The game revolves around hundreds of miniature plastic infantry, tanks, and buildings. Of course one can always play with unpainted miniatures. Using rulers, players measure how far each unit can move and determine when the units are in range to shoot.
Units can perform a variety of actions, from careful sniper fire to charging into close combat.
In order to create a game of large armies battling to and fro that is playable in a reasonable amount of time, the rules focus not on individual units, but on detachments, which are groups of roughly 2 to 20 units. Detachments move and fight in one body, and every unit in a detachment works toward the same goal. Success in the game depends on being able to design detachments that will effectively accomplish a particular goal. The game includes rules for three more races as well as flying units and gigantic War Engines, all of which can be purchased separately. Between these and future expansions, terrain modelling and all the rest, Epic 40,000 could easily take over someone's life.