Hello at my local gaming club this weekend I'm going to be running (hopefully a few) demo intro games of Epic Armageddon.

As they're the only two armies I currently have that are painted I'll be using my Imperial Guard, and Chaos Space Marines (Iron Warriors).

The games will be 2,000 a piece, using two objectives each.  For the time being, no aircraft to keep things simple.

For the Guard I'll be taking a core of 2 Infantry Companies and a Tank Company, plus I can take Sentinel, Artillery, Rough Rider support, amongst other things.

It's the Chaos Marines that are proving a conundrum.  I can take two standard CSM detachments, Terminators, Tanks, Tanks and Tanks But I also have Obliterators and Havocs, I'm wondering if things might be too imbalanced if I take these.

Also, would you include War Engines in a first-timer demo game?  I could include 1 or more Warhounds with the Guard and up to 3 Decimators in the Chaos army.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated!

Thanks  

If you are demo-ing to existing gamers then WE don't add to many extra complications. Do you have raptors or bikes for the chaos? A bit of speed would help them counter the mass of infantry and the tanks.

Well, no Bikes or Raptors (this is Iron Warriors I'm talking about ) but all formations can take Rhinos.  I think this battle is going to be a bit of an armour mash-up, which perhaps is no bad thing...

I would reckomend playing a 2000 point game on a 4x4 table.

Oblits and havocs don't unbalance things, especially since oblits are AA devices!

Sticking in some scouts arty provides diversity to. But you should look at the two sides attacking forces. If its just russ vs the chaos army you can tell who will be dictating the game, playing defensive is fine if the guard has some fast counter attackers, otherwise its largely a reactive experience for them.

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Yeah, 2000 points on 4x4 was what I was thinking.

If I take the Oblits, I normally add them to the Termies, and teleport them in.  Although I think having them do this will give a flavour of what the two different armies are capable of, it may give an unintended advantage to the Chaos player if they teleport in Termies & Obliterators in the Guard battle line.

Still, it could lead to a reversal, which is all part of the process of learning Epic, when to launch your attacks and when to hold back...

I've been running a few demo games with gamers at my club to get more interest in Epic. (The games have been promoted within the club as Epic:Arm-a-gryphon, as a pun on the club's name).

The largest intro games we've played so far have been 1200 points, several earlier ones being run at 600 points, just to get people used to the mechanics of the game without having to worry too much about the different unit types. This means that games can be turned around slightly quicker, hence allowing for a post-mortem and then another game. It's also partly as people are just starting to build up their forces and can do it bit by bit.

We've not used war machines and aircraft yet as I think they can be a distraction when learning the game; however they're being introduced in separate scenarios later (as per the rule book training scenarios).

Good luck!

Skullric

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So, the demo game went well, the two lads that played want a re-match (Iron Warriors lost, as the lad used them like he would in 40k, unsurprisingly   ), plus quite a bit of interest around the table from other members.

What has surprised me is that I've been asked to run MOAR demo Epic games, at our clubs birthday event on 10th October - an event that starts 6 hours before the normal club opening time, so should get a couple of games in then!  

I'm glad to hear that the demo went well. It's good to see that you generated some interest in people who weren't playing.

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