“I love the smell of Imperium in the morning”
To be honest, I blame Blücher (as any Bonapartist would**). Once we started playing that beautiful game, I could not shake the urge to play more grand tactical* games. This eventually led me back to the classic GW games of Warmaster (article in the works) and Epic Armageddon. If you are a seasoned veteran of all the new comings and goings of this game, then this article might be a little boring. However, if you are like me and are trying to overcome a mountain of information and resources, read on!
Rules
The first thing I had to overcome mentally was the difference between Epic and Epic Armageddon. Without getting into details, EA was the game I played in High School, and Epic was/is it’s predecessor. Now, this is the confusing part; there are NetEpic, NetEA and EpicUK. NetEA is the ‘modern’ ‘living rulebook’ of Epic Armageddon, while NetEpic is Epic (aka Space Marine). This might seem very obvious, but it wasn’t that obvious to me at the start.
For Epic Armageddon, there are 2 (English Language) main rulesets.
In the dozen or so games that I have played so far, I have seen no difference between the two rule-sets, only the army lists seem to differ.
Miniatures
There is a bunch of variety here you can (in recommendation order):
- Buy from a third-party vendor: Vanguard, Onslaught, Trolls Under the Bridge.
- 3D Print (I recommend this for vehicles because of the price point: Epic 40k
- eBay (age has not been kind to some of the sculpts and the asking price is often too high)
Here are some examples of what I have painted so far.
90’s Marines
Vanguard Terminators
Printed Vehicles
Orks on deck!
Oh and before I forget, my favorite topic, Bases!
I believe the answer here is perfect but needs a disclaimer.
Do what you like. There is a cap of two bases in contact with one enemy base. If you have the movement to make it into base to base contact, but can’t because you made a beautiful diorama base, just let it happen. Don’t be that guy. Rule of cool always wins.
I have been using 40x20mm because it gives me room to put debris on the base. You would be amazed at what random 40k bits can be used as battlefield debris.
Basing:
- I paint and glue the debris first. Then add the minis, it’s worth noting that I added the vehicles last after all these steps are complete
- Then a heavy application of Astrogranite Debris, using my hobby knife to create uneven patterns on the ground
- I dry brush first with DAK sand and then VJ Cold White. I find that the two layers of dry brushing add to the beat-up earth look that I’m setting up with the Astrogranite Debris.
- Finally, I flock with dead grass; I don’t remember the brand I have a tub of this stuff from ages ago
Terrain
I’m currently trying to figure this one out. It seems like a healthy dose of 3D print, and some of the newer Adeptus Titanicus Terrain. I think I’m going to make a broad base to represent an urban area and throw some terrain from the Citivas Imperialis Industrial Scenery set to make this more modular. Area terrain is the only real way to handle some abstractness of terrain and grand tactical* gaming.
Gaming
Given the current world status, I have been solely gaming on Tabletop Simulator (TTS). There are a ton of resources in the workshop if you search under Epic Armageddon. I prefer the French Table (EPIC FERC). I went and changed out the PDFs, so it’s all in English, but I don’t know how to upload it from my personal save to the community. Either way, TTS is all the rage. There are plenty of articles and how to’s; I couldn’t recommend it enough.
Additional Resources
Tactical Wargames Fourm – A great resource for everything Epic and more
Adeptus Titanicus, Epic (All Editions!), and Aeronautica Imperialis Group – All these games are somewhat interlinked with scale which is awesome. Lots of visual inspiration for conversions and basing.
Army Builder – Pretty straight forward (Battle Scribe is really good too)
Tournament Lists: I debated on using this a resource. Tournament lists are notoriously spammy and are only a reflection of the local meta. However, its worth seeing some army builds if you are curious.
Inspirational Books
These are the books I’m listening to or reading while I paint. These are chosen for the level of awesome but also the most appropriate for Epic Armageddon.
1. Helsreach : It’s Armageddon!
2. Rynn’s World: Party Time! Excellent!
3. Storm of Iron: Iron Warriors Siege!
4. Titanicus: Titians!
5. Dead Men Walking: Andrew told me to!
Conclusion
Hopefully, that helps you on your noble quest to play Epic Armageddon! If you haven’t noticed, I’m absolutely swooning over this game. Having seen Marines/Guard/Tau/Chaos/Orks in action, I can’t help but feel that the gravity of 40k battles is captured in this system. Plainly put, the armies play as they read in the fluff.
Please reach out if there is a resource out there that I missed.
As always, thanks for reading. Enjoy the hobby and check out my YT Channel@ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4uU81it43KIbeI_B1kAZCw
*Someone once called Blücher a grand tactical game as a slight. As if there wasn’t enough detail or the lack of Aid de Camp and orders made it just a big basic game instead of a small one. I now like to use that term just out of spite. Just to see if anyone bites…
** It’s a joke, don’t go around social media calling me a Bonapartist .
