Commander Karth wrote:
Hi all, I am just discovering Epic for the first time and wanted a little help sorting out which edition would be best for me.
Warhammer 40,000 2nd Edition (1993) - This is probably GW's best game from the 90's.[/quote]
I agree, 2nd edition was a beautiful thing. Rogue Trader was a mess. So much color and humor in the game too.
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Space Marine 1st Edition / Adeptus Titanicus - These seem the most difficult to collect, with few options for playing alternate factions.
Not entirely true. Rules were made for all the races at the time, however, the Eldar never got updated with their Aspect Warriors even though the models were released for them.
I am not sure how much you know about this system, but I grew up with it, and have everything ever released for it, including all of the White Dwarf articles - binded together as a spiral notebook.
AT was released first, and articles in WD followed expanding that game. They also started releasing rules for marines, imperial guard, and land raiders, rhinos, robots, and so on. I kind of call this the experimental phase, as the rules were really deep in detail, and some were dropped later on. It was actually in these rules that the stats for the Flamer were released, which never appeared again even though they continued to release models that used the Flamer.
Then Space Marine came out, which refined all the rules previously released in White Dwarf. I love this game. The only issue I have is with the rules for Morale, or really the lack thereof. Space Marine did include some rules on how to incorporate AT and SM together.
But then the Codex Titanicus was released, which sort of refined Imperial Titans, close combat, and introduced Orks and Eldar. Most of the minis were basically smaller versions of what had been developed for Rogue Trader.
Then what follows in White Dwarf is really essential... everything from rules for Baneblades to Bonecrunchas to Squats and Covens summoning Chaos demons. Really some amazing stuff. And some White Dwarf issues might only dedicate half a page to new rules for SM. And in some cases, they never finished them, such as the rules for Chaos were meant to be in 3 parts, but they only released the first two. But even still, very elaborte rules were released for Space Marines, Imperial Guard, Orks, Squats, Chaos, and some for Eldar. Its just tracking down all these issues off Ebay will take some time and money.
But this is the system I grew up with, and I loved it. Its 40k in its infancy, and the level of detail is just so unique to the other versions. The problem is though, big games can take a long time to play out. We used to leave our games out overnight, and some of our large games took 2-3 nights to play out.
But like Epic 40k, while detachments are suggested, every unit has its own battle rating and the rules say you can develop your own detachments (with some guidelines of course), which makes it really flexible today.
I am just not sure I can recommend a newbie to go after this. The SM1 set is pretty available on Ebay, but its Space Marine vs Space Marines. To get everything else, including AT, is going to take a lot of $$$ and effort. But in this system, a Rhino meant something, Land Raiders were awesome, and there was a lot you could do with a single infantry stand. Very rich game.
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Space Marine 2nd Edition / Titan Legions - These are often praised as the best edition, with the most detail and chrome. I've heard they feel very close to 40k 2nd Edition, which is a plus for me, and the models are also some of the best (Mk I Landraider, Imperator Titan), although again very difficult to collect. Plus, there are tons of cards, which is great (although the seemingly rigid force compositon is a turn off).
These are great games, and when I introduce someone to Epic, its through this ruleset. The rules are so simple that you can start playing as you are reading the rulebook for the first time. The biggest problem is hunting down the minis to make up the right detachments. Looking for 15 Ork Boyz and 8 Nobz stands to make up a mob? Good luck. However, there is a lot of color to this game, and if you have the patience, you'll love it. I would start with trying to get the SM2 box set. There is a lot of game in there. Then go with the expansion sets. A complete Titan Legions set that is in great condition might as well be as hard as finding a unicorn tho. But you really have so much to play way before you get to that.
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Epic 40,000 - It seems this edition doesn't get a lot of love. I can't tell how much this uses cards (it seems there are fate cards and possibly psychic cards?), but the composition rules seem by far the most flexible, which is great. I like the idea of upgrading my detachments with leaders or spare stands of different troops. The game seems to use the firepower chart that BFG used, which is neat, but there also seems to be little distinction between different types of weapons? If so, that seems somewhat bland...
I talked alot about this game in your other thread, but let me just say that if you wanted to start getting in Epic with limited resources, this is your box set. The problem is, they have been selling for a lot on Ebay lately. The minis, the terrain, the army lists, makes this one heck of a box set. If you can stomach the rules than you will have far more fun collecting and making armies for this system than any other.
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Epic: Armageddon - This seems even more stremlined than Epic 40,000. I've heard that faction playstyles are most unique in EA, but I've also heard that EA diverges the most from past GW game mechanics (which I am sort of ambivalent about). I understand NetEA is very close to Epic: Armageddon, so perhaps all the same things could be said about it as well.
I actually are not a fan of Armageddon for reasons too numerous to name. I hate the ridiculous amount of army lists too. Just so unnecessary. But it has its fans, but so does all the editions. Finding the main rulebook isnt so hard, but it covers 3 armies. And getting a copy of Swordwind isnt anywhere near as gratifying as you think despite the effort you make to find it.
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So, what is your favorite edition and why? And what would you recommend for my gaming preferences? Thanks!
1) Probably SM2/TL. Its the game you will have the most fun playing with friends.
2) AT/SM1. It the original, and that makes it hard to beat. Might be a little cheesy today, but I love it.
3) Epic 40k. Its just a complete game.
4) Never played NetEpic
5) Armageddon. Will never, ever, like this game.