Who needs Epic when you can have PP models.

[Moggy]

As someone who made 2 armies from the ACW epic range I can attest to the fact they are much smaller than the standard range of 15mm figures.

Yes they can slice up to 4s quite easily which is something I cant see being possible with the ones shown above although they seem to have a better size.

Am I disapointed with what I have. NO!  A number of people who have seen them have made clear they look good and they way I have done each base with a double rank make it look like sub-units when lined up.  The main reason for doing it this way was price.  However they are nice figures and a joy to paint compared to some other manufacturers.

Derek

[Leman (Andy)]

Derek, I bought the Epic ACW figures purely to fight Gettysburg. Weird, I know, but the bulk of my metal figures are painted up for the Western theatre. I mention the ACW PP artillery simply because for some reason Warlord provide only the old 12lb howitzer, not even the 12lb Napoleon (go figure?). Some are used with the PP crew and some have been fitted to the plastic crew to get plenty of variety. At least in this P and S Epic there are two types of gun, but again PP to the rescue with the ECW guns and accompanying bits and pieces, especially the gabions.

[Smiley Miley 66]

Derek that's the epic ACW.
The Epic ECW are a lot different. These are 15mm in height and do match up with PP figures.
I would watch the video that Les put on here at the front of this thread.
I ve also put the figures I have against the Sprue that came with copy of Wargames Illustrated, yes the match up.
Miles

[Leslie BT]

Those of you who are discussing ACW are on the wrong thread,  the title to this one does say ECW.

So I have no idea why you are comparing ECW with ACW as regardless of name 'EPIC' they are not the same.

[Leman (Andy)]

It's about manufacturing style and the fact that initially the only way to consider the Epic P&S was to compare it to the Epic ACW, as the range was announced in early February, but the free sprues only appeared last week.

Anyway, the ECW has difficulty floating my boat, but the Thirty Years War is a much more intriguing prospect, especially considering where I now live. I shall be looking to my Peter Pig figures to prepare early TYW Spanish tercios. As Derek has said earlier, the Epic P&S infantry blocks are going to be virtually impossible to split unelss one has really good modelling skills. My intention is to produce classic tercios using the PP armoured pike on 60mm frontage bases, but blocks of musketeers on 30mm frontage bases for the four corners of the tercio, thus giving the classic look. Indeed this was going out of fashion during the course of the war, but was still used in the 1620s against the Protestant League.

[Leman (Andy)]

A pity there was some misunderstanding about why I used an ACW figure in an ECW thread.

Here is a comparison of Epic and PP:

[Smiley Miley 66]

I was looking at these epic figures as a middle row "bulking row" as I do like the idea of slightly enlarging my bases to include some more figures.
Miles

[martin goddard]

The unit "look" is very good I think.

martin

[Panzer21]

Just reviewed by Guy Bowers on the WSS podcast and he recommends (twice) the use of Peter Pig heads on the Epic P&S strips to vary the figures.
Despite co-hosts scepticism, he advocates how easy it is and promises a blog post.
It's the Salute edition, and the absence of Peter Pig is remarked on with speculation whether sales have been impacted as a result.......
Neil

[Leman (Andy)]

Indeed, I saw a YouTube video about using Peter Pig figures to introduce variety. I took out my Peter Pig figures and found that (barring a couple of packs of marching musketeers) I had enough for an 8 base Spanish tercio for my Thirty Years War project. My figures will also be able to bulk out the cavalry wings quite substantially, and on different bases making them look less like they are on parade in perfect formation. Also looking to get some siege guns as well. Just waiting for an expected divi to turn up in my bank account.

https://youtu.be/XX0y34fIUqk

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

It is an age old debate, particularly with large formations of mostly similar poses - pike etc. It is an extension of mixing and matching manufacturers to get more variety. Older timers amongst us will recall there being gaps in ranges that had to be filled by other makers to fill the ranks and had to cope with varying sculpt quality. Nowadays, thanks largely to the likes of people like Martin, the youngsters (and the young at heart) are spoiled for choice. The temptation is to use usually cheaper mass produced plastic in fewer poses to bulk out formations of better sculpted metal to make your bucks go further. As long as the metals (in this case PP) get centre stage I can't see the harm since they invariably shine - but the plastic 'levy' troops have to be in keeping with the metals. In the end it is largely down to personal choice...

Neil

[Smiley Miley 66]

I agree with Neil. Using the Epic stuff to bulk out the middle Ranks with PP figures in the important poses is a must.
But what size base frontage would be acceptable? Without going too large ?
Miles

[Leman (Andy)]

Surely that depends on what rules you intend to use. The Epic ACW are relatively easy to cut into smaller sections. The ECW however are jammed together ready to do the hokey cokey.

[martin goddard]

I think the main consideration here is folk who find metals an expensive option for an army.
A typical PP army  costs about £100.

I understand that this is a major investment for some gamers. It might also be beyond the means of some gamers.

It might be their months food bill or part of an electric bill for those in tough times.
Not many gamers can afford to spend £100 on anything, let alone their hobby. These are tough times for some and they have my sympathy.

Wargamers on tight budgets can save money by using paper soldiers, ebay, bring and buys,  plastic multiple man strips , plastic figures or even plain bases with top down pictures pasted on.
These are all workable alternatives to metal figures.

The other main consideration is that of priority. Is a wargames army  your priority or maybe  you have hobbies/needs which require your money more than gaming?

I am happy to invest £100 knowing that I will get 100 or more games with those figures. I don't need to buy plastic strips, paper soldiers et al.  In addition I like a variety of poses and the ability to  base figures aesthetically. I enjoy putting together an army in all of its aspects.


Just thoughts.


martin

[Sean Clark]

I was talking about something similar today. One of the many reasons that I like Peter Pig so much is that itis essentially a one stop shop.

For something like the ECW, I can buy all I ever need for the period  including Scots and Irish.