Epic is a collective term for a series of tabletop wargames by Games Workshop set in their fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. Whereas Warhammer 40,000 involves small battles between forces of a few squads of troops and two or three vehicles, Epic features battles between armies consisting of hundreds of soldiers, dozens of tanks, and giant war machines. Due to the larger size of the battles, and particularly the involvement of the Titan war machines, Epic miniatures conform to a smaller scale than those in Warhammer 40,000. It is roughly one quarter, with a typical human being represented with a 6mm high figure, as opposed to the 'heroic' 28mm miniature used in Warhammer 40,000.
In recent years other companies most notably Warlord Games and Mantic Games have also begun to release games branded as "Epic" to denote a smaller scale. All three companies produce smaller sized miniatures with modern Epic from Games Workshop being approximately 8mm, with 12mm from Mantic Games and 15mm from Warlord Games.
In the Warhammer Fantasy universe, Warmaster fills much the same "large scale battle" role as Epic does in Warhammer 40,000, though the two systems do not share rules, and Epic is intended for slightly smaller 6 mm miniatures.
Since its initial release in 1988, the series has gone through a number of incarnations with varying names and rule systems:
1988-1991: 1st Edition, Adeptus Titanicus (1988) and Space Marine, Epic Battles in the Age of Heresy (1st Edition) (1989). 1991-1997: 2nd Edition, Space Marine (2nd Edition) (1991) and Titan Legions (1994). 1997-2003: 3rd Edition, Epic 40,000 (1997). 2003-2023: 4th Edition, Epic Armageddon (2003). 2023: 5th Edition, Legions Imperialis (2023).
The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Editions are still played around the world, using the original rule set or fan-edited ones (see below).
Gameplay overview
A standard game of Epic: Armageddon will normally take around two to three hours to play.
The major difference between Epic and other Games Workshop games is that instead of a player moving and firing all of their forces at once, players take turns moving one or two formations at a time using a variety of different "orders", giving the feeling of a battlefield developing in real-time, and also resulting in a game that is more tactically complex than Warhammer 40,000.
The comparatively smaller size of the miniatures also allows players to use many of the larger vehicles and creatures of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, such as Super-Heavy Tanks, Knights, and Titans even in small games, whilst also allowing longer ranged weapons such as artillery to be more realistically portrayed. Only recently did Warahammer 40,000 introduce Imperial Knights and Chaos Knights as playable factions; meanwhile Warhammer 40,000-scale Titans are available from Forge World.
Also of note is the introduction of blast markers: a simple system representing each formation's degree of morale and suppression under fire which, again, adds another dimension of realism over some wargames.
Epic's rule system incorporates Aircraft as well as ground units, and allows players to utilise many aircraft at once. Epic-scale aircraft are also used in the game Aeronautica Imperialis.
The monetary commitment needed to play Epic can be relatively small when compared with other Games Workshop products. Epic is comparable to Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse in the sense that they both center around larger battlefields with a larger number of troops and vehicles in command, but the monetary investment is much smaller with Epic. Although Games Workshop and Forge World no longer offer a suitable line of troops and vehicles several companies and a thriving eBay trade have taken their place instead.
Miniature availability and community support
Plastic and metal Epic miniatures were previously available through the Specialist Games section of Games Workshop's online store. with an additional lineup of resin models available via GW's Forge World subsidiary. However, as of September 2013 Games Workshop confirmed that further casting and support for Epic along with all other Specialist Games would cease with miniatures being no longer available as stocks ran out: during this time Forgeworld also ceased producing suitable miniatures much to the dismay and anger of many fans of the game.
Despite this decline in "official" support Epic retains a loyal, strong and passionate fanbase with much development still taking place across the world. The Tactical Command Forums are a hub for a worldwide support including hobby advice and painting blogs which has in turn spawned the Net Epic Armageddon (NetEA) organization and rules committee. MiniWars provides a centralized website for all Epic Players to locate opponents, gain information on miniatures past and present as well as look up statlines for each unit. Additionally Epic-UK provides a well run tournament scene within the United Kingdom as well as testing and releasing their own in house balanced army lists often based on those of the wider NetEA .
Playing a game kept alive by its popularity after the demise of official support and miniature production, Epic fans have found many suitable proxies in the ranges of other up and running miniatures companies that bear a suitable resemblance to the desired units. Of particular note are the Exodus Wars line from Steel Crown Productions who are also set to distribute Onslaught Miniatures for the UK and European Market. Additionally Troublemaker Games successfully crowdfunded a whole new line of miniatures in late 2013 that make suitable proxies for many epic forces including some of the first plastic 6mm sci-fi miniatures produced since Games Workshops last offerings.
With the launch of Legions Imperialis official figures are again available direct from Games Workshop.
Adeptus Titanicus, Aeronautica Imperialis and Legions Imperialis
In 2018 Games Workshop released a new edition of Adeptus Titanicus. Designer James M. Hewitt says "While the game was clearly inspired by previous editions of Titanicus, as well as Epic, it's very much its own new thing. We tried to make it so that it has lots of detail, but still plays quickly. The overall gist is that it puts you in the command throne of an individual Titan, so you are directing the action as shields and limbs take damage and crew succumb to the rigors of battle."
The Aeronautica Imperialis game will now be limited to the Horus Heresy setting and units from the Warhammer 40,000 game are no longer available.
In July 2023 a version of the Epic game was announced for release in August 2023, but later delayed until December 2023, with preorders announced for November 18, 2023. Named Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Legions Imperialis, the game is set 10 thousand years earlier than the previous Warhammer 40,000 setting with a return to the Horus Heresy setting of the initial Space Marine game.
Replacement bases for Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis units have also been announced.
Versions and game history
1st edition
The rules for the first edition of Epic were published in two parts.
The Adeptus Titanicus (1988) rules and miniatures set, which dealt with battles between opposing Imperial Titans, was published first. Rules for infantry and vehicles (the troops and vehicles of the Heresy era Space Marines) followed in White Dwarf 109.
Space Marine, another miniatures and rules set (for two opposing Space Marine armies), followed after (in 1989). The two could be played as individual games or as a combined game.
Where Adeptus Titanicus included six plastic Titan models with swappable weapons and styrofoam buildings, Space Marine included folded card buildings with styrene roofs alongside its sprues of infantry and vehicles.
Numerous articles supporting the Adeptus Titanicus/Space Marine game were released in White Dwarf magazine including a variety of optional rules, army lists and organizational charts. The biggest supplement for the game was called Codex Titanicus (1989), which provided a medium for linking the Titan-based (giant robot) combat of Adeptus Titanicus with the conventional units (vehicles and infantry) of Space Marine 1st Edition. The codex also properly introduced Eldar Titans and Ork gargants
As months passed by, Adeptus Titanicus more or less stagnated apart from the introduction of smaller war machines called "Knights" (both Imperial and Exodite Eldar ones) and, later, the appearance of the mutated Chaos Titans. Space Marine, however, prospered with the release of a new army list system heavily based in semi-realistic orders of battle with support attachment, multi-tiered command structure and regimental/battalion levels. Imperial Guard, Ork, Eldar, Squat, Chaos, and Tyranid sprues of 6mm figures, artillery and support weapons were released while vehicles came in white metal and were sold in blisters containing, most often, two units apiece (single units appearing only in the case of larger models such as Shadowsword or Baneblade tanks).
2nd edition
The second edition of Epic was again released as two compatible but stand-alone games, Space Marine (1991) which consisted of the core rules, and Titan Legions (1994) which contained enhanced rules for Titans.
Various supplements were produced, including Armies of the Imperium (1991), which gave rules for the Space Marines and Imperial Guard, Renegades (1992) which had rules for the forces of Chaos and the Eldar, Ork and Squat Warlords (1992), which featured the Orks and Squats, Hive War (1995), which featured the Tyranids and White Dwarf Presents Space Marine Battles (1993) which was mostly reprints of Epic-related articles from White Dwarf.
The Space Marine boxed game included three armies; the Space Marines (with their Land Raiders MkI and Rhinos), Orks (with their Battlewagons), and Eldar (with their Falcon Grav-Tanks). The Marines were depicted the same as their Warhammer 40,000 Second Edition counterparts. There was also the plastic Imperial Warlord Titan MkI (nicknamed the "Beetle" due to its curves, while later Warlord Titans have a more angular design) with interchangeable weapons. The Games Workshop studio army was the Blood Angels Space Marines and Eldar from the Alaitoc Craftworld.
Titan Legions was notable for introducing the Imperial Emperor-class Imperator Titan and the Ork Mega-Gargants, all of which were immensely powerful and could constitute small armies in their own right. These 'Mega' class vehicles could only be used in large games and none of the other races had such an equivalent. They were gradually phased out in later editions, though the current 4th edition has optional rules for them. The Imperator and Mega-Gargant are considered collector's items today (the only other time that Games Workshop released them was as a "reward" in return for getting a yearly subscription to White Dwarf in the November 1997 issue). Besides one Imperator and two Mega-Gargants, the boxed set also contained ten Imperial Knights (these "mini-Titans" are also collector's items) and twelve Ork Battlewagons.
The second edition of Epic was vastly popular and supported a huge range of miniatures.
A series of sculpts of Eldar Exodites, a Space Marine drop ship and other designs were made around the time of the Titan Legions debut, but were never officially released.
Fan made sequels: Netepic
NetEpic is the name given to the unofficial fan versions derived from the 2nd Edition rules, started originally because many players did not like the changes made for the third edition. The NetEpic variants are collaborative efforts, with work being coordinated through websites, Yahoo Groups, Discords and forums. They include a broad range of armies based on models from all the other editions, from the Warhammer 40,000 game, as well as some created especially for NetEpic itself.
Popular variants :