Easy EpicV1.0 | Commands & Colors: Ancients Expansion Pack #3: The Roman Civil Wars

Rolling bad dice in wargames since 1977

(BradyLS)

United States
Austin
Texas

I think this could be better. I'll try to put together some sample scenarios and layouts in a revised file.

Note that for river tiles that flow "diagonally," you'll need two bends placed adjacent so that they form sort an 'oblique-S' shape.

Edited Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:52 pm
Posted Thu Oct 30, 2008 8:52 pm
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Dean Judson

(Commando719)

United States
Unspecified
Maryland

So far, so good.
We played a Roman Civil War scenario with this system and it worked just fine, very close, with additional blocks from similar armies, of course.

However, as you noted, the river tiles are tricky. Our solution is to buy some card stock, draw/paint rivers on them, and add them to the mix of tiles. No doubt we could do the same for other terrain types.

THANKS for this innovation! You've added a LOT of scenarios that we can now play in Epic mode!
--DHJ (and CLP)

Posted Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:55 am
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Dean Judson

(Commando719)

United States
Unspecified
Maryland

OK, now that we (Carole and Dean, the dangerous duo) have played dozens of scenarios using "Easy Epic" rules, we can comment knowledgeably on this innovation.

In short: It's brilliant. It works!

We have been battling our way through the Roman civil war (Pompey and Sertorus), plus Scenario X and some others. Let us summarize what works and what's fiddly in the "Easy Epic" rules. As always, we advocate tournament style to smooth out any imbalances that creep in.

Works:
- Scenarios play out in interesting ways
- Most terrain expands horizontally in natural ways
- Obviously, adds to the suite of Epic scenarios for Epic fans
- Command cards rule (1.5 x scenario level, round up) seems right

Fiddly:
- Some terrain expands oddly (e.g. cities look funny; sometimes hills create a "box canyon", etc.)
- We don't use the "extra leader" rule--scenarios work just fine w/o
- Lots of combined armies (and extra blank blocks) are required for most scenarios
- Sometimes extra terrain tiles are required
- Any strength imbalance in the original scenario will be magnified

Overall, we think this innovation is fantastic, and applaud the author. It is easy to implement, and generates far more Epic scenarios for us fans. Of course, we have some recommendations.

Recommendations:
- Always count hexes from the side of the board to avoid ambiguities
- Don't hesitate to combine armies or use blank blocks for filler
- Make some extra terrain tiles for more complex maps
- Don't worry about terrain anomalies (cities, box canyons) -- let them be an interesting part of the scenario!
- Use or don't use the extra leader rule--your choice
- Play tournament style (play both sides, sum both games' flags; tournament winner=best of that sum)
- Play pleasant music from www.kink.fm while battling

Good job! You've single-handedly raised the bar for GMT games when they come out with their Epic expansion!

Posted Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:42 am
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Rolling bad dice in wargames since 1977

(BradyLS)

United States
Austin
Texas

Wow! Has it really been so long? Seems like I think about updating my original file every week. And then something intrudes...

Dean, I'm really glad you and Carole find the variant so much fun! Folks, Dean's recommendations are helpful when setting up the map:

As Dean suggests, when laying out terrain and units, work from the outside edges of the board inward. It seems the middle hexes that are split by the seam in the board causes the gummy terrain and unit set-up issues. They are the kinks that snafu things when "stretching" the map and simply doubling up on what scenario map shows. Until I can get that revised PDF out, the _easiest_ way to handle it is to always leave the four hexes split by the seam of the Epic board _blank._

If that creates some odd open spaces in terrain or deployment, try this:

...if a "seam hex" is bracketed by the exact same terrain as the hexes to its immediate left and right, go ahead and fill the hex with the appropriate terrain to bridge the gap. (Example: Seam Hex bracketed by Forest hexes to the left and right? Go ahead and make the seam hex a Forest Hex.)

...if a "seam hex" is bracketed by the exact same unit types as the hexes to its immediate left and right, go ahead and fill the hex with the appropriate unit type to bridge the gap. (Example: Seam Hex bracketed by Medium Infantry units to the left and right? Go ahead and fill the seam hex a Medium Infantry unit.)

...And thanks for the kind words! Of course, the real credit should go to Richard Borg for designing a game system that scales so easily and so well!

Edited Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:50 pm
Posted Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:13 pm
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Dean Judson

(Commando719)

United States
Unspecified
Maryland

The "Easy Epic" rules continue to be a winner at our house. We have found that we just don't have to worry about horizontal scaling issues. Any oddities (e.g. box canyons) usually don't make a big difference. We DID have to make some additional terrain tiles and we regularly have to substitute armies and use extra blocks. That's a function of Epic mode, not the rules system per se.

As an aside, because of set-up time, we tend to play a scenario FOUR times: One pair as a "pseudo-tournament" (as we have come to call it--essentially, just learning about the scenario) and one pair as the REAL THING tournament (for blood and honor).

Now, a question for Brady: We're thinking of moving Memoir 44 into "Overlord" (Epic) mode. Do you think that your system will work reasonably well in the Memoir world? (Assuming you've played M44, of course.)

Posted Sat May 16, 2009 7:24 pm
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Rolling bad dice in wargames since 1977

(BradyLS)

United States
Austin
Texas

Dean,

I don't see why not, but I haven't really tried it. What's nice about Memoir is that there is now a dedicated "Overlord" module that will give you spare counters to round out units that you are short pieces for. Also, "map packs" are coming out with Overlord-style scenarios ready to go: just put down your pieces, the terrain is already laid out.

...But I'm pretty much a two-of-everything sort, so Memoir Overlord games are no problem there.

Short of the long: it should work! Give it a shot!

Posted Fri May 22, 2009 9:21 pm
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Dean Judson

(Commando719)

United States
Unspecified
Maryland

All right, then! We're currently playing "Bibracte" using your Easy Epic system and finally I understand the issue: If one expands a standard scenario from the center, there's an extra hexagon present in the center section (e.g., what should be 8 hexes is actually 9 on the board.) Our system, which was to always count from the sidelines, totally sidestepped this issue. In fact, until today, I didn't even see it.

Having seen it today, I can understand how it might introduce ambiguities. But it's really not been an issue, and we've played lots of "base" scenarios using this expansion. Just count from the sidelines, and go from there. This just seems to keep working, even when terrain oddities are created.

As far as Mem44 is concerned, we'll give this system a try in that context, and report back--it might be a while as the Helvetii and Romans have a rather fierce battle at play. We'll let you know how Mem44 Overlord adapts!

Posted Sun May 24, 2009 2:27 am
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