Aftershock

Tremors from the EPICentre

by Simon Dodds

 

The Barrage Continues...

Well, that's our first issue of Incoming!   We hope that we have not only satisfied your hunger for new NetEpic material, but have also got you thinking about what you would like to see in future issues.  The articles containing new rules and clarifications will soon become integrated with the complete NetEpic ruleset at the EPICentre. 

Issue 2 of Incoming! is planned for release in mid to late January, and work has already started on it.  In it you can expect to see such things as:

Keep watching the EPICentre for news about future issues.  If you have any thoughts on what sort of articles you would like to see in future issues of Incoming! or you have an article that you would like to submit (we're always after new talent), then send them in.


A NetEpic mailing list?

We are always thankful for the feedback that we get from you, from the simple "keep up the good work" to the detailed letters that we sometimes get.  And there must also logically be a silent population who are perfectly happy to see and use what we have on offer, which is fine by us.  Many of those who keep in touch with Peter or myself usually end up joining the NetEpic Discussion Group, but we would like to know if there is enough interest out there in the formation of a NetEpic mailing list.

This mailing list would be like the Epic mailing list, a forum for discussion of the NetEpic game.  It would be a public list and it would be just a place to chat about NetEpic - there really isn't a place on the net out there to discuss NetEpic.  The list would be separate to the NetEpic Discussion Group mailing list, and so there is no obligation for you to actually take part in the construction of the game - of course if you want to join the Discussion Group mailing list, contact Peter

If you are interested in the formation of a NetEpic mailing list, let me know.   Hopefully enough of you out there will write back in time for the polling results to be displayed in Incoming! #2.


The Bolter Problem

Not long ago a question was sent to us about bolters - Why do troop's bolters shoot 25cm and tanks only 15cm?

I thought that this problem was solved ages ago, but it seems not.   The group was unable to fully agree on this and so we'd like to throw the matter open to you. So far the possibilities are:

  1. Bolters are all the infantry have and all the soldiers in the squad give their complete attention to their weapons, whereas AFVs usually have them as secondary weapons (which means that the vehicle is positioned to optimize shooting with the primary guns), they often have limited line of sight, and they have drivers or communication men instead of specific gunners to man them; thus have less opportunity and capability to shoot at far targets.
  2. For example, on a Rhino there are only 2 bolters firing. On a tactical Marine stand there are 4 or 5 bolters firing.
  3. On a vehicle the mount has a restricted fire arc - on a Rhino 360 arc but no elevation/depression - on a bike fixed forward. Troopers can point their guns in any direction.
  4. The range, to hit number and modifier does not always represent just one type of weapon - in a Marine tactical squad of 10 men there is usually one heavy weapon and a special weapon (from 40K) often a missile launcher and a flamer. The numbers represent effective range.

What do you think? Should bolter stats be changed to make them uniform, or is there an explanation for this difference that makes sense to you?   Help us resolve this matter by sending your thoughts in to Peter.


Net40k?

We have had a number of letters coming in from concerned Warhammer 40k players.  The main point conveyed in these letters was a feeling of uneasiness about the new version, in that it not only made players have to buy more rules and models so they can use their armies but the feeling that the game had been unecessarily reconstructed, and also that these people miss some of the great stuff that was dropped after Rogue Trader (Squats being a top example).  This is a very familiar situation - uneasiness about Epic 40k when it was released was what eventually led to the creation of NetEpic. 

Now why is an Epic group getting mail about 40k?  Well, from the numerous letters we have received over the last year or so it seems that the NetEpic project group has become recognised as a competent group of game developers, and these letters of concern have invariably ended in requests for the group to try our hand at redoing 40k.

So what do you think? More importantly, who out there would be interested in taking part in the construction of this new 40k?  If there is enough interest, this new group would run separately to the NetEpic group and would contain those NetEpic project members who would be interested in the development of "Net40k".   I remember seeing a rather sarcastic reference to the birth of a Net40k on the r.g.m.w newsgroup a while back - who knows, it just might work.

We are offereing our services to you, and so we are after expressions of interest. If you wish to raise your hand, please tell Peter.


Epic Commander NOW!Epic Commander Ready for Duty

Many of you by now should have heard about Epic Commander, freely available from The Maelstrom. This small program allows you to keep track of your Epic armies during campaigns.  All you need to do when setting up is to give the composition of each army belonging to the two sides and come up with a campaign map as shown below.

Creating a New Campaign

After that, you place all your armies on the map and take turns in moving them as you would do in a campaign.

Epic Commander in action

When two forces run into each other, a dialog box comes up telling you the composition of each side and you then go away and play a game of Epic to resolve it.  Epic Commander saves your current position so there is no need to keep the program running.  When you come back to the program and load up your campaign, it immediately asks you to enter the new compositions of both sides after the battle.  And so it is possible to leave the chore of numberkeeping to this handy little program. 

Epic Commander is designed with Epic 40k in mind, but it can be customised to suit any game.  The NAM files that contain the names of all the units can be easily copied and edited, allowing it to be used for NetEpic, Man O War, anything you wish!

Visit the Maelstrom and download your copy of Epic Commander v1.00 now!


Docking with Dropship

Incoming! will not be the only source of new official NetEpic material.  As you should know by now, the EPICentre is a member of Project Dropship, resulting in the production of the e-zine Dropship.  It is planned that the next issue of Dropship will have NetEpic rules for a new template system for Titans.  So don't forget to look out for new NetEpic material appearing on the net - from either Dropship, sites run by NetEpic project members, or Incoming!