Why Epic Plays Well - Scale

Introduction
I was thinking about why i find Epic to be as playable as i do.

Sure, there are a couple of things that are frustrating as, but overall i like playing it.

The (two) easiest throwaway answers are:
i) alternating activations; keeps you interested, the game unfolds more fluidly, 
ii) the wide variety of armies/list/units means a plethora of interesting fluff and hobby stuff.

A more subtle reason is scale... not the one you're thinking of. Yes, it's nice that you can fit an army (perhaps two) in a shoe box, but it's more than that...


Origins
The origin of this thought was some pics from GW spruiking their latest Apocalypse rule set. 
The pics showed a host of model crammed shoulder to shoulder across the width of the board.

Ok, i get that its probably a staged setup, but it made me think.

Below is a 'real' one (not a gw photo shoot)...

When i see 28mm version being played it always feels... cramped to me, especially if someone's sporting a tank or two, or a stormraven sized flier etc. And there's little practical use for aircraft or titans.

Consider that both games (by default or at least local common convention) play on the same size game board -   1200 x 1800mm.

It of course seems obvious that 1200mm @6mm is not equivalent to 1200mm @28... but how do they actually stack up?


Comparison
Epic, to me, feels like there is far more scope for tactical manoeuvring: aka movement really counts.

You don't foot slog infantry, you have transports. Aircraft provide a wildcard for getting into inaccessible areas instantly. Lumbering titans can barely make it across the board with 3 turns of marches.  The setting is BIG and it's reflected in the units.

I think this is from the rule book (though sourced elsewhere)....
"Epic Armageddon is a game of mass combat set in the Nightmare future of the 41st Millennium... Epic Battles feature immense armies of infantry, dozens of tanks and giant war engines such as the Titans and super-heavy tanks."

The intended scale of combat is big. Intended for people wanting to use vehicle, titans and all the other trimmings.
28mm not so - and fair enough. There's much to be said for small-scale combat games too.

Surely the cramped feeling isn't just because the models are bigger...


Numbers and Pictures
Now, generally my math is craptastic (and hopefully i won't completely embarrass myself here)... 

Starting from this premise:
if a 6mm model represents a 1.8m person then 1 meter in real life = 3.3mm    and
if a 28mm model represents a 1.8m person then 1 meter in real life = 15.5mm.

excel, excel, excel...

Using these values, and drawing a comparison to a 1200 x 1800mm board then...
@6mm the real life battlefield is 360 x 540 meters
@28mm the real life battlefield is 77 x 115 meters (21% of @6mm)

...and pictures...
So if we were to play epic on an @28mm scale board then it would be 385 x 257mm 

Aside [20191213]: which is less than the size of a piece of A3 paper (@ 297mmx420mm).

yes, yes, when using 28mm version the scaling for movement speed and weapon ranges are altered as appropriate (and you're not tethered to a base with 4 of your mates) but everything is... much more in your face.
i won't bother working out how many mm a 6" movement distances takes you @6mm scale... but i can't see myself enjoying Epic on this shrunk-down scale.

As a reverse comparison, playing 28mm models on a @6mm scale board would require...
an 8.4 x 5.6 meter board. 

Not so practical... but there's your true Apocalypse size game!!


[Later 20200226]
Pic on fb showing some folks playing epic at 28mm. Kudos.

The board size doesn't look an eq of 1200x1800 but certain demonstrates a larger scale environment.  looks like about 4mx6m at a guess.  looks far more entertaining than the usual 28mm format to me. 


Conclusion
I like Epic   [ed: at 6mm].

Until next time...