I think you've found a treasure, Brian (yet again ).

The local game store has one (if I'm remembering it right; not sure) in their glass case, next to the woodgrain box set and some copies of Chainmail, so they obviously value it. Never seen it otherwise.

Moldvay ran several miniatures tournaments at Gen Con in 81 and 82, including two fantasy scenarios. Perhaps he tested the "Epic Battles" rules in these tournaments, and then later revised and self-published them.

Gencon XIV, August 13-16 1981, U.W. Parkside

25mm Renaissance Miniatures, 2004. A grand battle between two colorful renaissance armies. Each army is composed of several smaller allied groups of diverse nationalities. 8 Hours. Judge: Tom Moldvay. Thursday Noon. Experience Level 3. 12 Players. Wyllie Main Place.

D&D Fantasy Miniatures, 2005. A large scale fantasy miniatures battle in 25mm scale, based on the D&D rules. Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, humans and plenty of magic will abound. 8+ Hours. Judge: Tom Moldvay. Saturday Noon. Experience Level 3. 12 Players. Wyllie Main Place.

Gencon XV, August 19-22 1982, U.W. Parkside

Clash of the Empires (Renaissance Army Miniatures), 3019. A battle between the armies of the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire (Germans vs Turks) in the year 1550. Judge: Tom Moldvay. 8 Hours. Thursday 10:00 A.M. Experience Level 4. 10 Players. Wyllie Main Place.

The Island of Death, 4074. Four teams compete against each other and a team of monsters to win a fabulous treasure in this variant D&D game. Each player team will control a zeppelin-type airship and a sailing ship, plus a number of heroes. The event combines miniatures play and role-playing. The first team to win the treasure and return to base wins. The monster team wins if no player team is successful. Judge: Tom Moldvay. 8 Hours. Friday 10:00 A.M. Experience Level 5. 12 Players. Wyllie Main Place.

From this Dragonsfoot thread:
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt ... 0&start=30

That thread was for compiling Moldvay's bibliography (after he passed away). The thread's been inactive since June but you (bclarkie) might want to add your "Epic Battles" find.

Is there an artist credited for the cover art?

I remember Tom's Renaissance games. He and I worked at painting up enough minis to field two armies. I have a printout of the rules he came up with that I think may be part of the stuff I'm auctioning.

Zeb

Thanks all for the feedback, it pretty much confirms what I was thinking.

zhowar wrote:D&D Fantasy Miniatures, 2005. A large scale fantasy miniatures battle in 25mm scale, based on the D&D rules. Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, humans and plenty of magic will abound. 8+ Hours. Judge: Tom Moldvay. Saturday Noon. Experience Level 3. 12 Players. Wyllie Main Place.

I actually did check the DF thread as well, but I was specifically looking for the title and not possible links to the rules.  Looking at these rules I would say that they are very likely tied to this Tournament if not the exact rules that would have been used for it.  The 1st copyright date on the booklet is 1980 which would pretty much coincide with that tournament.  Secondly and perhaps more importantly, just scanning over these rules, they are heavily influenced by and rooted in D&D dealing with spells, spell levels, character classes, etic.  It really looks as a hybrid of Chainmail rules intertwined with D&D rules.  Its actually pretty cool.  Aside form that looking these notes written in red pen, I am starting to think that are actually Tom Moldvay's own, becuase for the most part they are all either full new rules written in and added in the blank areas of the booklet and there are other rules simply modified.  These look as if they peened by the author modifying his own work,  Here is couple of picture of what I am talking about:

zhowar wrote:Is there an artist credited for the cover art?

Yes, the cover artist is listed Dave Billman, a name that I am not familiar with.  There is actually an additional piece of artwork by him on the inside of the back cover that is of a man fighting a Dragon that is very cool.  

FWIW, Here is how the book is fullt credited to see if anyone recognizes any of these names other than Tom Moldvay's as they appear in the booklet:

CREDITS

Design & Development:    Tom Moldvay

Artwork:   Dave Billman. Dru Woodward

Playtesters:   Chuck Baltes,  Charlene Britton, Dave Bullis, Neal Christanson, Brad Cihla, Don Dexter, Patrick Dougherty, Jim Fieldhouse, Ian Guistino, Tom Hanlon, Sean McGovern, James Morgan, Diane Peske, Bill Reuter, Ralph Wagner, Bill Wilkerson, Chris Wind, Jim Wind, Mike Wind.

The store is in Buffalo, and its called The Jester's Cap (named, pretty obviously, after the Magic: The Gathering card of the same name from the Ice Age expansion - yeah, I used to play, and then it got boring, fast.) They can be pretty expensive, and they can be pretty cheap, but what I like the most are the quarterly sales (since I collect pretty much every RPG, I can get lots of books for 75% off, or $1 each, depending on how long the store has had them.) Last time I was in there, which was a while, I snatched up a B10 and a 1st print of Eldritch Wizardry.

Very cool, bclarkie. If those are Tom's writings, then its much more interesting than it was before (which was pretty damn high already.) Anyone have any original writing to have a comparison ran? Might be worth it.

My copy of this arrived today, and it's pretty cool

I was at Gencon XIV and watched the minature battle.
It took place in a large area of the hall and was really amazing.

I may have a copy of this somewhere...it seems very familiar.

I admit I am not that much of a collector, but that is very cool. I think you may have definatly found a wonderful treasure there. If not fromt eh collectors viewpoint from the historical aspect.

That is my passion the history of things. Good find.
Thanks for sharing especially the pics.