Epic Scale Space Marine used 6mm figures to play out mighty battles, where huge armies would clash and Ancient Titans strode the battlefield while lines of artillery pounded the enemy forces.
Unfortunately, support was withdrawn, and now very few people play. Which is a shame, as scenery for Epic Scale is very easy to make!
My original Matchbox buildings were designed for Epic Scale, as evidenced by the small Ork Battlewagons used for scale alongside a 40k “Barry”.
Being small, just about anything could be turned to scenery for Epic Scale, with yoghurt pots and blister packs forming a great deal of our battlefields. Hills were formed from off-cuts of polystyrene and empty paint pots were saved to become silos and towers.
With 32mm scale WH 40k getting all the attention, Epic Scale passed into the mists of HIstory, and scenery had to become larger. Matchboxes would only make small houses rather than fortresses. yoghurt pots are now tents or makeshift shelters and paint pots are little larger than tank traps. To fashion large, impressive scenery, more raw material is needed, and many previous inspirations are sadly unusable. (Another effect was that more detail had to be modelled, but that is another story).
The knock-on effects of this meant that more space is needed for storing material, workbenches need to be larger, and pieces waiting while their paint/glue dries take up a lot more space. When making particularly large or numerous pieces, it means eating of your lap for a week, as the dining table is set over to construction.
The main loss is the sheer amount of day-to-day items that I look at and think “That would make a great building!” only to realise that I am still thinking on Epic scale, and 40k-scale models would be able to step clean over it.
Ah, for the halcyon days of yore!
