As a beginner EA player - the situation is quite confusing but don't beat yourselves up too much.

The compendium/army list is great, the Net EA (and EpicUK) sites are fantastic. As compared to 3 years ago when i first tried to get local gamers interested in EA the situation is much improved - a few of us are actually playing semi-regularly ! (might help i'm providing 3 painted armies though! ) It wouldn't hurt to signpost more clearly the websites from Taccoms though.

If its new players that people want IMHO miniatures are partially problem (but not in that way.) Wargamers are visual people (otherwise we'd play chess.) Many young players have never seen 6mm armies. ToEG and 6mm forum are ok but usually only a few minis at a time. Likewise the "other" manufacturer's websites often only show 1 mini at a time. GW understood the power of good pics of armies for getting people excited about collecting - and the success of 40k recruitment shows it.

A good, visual repository of well painted minis - organised by army list & manufacturer - would do wonders for people who have never seen epic played - at the moment it would take months of trawling through sub-forums to get a good feel for some armies -particularly the long oop/never in production ones. Make the look>download army list>buy procedure as easy as grandma...

BTW - Is there a reason why manufacturers can't publish their own lists compatible with EA ?

Thurgrimm's Stronghold (Squats) -> http://www.taccmd.tacticalwargames.net/ ... 34&t=24692
Ordo Xenos (Inquisition) -> http://www.taccmd.tacticalwargames.net/ ... 30&t=23945
Hive Fleet Onachus (Tyranids) -> viewtopic.php?f=21&t=25272

Thanks for the offer to help.

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

or none at all, drives me **insane**

This is a very good point. I will start up a 'forum guide' which can be used as a landing point for the boards, giving details of the history and structure, and how people can get on board.

The thread for this will be here:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25303

Discussion on what should be added is here:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=25304



There is not. I can see why some companies might not want to officially distribute lists for their minis in EA, but fan development of this is something that I actively encourage.

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https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond.
https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.

We shouldn't be afraid to go the other way either. As a thought exercise I've ported the Codex Marines list to Exodus Wars, for instance.

_________________
He's a lawyer and a super-villian. That's like having a shark with a bazooka!

-I HAVE NO POINT
-Penal Legion-Fan list
-Help me make Whitescars not suck!

I think my point is - wouldn't EW be better off making EA lists for its factions ?

And if their feeling is EA is starting to get stale (already enough lists, played to death, no new factions, etc.) wouldn't they be better writing something new (especially as the EA rules are free, heavily play-tested and balanced.)

Just my observations.

Note to get us off topic too much but there are underlying differences in the two systems. Some on the surface appear minor (d6 vs d10) that are huge when it comes to balancing in practice. Others work totally different (air power). Some don't exist (some abilities are not found in either place; e.g. Mounted and Tank Shock come to mind).

Personal opinion is that I think EW actually has the all the makings of an "Epic v5 ruleset" that could be better than EA.

Anyways, let's get back to the topic at hand

_________________
He's a lawyer and a super-villian. That's like having a shark with a bazooka!

-I HAVE NO POINT
-Penal Legion-Fan list
-Help me make Whitescars not suck!

Don't want to stay off topic but there's no discussion going on at EW - though my comments are there.

I basically agree with what you say - EA v.5 is a great idea (though only if there is community buy in and i don't see much.) New rules/abilities/factions/minis - great - there are chunks of EA i really have a problem with (suppression system for starters.) But don't get me wrong larger dice is very helpful for balancing lists, but D10 is throwing the baby out with the bathwater - it changes everything. D12 on the other hand... Anyway, happy to discuss over at EW (when i'm not trying to type on my phone in a pub!

I would be a little concerned about the legal ramifications. You would essentially have EW using GW protected terms in 'their' rules and games. Thats why I think that something like this would have to ne a fan-lead effort. In that case, I think that it would be fine, but couldnt be official.

_________________
https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond.
https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.

My point was - if a manufacturer was to publish compatible lists for their own products there won't be any legal issues because they won't have to publish the rules/other manufacture's lists (or you just do the Strike Legion approach and use "disguised" names.)

Question is why EW (or other manufacturer) would want to publish rules ? :

Option 1. Sell products. AFAIW rules don't make money - too much time investment/manufacturing overheads. Therefore publish compatible list and sell more minis for profit - hence why many rules are given away for free. If you want to make a few general changes put a list of "house rules" for download.

Option 2. Develop a better EA-type rule set. Fine, but don't break what has been built up so far by introducing D10s and leaving the community behind. (Though as mentioned D12 would make porting lists easier and over time may help furthering balance.)

This is how i see that situation playing out - i have much stuff. Friend(s) may want to buy an army. They may like other manufacturer's minis... But we will always play EA as it it well developed, free and proxy-able lists are legion...

Option 3. Make new distinct game and hope it is better or at least different enough for people to want to switch or play both.

I offered. Never got a response.

Though, admittedly, the 12 hour time difference would probably have torpedoed it pretty quickly from a practical perspective.

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