Sagitar, apologies if you already understood what I was trying to ask/point out in my first post, but the original Epic expansion was a mounted board - basically the same board that came with the base game.  Also included in that expansion were the extra lore tokens required, and additional markers for playing Reluctant Allies.  No paper maps.

The only paper map so far is the one that is the Troll and Country expansion.

No problem Toddrew.

So if I understand this correctly the epic expansion actually gives you a reall map (well not paper)? I'm sure I read somewhere it was a paper map.

I assumed the first epic map was made up out of two basic game boards put together. Wich obviously ment having to buy the game twice.

sagitar said:

The Epic expansions contains a 2nd board so that you do not need to get a 2nd game.  The Troll expansion, also using the Epic format, comes with a paper map of the epic board with terrain and initial unit positions already printed on the map.

Now that seems like a perfectly good reason to put the epic expansion back on my list.

For some reason, probably missread something, I was under the impression the epic one came with a paper map.

On the down side, epic doesn't come with any figures if I'm not mistaken, wich I find rather offputting. So why exactly do you like epic.

So if I understand this correctly the map of the throll expanions is the same map as the one you can make (using the basic map) with the epic expanansion. But the throll map allready has the unitpositions indicated, wich means you can only play the throll scenarion on that map.

Somehow I think that is a pitty, as it also prevents us from adding this paper map to the reall maps and go for a really epic game.

I'm still hoping for a game scenario (that'll probably need a huge map, that'll allow us to use ALL THE UNITS we have. It still can't get myself to buy units knowing I'll only use them so often.

Why not have a scenario where additional troops may enter the field after you've lost a certain amount of banners.

Just a curiosity question:  does anyone know how many units we have if we buy all there is to buy at this moment?

i'm not very sure a senario that uses everything is needed for everything to feel valuable. figures in battle lore are like jelly beans, you can enjoy new combinations of a few flavors again and again, but if you stick all 49 flavors in your mouth at once your likely to get something that tastes bad and is hard to chew.

in other words, the idea is the more figures you add to your colection the more replay value the game has. Because if you can only play with a small selection of a large pool of units, each game will bring new combinations to the board.

sagitar said:

I won't go into whether or not the original base game should have included a second board and the requisite tokens in order to play Epic games (I happen to be of the mind that the way DoW rolled out the game in this manner was just fine), but the Epic expansion allows for a way to play BattleLore that has a very different feel from the base game.  The single board adventures wonderfully depict minor skirmishes.  The double board Epic adventures wonderfully increase the scale (or detail) of the battle.  If I had to pick one way (base game; single board) or another (Epic; double board) to play, I would choose the smaller arena.  However, I don't have to choose :) , I get to do both.  (By the way, I think I am in the minority with that preference.)

Between the base game, Epic, Call to Arms, No Lore/Custom War Councils/Medieval Lore, and the endless possibilities of scenario conditions, recognizing the versatility of this game is what initially endeared me to it, and convinced me that I would not be disappointed in committing to this game.  With Heroes close approaching, as well as the lingering potential of a race explosion and campaign rules, I remain as entrenched in this game as I ever was.

sagitar said:

The rationale behind the troll map was to have an easily constructed battlefield - great for convention or tournament settings.  Similar to the maps being developed for Memoir '44, I believe this was to be a serial type development, which over time would generate quite a few adventures to catalog for such environments.  Again, whether this was a good or bad idea, I leave to be debated elsewhere.

Having the particular positions marked out does not prevent the map from being used for other scenarios (the location/presence of terrain presents a larger issue in this regard), but the paper maps sacrifice ease of versatility for ease of set up.

sagitar said:

In lots of Commands & Colors: Ancients scenarios there are ambush/re-inforcement situations.  Only a matter of time before some "official" adventures take advantage of such special rules, and plenty of player-made adventures do so.

sagitar said:

Plenty :)  Yet, not enough