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Epic (game system)

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Targetdrone.gif Epic redirects here. For the vessel of the Imperial Navy, see Epic (Ship).

Epic is a series of tabletop war games produced by Specialist Games, using Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Epic 40,000 Logo

General Information

EPIC and Warhammer 40.000 scale comparison

Epic battles consist of hundreds of soldiers and dozens of tanks arrayed across a long battlefield[1]. To make this possible the scale of Epic miniatures is around 6mm, compared to the 28mm for Warhammer 40,000.[Needs Citation] Models are available through Specialist Games, Games Workshop and Forge World.

In terms of game play, players take turns in moving and firing one or two units at a time. This more closely simulates real time battlefield developments giving it a more real feeling.

As the game is based on 6mm scale, the physical size of armies is much smaller. This reduces the cost of purchasing forces dramatically compared to other games. It also allows much larger vehicles and creatures to be fielded, including Titans and Bio-Titans, as well as using many aircraft at once. Aeronautica Imperialis concentrates heavily on aircraft at the same 6mm as Epic, allowing physical interchanging of models between the game systems.

While the scale of Epic makes it excellent for fielding large ground forces, it is still too large to field Battlefleet Gothic forces. As the 4th Edition rulebook states: "Even a small Lunar class Cruiser would be over 5 meters long if we made an Epic scale model of it"[2].

History

1988-2006 : Epic

Adeptus Titanicus (1988)

Adeptus Titanicus

Space Marine (1st Edition) (1989)

Space Marine (1989)

Space Marine (2nd Edition) (1991)

Space Marine (1991)
  • Space Marine (2nd Edition) moved away from the Horus Heresy, with a box that contained Orks, Eldar, Space Marines, and a Titan for good measure. These rules lasted a long time, growing to encompass a wide variety of troops and vehicles for Eldar, Orks, Space Marines, Squats, Chaos, Imperial Guard, and Tyranids over a series of boxed expansions. Every faction received plastic troops, which were supplemented by metal reinforcements – including Titan-sized behemoths.[3]

Titan Legions (1994)

Titan Legions

Epic 40,000 (1997)

Epic 40,000
  • Epic 40,000 brought many changes for epic-scale. The miniatures stayed the same size, but the entire scope of the game changed around them. Armies were no longer confined to set companies or detachments, making force selection more flexible, but the trade-off meant that the complexities of different weapon types were much reduced to make the game faster. These were joined by other innovations, including the notorious blast markers which denoted suppression and morale. It made the controversial move from square infantry bases to oblongs. It was accompanied by a substantial range refresh – the old plastic troops were replaced with more intricate and detailed miniatures. The old Land Raider design (later called the Land Raider Proteus) was replaced with the Mk2B Land Raider.[3]

Epic Armageddon (2003)

Epic Armageddon logo
  • Epic Armageddon was a product of the Specialist Games Studio. For the most part, it was a set of trial rules worked on in collaboration with the gaming community with a little additional support from the sculptors at Forge World, who released new miniatures – including for the T’au Empire and Imperial Navy – every so often.[3]

Aeronautica Imperialis (2006)

Aeronautica Imperialis 2006' logo

The 2006 Aeronautica Imperialis game represent aerial combat between two opposing forces in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It was not formally part of the Epic Game system, but use a similar small-scale size.


2018 onward : Revival

Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy (2018)

Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy logo

The 2018 relaunch of Adeptus Titanicus focus on the Horus Heresy setting, in an updated 8mm scale.

Aeronautica Imperialis (2019)

Aeronautica Imperialis 2019' logo

Aeronautica Imperialis was relaunched in a 8mm scale, in 2019.

Legions Imperialis (2023)

  • In 2023 was released Legions Imperialis, a new game using the Epic scale (a quarter of the height of the 28mm range)[4], set during the Horus Heresy, pitting armies of Space Marines and Imperial Forces against each other. Models from the relaunched Adeptus Titanicus (2018) and Aeronautica Imperialis (2019) range are usable, with adapted rules, within this new game system. Compared to the miniatures of the 1990', the scale of the models has been updated to be more consistent relative to each other, with more details and slightly increased size.[5]

Video Games

Sources

Publications for the Epic game system