Here?s a crazy idea. Playing Epic on a 2x3 foot board (60x90cm). I was originally going to do this halfscale epic using some tokens, to race through some theoretical Tyranid playtest situations quickly without having to move from my seat (more like a boardgame than a tabletop wargame in other words). Then I figured, wait a minute, this might actually work with the figures themselves with a couple of extra mods, and the figures themselves would probably be easily recognisable in a webphoto. Madness? Quite probably
The Concept: Think Epic at 3mm scale rather than 6mm, but still using the 6mm figures. The main principle is to simply halve all measurements, but with a couple of exceptions:
FORMATIONS AND COHERENCY: All units in a formation must touch another unit in that formation. An exception is that Scout formations may have a 3cm coherency and unbased vehicles may have a 1cm unit coherency. Warmachines have a coherency of 1cm x Damage Capacity. Note these coherency distances are reduced below half of the actual distance. This is because the size of the models should theoretically be halved at this scale (3mm models) but this is not practically possible. Therefore to counteract this factor coherency distances are reduced instead. Zones of control are 2.5 cm (1 inch). Formations are intermingled only if touching. A unit must be within 7.5cm (3 inches) of the centre of an objective to capture/contest it.
BARRAGES: instead of the blast template, use a 3cm diameter template (a normal GW flying base is the right size and has a convenient handle.) This size gives results that feel approximately correct. For ordnance use the larger GW flying base (and I?d use it for the flame as well probably, just placed in contact with the firer).
I ran through a game to see if it works and it seems to... with a couple of pros and cons.
Pros: Can identify units easily in the photos, and can play fast without moving from seat?
Cons: Troops bunching up in very dense formations cannot be simulated easily, and single unit formations take up more space than they should. However, given the latitude in EA base sizes (eg 20mm to 40mm for infantry), these are not necessarily large problems perhaps. Also, games look a bit weird with everything formed up in close formation? Probably other factors I haven't considered yet too.
Anyway here?s a game I just ran through for your consideration. Scions vs Biel Tan.
I'd recommend giving these 'Microgeddon' rule mods with halving of measurements a try. The halving and coherency rules make it feel very much like a full sized game in terms of tactics and relative power of formations.
