Epic list advice sought (Marines & Guard)

[pw]

Hi All, it's been a long time since I've managed to get a game of Epic in and I'm here asking for some advice from you regular players. I've scheduled a day of Epic fun at Warhammer World where I'll be playing an old friend who has played less Epic than me and I'll be responsible for bringing the toys/lists. I reckon we'll have time for a few warm-up games and I'm hoping to end with a large game once the rules are back in my head. With this in mind, do you think the following two lists would make for a fun game (basiscally this is everything I have painted):

Steel Legion (4850)
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REGIMENTAL HQ [550]
Supreme Commander, 12 Infantry, 7 Chimera, Hydra
INFANTRY COMPANY [350]
Commander, 12 Infantry, Fire Support Platoon (4 Fire Support)
TANK COMPANY [850]
10 Leman Russ, Hydra, Hellhound Squadron (3 Hellhounds)
STORM TROOPER PLATOON [350]
8 Storm Troopers, Valkyrie Transport
ARTILLERY COMPANY [700]
9 Basilisk, Hydra
SENTINEL SQUADRON [100]
4 Sentinels
SENTINEL SQUADRON [100]
4 Sentinels
DEATHSTRIKE MISSILE BATTERY [200]
2 Deathstrike Missile Launchers
SUPER-HEAVY TANK PLATOON [200]
Shadowsword
SUPER-HEAVY TANK PLATOON [200]
Shadowsword
SUPER-HEAVY TANK PLATOON [200]
Shadowsword
THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150]
2 Thunderbolts
REAVER CLASS TITAN [650]
WARHOUND TITAN [250]


VS



Codex Astartes (4825)
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WARHOUND TITAN [250]

WARLORD CLASS TITAN [850]

THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150]
2 Fighters
LAND RAIDERS [475]
4 Land Raiders, Hunter
TERMINATOR DETACHMENT [375]
4 Terminators, Dreadnought
THUNDERHAWK [200]
PREDATORS [375]
4 Annihilator, Hunter
PREDATORS [375]
4 Destructor, Hunter
WHIRLWINDS [300]
4 Whirlwinds
TACTICAL DETACHMENT [450]
6 Tacticals, Supreme Commander, 2 Razorbacks, 2 Rhinos
ASSAULT DETACHMENT [225]
4 Assault units, Chaplain
DEVASTATOR DETACHMENT [250]
4 Devastators, 2 Rhinos
TACTICAL DETACHMENT [400]
6 Tacticals, Librarian, 2 Razorbacks, 2 Rhinos
THUNDERBOLT FIGHTERS [150]
2 Fighters


Goodness only knows why the Marines are fighting the Guard, no doubt some kind of horrible mix up...

So, would this be fun to play in terms of balance/size? I've never played a game of over 3000 points but the urge to get all the toys out is upon me. If one side is slightly weaker than the other that's probably a good thing as I can use them to level the playing field a little (what with my ten-game or so Epic experience)

[Jimmy Zimms]

I personally like to put a librarian on the termis and I applaud your assault chaplain

[pw]

That's an easy change, I can do that.

Do you have any advice about playing games of this size? I'm intersted to know about game length, table size, and whether or not we'd need more than 4 turns to cope with the number of formations.

[Dave]

5k on a 4x6' can get cramped but with those big titan units it would be doable. 4x8' would be acceptable too. You shouldn't have to change the turn length VCs/objectives at all for it, the tourney lists and scenario were balanced for up to 5k.

[pw]

Thanks, that's good news about the table, we'll be playing at Warhammer World and I'm not sure if we'll be able to colonise two tables. Here's sneak peak of the Imperial Guard force getting ready to defend themselves against the Astartes...

[Stormwind]

Are your tanks moutned on Warmaster bases?

I'm planning on using small Flames of War ones for my tanks in Epic.

[Jimmy Zimms]

Here's a FoW small and medium sized based item. Anything around the size of a chimera or rhino chassis will fit perfectly on small bases while larger items like Land Raiders work on the medium. I have just purchased large bases but have yet to put anything on them yet. For those with collector range models a Capital Imperialis does NOT fit on a FoW large base but DOES on a Spartan Games large, base for the record. Oh and did I mention that exact sized base comes with a Britannia Land Battleship which happens to make a great proxy for a Leviathan HQ which DOES fit onto FoW large bases?

[pw]

Yes, mine are on Warmaster bases. There's a bit more space than you need but I think they look ok. If I was doing them again I'd probably cut them a little shorter or maybe go with round bases (I'm a big fan of the two pence coin for these duties).

[Stormwind]

Ah - I knew I should have bought some medium bases!  The small ones seem perfect for my tanks, rhino chassis and Eldar falcon chassis, but the Eldar super heavies and night spinners look like they will definitely need medium ones.

Thanks!

pw: With regard to your list - remember that predators are massively expensive compared with their guard equivalents.  Have you considered getting a FW Thunderhawk for some DEATH FROM ABOVE antics?

[pw]

I've changed the list a little following some advice on another forum. The Marines will have a spacecraft and there will be plenty of drop pod/teleport action along with the Assault Marines in the T-Hawk. The pred's have to stay as this list is all I own!

[pw]

Thanks to the advice on here, and elsewhere, the game happened and was a great success. Here's a quick picture of the battle which we played on an 8x4 table at Warhammer world. When the dust settled the Marines won thanks to the rapid redeployment of their Assault squads in turn three but really the result wasn't that important, the game could have gone either way and was great fun to play:



We're both looking forward to the next one!

[Stormwind]

Oh man, people like you are troopers for showing off SG at Warhammer World.  I really hope that when people see this stuff they feel inspired to dig out their old armies or investigate SGs overall! 

[pw]

It attracted a bit of attention, one of the GW staffers was very keen. There was also a fair bit of Blood Bowl being played in Bugmans too so SG were out on show!

[Stormwind]

I honestly think that Blood Bowl might be the SG that saves the bacon of all SGs.  Rumours keep circulating that it might get a Space Hulk splash release in the lull of the next two years.  If enough staffers like fiddling with older games and models at Nottingham - it could end up keeping the molds alive I hope! =D