KTG17 wrote:
I don't need 6+ lists for the Eldar. I just need one, and the flexibility in it to build an army as I want. And how different lists do you want anyway? There has only been so many miniatures made, and sometimes I see rules for minis that werent even made, which is dumb too, or a number of units in a formation that are near impossible to get (due to rarity and prices on Ebay).
Then stick with the core list for each race. The first list done for each race like Biel-tann Eldar, CSM Black Legion or Stigmatus Coven Chaos Cultists generally covers most things of that race well and can be used as the standard list for that race.
Having various different variant lists for each army is definitely a strength and benefit for EpicA. I'm travelling down under for a few years and have a space marine army with me and I like being able to run the same army using different lists that play differently as it keeps things fresh. Last weekend for example I used the Salamanders list, which specialises in flamer and melta weapons and the units and army plays tactically rather differently to standard marines. There's a lot of variation between craftworlds, SM chapters, IG regiments ect in the background so why should this not be reflected in our Epic games for those of us that want them to?
KTG17 wrote:
Geez isnt there like a 200 page doc covering all of the offical, in development, and experiemental units? That is ridiculous. I know they are fun for some to make, but I hate the idea of having to sort through various Chaos lists for example to find one that suites my tastes
These days EpicA has the Tournament Pack of approved and well tested lists and the Compendium compiling the smorgasbord of lists people have put together over the years, categorised by how well tested they are. Don't want the choice of that many lists? No problem, stick to the Tournament Pack.
KTG17 wrote:
That means any Space Marine army list with formations of 4 Land Raiders should also be lowered. That doesnt mean each list is balanced, it means the Land Raiders are.
They are and we know this. Land Raiders are now 325 rather than 400 and this change is reflected across all SM variant lists. Variant lists need to be balanced as a whole though and sometimes their different elements can intereact in different ways – the deadly but short-ranged Land Raider Achilles is worth more in a list that allows it to be deployed by air than it is in the defensive ground based Imperial Fists army where it can't say. Whole separate lists for each army allows them to better balanced because the new units can be balanced by tweaking the other available selections and prices in the list.
KTG17 wrote:
There has only been so many miniatures made, and sometimes I see rules for minis that werent even made, which is dumb too, or a number of units in a formation that are near impossible to get (due to rarity and prices on Ebay).
I'm VERY glad the lists include units for models there have never been official Epic minatures for. Otherwise epic would have been much more limited and stuck in the past, there's a LOT new retroactively adding in to the 40k universe by GW over the last several years. It's always possible to convert a Land Raider to a Land Raider Redeemer say by replacing the lascannons with flamer weapons. Heck look at what people did in the Raiders supplement – multiple converted entire Necron and Dark Eldar armies from models from other races, plasticard and bits from other models. There are also numerous companies and individuals producing 6mm models that make excellent epic proxies (often far better quality than the old GW models), there's no need to be limited or to prevent rare models from being used in lists (would be pretty harsh for those players who had large collections of rare models).
KTG17 wrote:
I dont think introducing Chaos and the Tyranids earlier would have saved Epic, but it probably would have extended its life.
I agree that introducing Tyranids and Chaos earlier would have been better.
EpicA is still alive and well though, there were 15-20 or so EpicA tournaments around the world last year, that's not a dead game. I'm not aware of there having been an Epic tournament for any other edition of Epic in the last decade either and judging by that and the numbers of posts and posters about it here it seems to remain way more popular than any of the other editions of the game.