Re: [Epic] Hello (E40K???)

From: Richard Dewsbery <dewsbery_at_...>
Date: Thu, 03 Jul 1997 13:02:36 +0100

> > is it really _necessary_ that the doomweaver use a different
> template?
> > Does it really make the game better that the ordinatus shield is
> > different from a kustorm deflector shied and a knight shield?
> > To quote the Tick "Egad! What's the point!"
> >
> The point is that the whole Epic concept was designed for (let's face
> it), people with an eye for detail. I mean, come on; 6mm tall troops
> and vehicles that are only just big enough to pick up with your
> fingers. Only a few of the Epic players I've met over the years have
> not fallen into this group...

I disagree completely. The Epic concept was to give big, sweeping
battles - giving us the big picture where WH40k concentrates on the
individual men and weapons, the "fine detail". One of the biggest
problems in 1st ed (IMNSHO) was the multiple armaments on the same troop
stand for even basic marines. If individual weapons and special rules
are ever important, it would be at a scale like WH. At an Epic level of
conflict, I don't believe it should matter a great deal whether you are
being shot by 2 lasguns or 1 bolter, or if this leman russ has 2 less
autolaunchers than that land raider. To borrow from the more mainstream
of wargaming, the rulesets concentrating on fine detail, accurately
modelling everything, fall down on two points - firstly, the game
becomes a simulation and gets bogged down with endless charts and
special rules, and secondly it's just not posible to be accurate in
simulating wargames in the first place. (And the first person to mention
the big military simulations played out by the military will be sent off
for a lesson in how those systems require supercomputers to do all the
numbercrunching and incredibly accurate original data from primary
sources - neither of which is remotely possible when trying to play a
sci-fi game).

The trend is towards gamesystems which allow players to concentrate on
tactics rather than rules. I'll accept for the moment that having
special rules for every unit forces you to think in precise terms about
how each one is deployed, however this requires everyone to know all of
the special rules before they can begin to think tactically. This isn't
how warfare has ever been "in the field" and isn't neccesary to play a
game where the players' actions decide the result.

In E40k players must start to think tactically straight away - they
cannot hide behind special units and abilities to get a win, nor can
they whine that they didn't know about a special rule when they lose.

Richard
Received on Thu Jul 03 1997 - 12:02:36 UTC