Funny coincident, afer 3 years of playing X-wing (100 points) I (additionally) want to try out EPIC for the first time. I am really looking forward for that.

What are the rule differences? 400 points is standard? Are there time restrictions? As far as I know you are not allowed to have more than 8 of the same ship type. I guess it is binding to have (at least?) one huge ship on board?

To date, I only own the transport, I guess it will not do it

300 points is standard for epic, team epic generally 150 200 per player... But this is epic and the limits are really up to the players so you can throw words like standard out the airlock.

There are some limits on the number of ship types, but again your table, your rules. The FFG epic tournament rules can serve as a starting point if you want to impose ship limits. Biggs doesn't work against the big ships. Navigator, I believe, is not to be used on a capital ship either. That's it.

The transport can be quite fun actually, it was my center piece for the GenCon epic tournament. It's not a gun platform but oh the options for support... Or ramming!

Edit: Darth Meanie is correct - official FFG Team Epic is 200 points per player.

Rules are pretty open if you are running it as a casual event, though FFG does have an Epic Tournament rules document. I recommend some of the rules in there as far as setup be followed (place Huge ships first; fully load up on Energy before starting, etc). They errata some of the rules text that comes with the Huge ships.

We used 400 points because it allows fitting in a loaded up Corvette or Raider with a decent number of escorts, and with 2v2 allows for 200 points per player (we actually had 2v1 yesterday, with two players on the Imp side vs me with Rebels, but one of our planned players did not show up). 300 is workable, but with 150 per if someone brings one of the big combatants and loads it up they'll basically be running one ship in a team event. All my prior epic events we did 3v3 team with 300 points per side so each person had a 100 point list. Had we run 300 points, I probably would have dropped the Corvette for a GR-75.

You could set time restrictions or not. We were running just the one game, and it took about 3 hours 15 minutes of play (coming up with lists and setting up took an hour, though); the last 15 minutes or so became a regular X-wing game as the Raider had been destroyed. I could see an Epic tournament with 3 rounds of 300 per side setting 150-minute rounds and making for a pretty good game.

I love epic games it's just so hard to find someone to commit to the tim frame it takes to play.

Can you post your most liked huge ship builds with upgrades? I would like to have an idea what it would look like. Thanks

This is the Corvette I played with:

Dodonna's Pride (135)

I like variations of this. It's possible to get caught by a corvette, but point blank this has been great for clearing fighters. It will shred the corvette if I'm able to close range without suffering too many hits.

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (80) - Raider-class Corv. (Aft)

Grand Moff Tarkin (6), Weapons Engineer (3), Homing Missiles (5), Homing Missiles (5), Backup Shield Generator (3), Impetuous (3), Ordnance Tubes (5)

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (59) - Raider-class Corv. (Fore)

Homing Missiles (5), Sensor Team (4)

I felt flashes of the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jed ,

I thought the Jed had died out in the universe...

IT WAS AWESOME.

The game is the same, but at the same time dramatically different with the big ships on the board and with the higher point count. The strategy gets deeper, the potential interactions get interesting, generics increase in value, aces decrease in value, and oddball pilots who are almost useless in 100-point matches suddenly get interesting. I felt flashes of the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jed , with the multiple shots from the capital ships in a turn just erasing fighters.

We decided we need to play more Epic.

To me, this is exactly it . I can't imaging limiting myself to a thin veneer of 100 points and not having all the full flavor of Epic play, even if you don't use the capital ships.

To date, I only own the transport, I guess it will not do it

Sadly, I think the weakest Epic ship is the GR-75, but , I have been trying to figure out a good squadron around inflicting stress damage, which the transport could do well.

The Gozanti is a lot of fun, since it can also carry Starfighters and can sport weaponry, but the Corvette and the Raider are certainly even more fun.

If all you have is the transport, still PLAY!!! It's is so much fun.

300 points is standard for epic, team epic generally 150 per player...

Actually, I think team epic is "officially" 200 points per player, but as you said, it's casual, so do as you will.

(For those interested, my B-wing alpha strike got pwnd by Jonus-supported Gamma Squadron Vet bombers, but the Ordnance Tube Corvette took down the fighter screen and did most of the heavy lifting crippling the Raider. A HWK was the MVP of the Rebel list.)

And, as a final comment, I'll say that I think this is a big deal that is often poo-pooed by the 100-point crowd. Some ships (like the HWK) should, in hindsight, perhaps simply be considered Epic play ships (even if they are starfighters). As you noted, the TIE Bomber (and Punisher) are great ships in Epic.

To date, I only own the transport, I guess it will not do it

Sadly, I think the weakest Epic ship is the GR-75, but , I have been trying to figure out a good squadron around inflicting stress damage, which the transport could do well.

The Gozanti is a lot of fun, since it can also carry Starfighters and can sport weaponry, but the Corvette and the Raider are certainly even more fun.

If all you have is the transport, still PLAY!!! It's is so much fun.

Toryn Farr. The GR-75 is now a terror in close range.

The transport, with Bright Hope title, is also the toughest nut to crack getting two evades for every attack incoming on the reinforced section.

It makes a great support ship to make your fighter screen so much more powerful. Comms Boosters, Targetting Coordinators make every ship in range a much greater threat. Jamming can be nasty as well... Double stressed Fel isn't quite so threatening.

I love my transport. It's the corvette I haven't figured out yet!

To date, I only own the transport, I guess it will not do it

Sadly, I think the weakest Epic ship is the GR-75, but , I have been trying to figure out a good squadron around inflicting stress damage, which the transport could do well.

The Gozanti is a lot of fun, since it can also carry Starfighters and can sport weaponry, but the Corvette and the Raider are certainly even more fun.

If all you have is the transport, still PLAY!!! It's is so much fun.

I love my transport. It's the corvette I haven't figured out yet!

The last time I played my corvette (last week, in fact), I built it as a starfighter destroyer. All quads to kill Starfighters (which I would charge into close combat or just plain run over) and mods to create the energy to run the quads. A set of cluster bombs turned into a nasty little surprise for some close quarters TIE Advanceds.

Here's my After Action Report:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/230166-a-whale-of-a-tail/

I ran a Raider with essentially the same idea, and my brother just rain a Raider against me fitted out with Ordnance Tubes and an Ion Battery that was mean because it did NOT require Energy to be offensive with missiles. OTOH, you have to be careful with ordnance selection, because Focus is not an option.

I still want to try Bombers and Punishers with an Ordnance Team on the supporting capital ship. . .

I love epic games it's just so hard to find someone to commit to the tim frame it takes to play.

You can't treat it the same as a 100 point X Wing game, you can't just rock up at the games store with your stuff and hope for a game. You need to pre-arrange it. And if you aim your requests at people who play proper miniatures games, you'll find they don't mind the time it takes to play, since 2-3 hours for a game is standard for many wargames.

I love epic games it's just so hard to find someone to commit to the tim frame it takes to play.

You can't treat it the same as a 100 point X Wing game, you can't just rock up at the games store with your stuff and hope for a game. You need to pre-arrange it. And if you aim your requests at people who play proper miniatures games, you'll find they don't mind the time it takes to play, since 2-3 hours for a game is standard for many wargames.

As an old coot gamer, I have to wonder why no one has 2-3 hours to play a game. No one in 1979 tried to squeeze in a 1-hour D&D session.

I love epic games it's just so hard to find someone to commit to the tim frame it takes to play.

You can't treat it the same as a 100 point X Wing game, you can't just rock up at the games store with your stuff and hope for a game. You need to pre-arrange it. And if you aim your requests at people who play proper miniatures games, you'll find they don't mind the time it takes to play, since 2-3 hours for a game is standard for many wargames.

As an old coot gamer, I have to wonder why no one has 2-3 hours to play a game. No one in 1979 tried to squeeze in a 1-hour D&D session.

I think simply because there is no epic tournament scene

I love epic games it's just so hard to find someone to commit to the tim frame it takes to play.

You can't treat it the same as a 100 point X Wing game, you can't just rock up at the games store with your stuff and hope for a game. You need to pre-arrange it. And if you aim your requests at people who play proper miniatures games, you'll find they don't mind the time it takes to play, since 2-3 hours for a game is standard for many wargames.

As an old coot gamer, I have to wonder why no one has 2-3 hours to play a game. No one in 1979 tried to squeeze in a 1-hour D&D session.

Since I tend to see 40k as the dominant of miniatures scenes outside of X-Wing, and that's what I played for a while, even some Epic games end up on the short side time-wise at only a few hours to run.

I pretty much only play epic in X-Wing as things are; it's just far more fun and interesting to me, especially as it tends to lack some of the meta-defining features of the standard tourney play. I love my CR90, and I especially love shoving my GR75 right in the most uncomfortable of places. If you play Rebs in Epic, you have a lot more viable options on the large point scale, and I really do recommend trying out the Transport. It is hilarious, and your opponents will quickly come to hate the thing.

For reference I tend to run my CR90 as a missile-boat of sorts, and my GR75 due to the sheer hate it's garnered works wonderfully as a fire-ship.

IWe ran a three-hour, Epic 400 pt v. 400 pt game with a Corvette and Raider on each side. IT WAS AWESOME.

The game is the same, but at the same time dramatically different with the big ships on the board and with the higher point count. The strategy gets deeper, the potential interactions get interesting, generics increase in value, aces decrease in value, and oddball pilots who are almost useless in 100-point matches suddenly get interesting. I felt flashes of the Battle of Endor from Return of the Jed , with the multiple shots from the capital ships in a turn just erasing fighters.

We decided we need to play more Epic.

Shout out to @heychadwick and the Shuttle Tyderium podcast guys ... Epic is a great casual format; you need to do an epic-Epic episode.

(For those interested, my B-wing alpha strike got pwnd by Jonus-supported Gamma Squadron Vet bombers, but the Ordnance Tube Corvette took down the fighter screen and did most of the heavy lifting crippling the Raider. A HWK was the MVP of the Rebel list.)

Fantastic!

You know, when I was reading what you wrote I was thinking...."This is exactly what I've been trying to say about what Epic is!"...and then saw that you listen to the podcast! So cool! I did forward this on to the rest of the team as I thought it was cool.

Now that we have covered HotAC in much depth, I think our next big topic is Epic games. I want to go over all the Epic campaigns as I think they are worth doing. Well, that and I haven't done them all and I want to! I also want to talk about more Epic games. The problem we have now is that I'm still recovering from my surgery and I can't get to the game store to get games in. Most of the rest of the guys have not played Epic, so they need to get games in to know what they are talking about. I think we could probably do a generic "epic" discussion, though. There are some things you can do to speed the game up and even to talk about when finding an Epic game. Maybe we can do that one soon, but it might just be me doing most of the talking as I'm the one with most experience.

I do have a question for you, though. How did you fly your CR-90? I know most people that try to be aggressive with the CR-90 just lose vs. a Raider. The Raider is a real beast and can dish it out harder than the CR-90 when fighting head to head. Or maybe it was just the load out? I think the CR-90 does best when it tries to circle and blast away. I'd like to know how you did it.

What are the rule differences? 400 points is standard? Are there time restrictions? As far as I know you are not allowed to have more than 8 of the same ship type. I guess it is binding to have (at least?) one huge ship on board?

Let me say that there are official point formats.....but as others have said, you can just do what you want. I think 400 pts is good because you can get a nice mix of capital ships and fighters. Like the OP said, he's played Epic before, but this was the first time he's actually played with a capital ship! It's just not as much fun without them. If you go with a mix and your opponent goes with all non-capital, it might be a slaughter.

You can't treat it the same as a 100 point X Wing game, you can't just rock up at the games store with your stuff and hope for a game. You need to pre-arrange it. And if you aim your requests at people who play proper miniatures games, you'll find they don't mind the time it takes to play, since 2-3 hours for a game is standard for many wargames.

I agree that you should look to find people to play with. I'll admit that I found a few tournament guys that were REALLY wanting to play Epic. They had bought the big ships for the special cards, but really wanted to actually play games with the big ships, too. So, you might not have as much of a hard time as you think. Just make sure to ask when it's not prep time for a big event.

I think if you are going to play for an epic fight, you should talk to who you are going to play against. Make sure you are on the same page. Say that you want to play a game with capital ships vs capital ships. You might get someone that is more keen on winning than having fun and show up with something like 12 Y-wings with TLT's. So, make sure you are finding someone that wants to play the same type of game as you. Recommend lots of generics and such, especially if it's your first time playing Epic.

If anyone is wanting to test out the epic rules and even particular ships, I highly recommend playing the missions that come with each ship. It's a good way to get used to Epic a little bit at a time and to also learn that ship's strengths.

I think if you are going to play for an epic fight, you should talk to who you are going to play against. Make sure you are on the same page. Say that you want to play a game with capital ships vs capital ships. You might get someone that is more keen on winning than having fun and show up with something like 12 Y-wings with TLT's. So, make sure you are finding someone that wants to play the same type of game as you. Recommend lots of generics and such, especially if it's your first time playing Epic.

Although, I have had a lot of fun in epic where only one player is fielding a capital ship, so it can work out. What can help is a little pre-play "intel": where it is known that one guy is going to field a corvette, and the other player will have a squadron of Y-Wings. Then, each player can customize their build a little to what they will be facing, but still allows plenty of options for little surprises.

I do have a question for you, though. How did you fly your CR-90? I know most people that try to be aggressive with the CR-90 just lose vs. a Raider. The Raider is a real beast and can dish it out harder than the CR-90 when fighting head to head. Or maybe it was just the load out? I think the CR-90 does best when it tries to circle and blast away. I'd like to know how you did it.

Part was load out; Ordnance tubes really simplify energy management. Part was Roark pushing the Corvette to fire at PS 12. Part was focusing everything in the list that could shoot at the Raider at the Raider, so that despite losing the B-wings I was pushing damage through.

I'd intended to run parallel to the long edge of the board and clear the fighter screen, but had initiative so the Raider set up directly across from the Corvette and came straight in, so I started a slow circle which kept the bulk of the front section of the Raider in the side arcs until it went down. The remaining fighters finished off the rear section. Making the most of the firing arcs is key.