Looking for help with epic 40k hott

[ken]

I'm thinking my next project will be two epic 40k armies. One Space Marine, and maybe one Orc. I want to buy smart and not have a lot left over, but I'm stuck with classifying the units. I'd like to put the armies together so they both retain some of their original flavor. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Ken

[kontos]

My initial thoughts would be:

Space Marine Squads - Blade
Scouts/Assault Squads - Warband/Fliers (if Jump Packs)
Devastators - Shooters
Land Raiders, Dreadnaughts, etc - Behemoths
Land Speeders - Fliers
Rhinos - Riders
Chaplains - Clerics
Lords, Captains, even Terminators - Heroes
Terminators as foot Knights?
Rune Priests - Mages
Orbital Bombardments - gods
Thunderhawk Gunships - Airboats

Just a few ideas. As for the Orks, mostly Warband, some Shooters. If you go vehicles, they could be Beasts/Riders. Its a start.

[Alan Saunders]

You can find my Epic 40K HOTT Lists and classifications HERE.

I don't try to capture too many of the differences between troops within an army - all Space Marines are Blades for example - but by using a broad definition for each category I find I can fit lots of different troops from different armies into the games. Flavour comes from the individual army structures; I force each army to take a compulsory core of troops which then helps influence the way they operate on the table.

Using these lists we've played everything from (numerous) 24AP games up to a couple of epic 96AP encounters. And even some small campaigns.

The only caveat I'd put on them is that you have to be careful not to overdo aerials, as they can dominate the battlefield when Shooters aren't present as a common troop type. I could create house rules, of course, but part of my design philosophy was to be able to fight Epic 40K games using the HOTT rules with no chances to them at all. I have made the genre fit the game rather than try and change the game to fit the genre.

[Gascap]

Some of it depends on scale. I went with 25mm basing (60mm frontage), which allows for whole squads.

Instead of "mounted vs. foot" I think of troops as "armored/mechanized vs. foot."

Here are some classifications for Space Marines and Orks:

Space Marines:

Foot:

Tactical Squads -- Spear
Terminators -- Phalanx*
Scouts - Lurkers
Assault Squads -- Blade
Dreadnoughts -- Blade
Whirlwinds -- Magician (to represent indirect fire)
Tactical Squads w/ Rhino (Mechanized Infantry) -- Riders
Bikers -- Riders
Predators or Land Raiders -- Knights
Thunderhawks -- Airboats
Landspeeders -- Flyers
Orbital Bombardment (use Battlefleet Gothic ship) -- God
Librarian with bodyguard -- Cleric
Chaplain with bodyguard -- Paladin
Captain with bodyguard -- Spear general or Hero general
Superheavy Tank -- Behemoth

________________________________________________

Orks:

Boyz -- Warband
Nobz -- Large Warband*
Gretchin/Grots -- Horde
Stormboyz -- Blade
Field Guns -- Shooters
Battlewagons -- Knights
Buggies -- Beasts
Boar Boyz -- Beasts
Looted Tanks -- Knight general
Gargants -- Behemoths
Weirdboy Towers -- Magician


*Phalanx and Large Warband rules can be found here:
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/~kuijt/HOTT/SpecialRules.htm

You might want to think about themes for your armies. It's too easy to get "all of the above" and have a bunch of armies with identical troops but different paint jobs.

For example, my Ork army is all impetuous. It's got Behemoths, Knights, Beasts, Large Warband, and Warband. This contrasts nicely with the spear-based Space Marines.

And finally, here are some pictures of my Imperial Fists for inspiration. I have Orks (and others) as well, but no photos of them yet.

http://jmseman.blogspot.com/2011/06/...of-things.html

[ken]

Thank you both for replying. It's because of you guys that I'm thinking about doing this project.

A lot of things to think about. I really like the look of your imperial fists Gascap. It feels like a space marine army to me. I'm just not able to bring myself to base so big yet. Everything I have is geared toward 15mm ground scale.

I also really like the idea of everything in the Orc army being impetuous.

Hmm... Lots to think about.

[Alan Saunders]

Originally Posted by Gascap

Some of it depends on scale. I went with 25mm basing (60mm frontage), which allows for whole squads.

Your figures look amazing.

I started off doing mine on 60mm frontages, but switched to 40mm because it gave a better economy of figures. 60mm frontages does allow you to use titans as Behemoths, though, which does look impressive.

[ken]

After some thinking I've come up with this as a list for a basic space marine company.

1 Hr Captain
1 Mg Librarian
1 Kn Land Raider
1 Bd Terminators
6 Sp Tactical Squads

I think this gives a good space marine feel, I might sub out the Librarian for two bases of speeders as Riders.

[kontos]

Originally Posted by ken

After some thinking I've come up with this as a list for a basic space marine company.

1 Hr Captain
1 Mg Librarian
1 Kn Land Raider
1 Bd Terminators
6 Sp Tactical Squads

I think this gives a good space marine feel, I might sub out the Librarian for two bases of speeders as Riders.

As a Space Wolf, I ask, where are the Long Fangs? No Shooters? 2 would help out against enemy fliers and other pesky troops. Gotta have Heavy Bolters/Rocket launchers.

[ken]

Originally Posted by kontos

As a Space Wolf, I ask, where are the Long Fangs? No Shooters? 2 would help out against enemy fliers and other pesky troops. Gotta have Heavy Bolters/Rocket launchers.

As an option I was toying with the idea of changing the captain from hero general to spear general, and adding in a devestator squad as shooters. Or dropping the librarian Mage and adding two devestator squads as shooters.

[kontos]

Originally Posted by ken

As an option I was toying with the idea of changing the captain from hero general to spear general, and adding in a devestator squad as shooters. Or dropping the librarian Mage and adding two devestator squads as shooters.

Great thing about both HotT and Space Marines - flexibility. Keep us posted on your progress!