list, some of those models are like gold dust. The warp spiders are hard to come by and I don't think I've actually seen the harlequins in person!
Thanks for the comments!
DeleteI've been keeping an eye on Vanguard as their Imperial gubbins are fab and while I do like the look of their not Eldar, I'm waiting till they extend the range before ordering!
I had an entire formation of Eldar Harlequins back in the days of Epic 40k with infantry, Jetbikes and Falcon grav tanks but sadly sold the lot off when I went off to uni.
I've got enough stuff to put together 2 squads of most of the aspect warriors but I've only found 1 Warp Spider figure lurking in the bottom of a box and it would be nice to be able to play all of the aspects at some point!
I really need to get back to my Epic painting as it's always fun and I've had some Ork boyz primed for over a year now and it would be handy to get them added to my painted forces!
All the best!
.... how do you fill in the detachment sheets? What is Reserve Speed , half Strength, etc? Thanks
ReplyDelete