Collecting Mania

So, back in the SM2 days there were about 12 playable factions, counting each of the Marine legions that had their own rules.  The amount of choice available to a prospective NetEpic general is a little wider.  If you leave out a couple of the fan lists that dont really hang together properly or are just too silly (Ogre, Alpha Complex, alternate Exodite list, Smurfs) then by my quick count you have.....wait for it.......48 possible armies.  And that's not even counting the different Craft Worlds or Squat Clans as seperate factions.  So your choice is pretty broad indeed.

So, I have come to the realisation that building one of each army is impractical, and not really a clever idea for a number of reasons.  However, I have worked out that if I finish painting what I have already, I am only 1 short of having AT LEAST one army from each of the main army books, plus having a couple of the minor, unofficial books covered as well (Genestealer Cult, Hordes of Evil).  I wouldn't mind doing a Chaos Squat army, and there are some spectacular Elysian proxies....but putting the minors aside...should I go Tau?

Well, the obvious answer is yes, of course you should.

NetEpic - What is it.

NetEpic evolved out of the 2nd edition Space Marine game (SM2), commonly referred to as Epic.  It is a fan authored set of rules and army lists that improve and expand the classic SM2 experience.  Players familiar with SM2 will feel at home playing NetEpic, but some of the changes include:

• Alternating movement - no longer "I go, you go" but a proper alternating activation system.
• Hidden orders/fog of war - you only reveal a units' orders as it is activated.  This is quite an important change...movement can be a very tense phase.
• Titans are much stronger and able to brush aside infantry swarms and the like.
• Superheavy damage table.  More durability for your superheavies.
• New costing system for titans.  The more you tool them up the more they cost!
• Templates for Praetorians.  They become serious units now and much harder to kill.
• Heavily revised and improved pinning system.  Allows sensible things like titans not being pinned by some gretchin, and makes units like knights much more valuable.
• Snapfire.  Important in combination with alternating movement.
• Split of the old command unit ability into HQ (can't be targetted) and Command (don't need orders, can move charge rate and still shoot).
• Standardisation of lots of special rules into a set of ability descriptions with keywords.