Impetus Group Update

I haven't been posting quite as frequently lately, but there's been no shortage of painting and gaming going on in my life. I played two games of Impetus last night against Stu's Medieval Turks (Sultanate of Rum) but I forgot to take pictures once the action heated up. I thought I would take the opportunity to fill you folks in on Impetus plans and progress in the group.

The battlefield after the first turn. The core of my army

was made up of longbow backed up by men-at-arms.

First of all, the two main sub-projects in the group are 28mm Fantasy Impetus and 15mm Historical Impetus. As some of us are discovering, if you're not going to be playing on a large table (i.e. 6x8 ft), 28mm just doesn't offer the same level of maneuverer and counter-maneuver that 15mm does. 15mm historical (as some of you are likely aware) is certainly my preference and here's where those involved stand currently.

Marc: HYW English (not painted)
Has enough minis to build a 400-point HYW English army and plans to start in the fairly near future. He plays Impetus regularly now and learned the game playing 6mm Parthians vs Romans.

Chris: Italian City States (painted)/ Normans (not painted)
Has a full 400-point Italian City States (Milanese) army painted and plans to add some units now that Extra Impetus #3 has fleshed out the list. He also has a collection of Normans primed and ready for painting. I am currently trying to egg him on to get going on this OR to add some more units to his Milanese army. I think he's becoming a little distracted by 28mm painting so I'll leave him alone... for now.

Stu: Sultanate of Rum (painted)
Stu recently came to terms with his loathing of painting. To remedy this fact, he has allocated part of his wargaming budget to painting services and the Turkish force pictured above is the first of the commissions he's had done. I've been told that there are more 15mm Impetus commissions planned.

Ken: Aragonese (planned, not yet purchased)
This is the star painter of our group and, thanks to playing the FOG video game lately, his interest in Impetus has kicked into gear. As of last night, he said that he plans on starting a Medieval Spanish (Aragonese) army. It would be groovy to see.

Jason/JET/Me: Free Company (painted) / Norse-Irish (started)
My medieval Free Company army is one of my prized wargaming possessions and it's provided me with many hours of painting and playing enjoyment. I've started (and am about to re-start) a 15mm Irish army. The army was originally intended to be a Dark Age Norse-Irish army, but I may (or may not) paint units to morph it into a later medieval Irish army or a Early Irish army (i.e. fighting conquesting Romans and so on). In the future, there will be other 15mm Impetus armies - I just get such enjoyment out of planning and painting Impetus units.

The more I play Impetus, the more I love it. It is such a simple yet deep rules system. Just last night I had a few "aha" moments with regards to my impetuous heavy cavalry. Here they were at the beginning of the game. They performed quite well for me last night, mostly because I'm beginning to learn how to use their impetuous nature to my advantage.


Stu's medium Ghulam cavalry. At VBU:6 with composite bows, these guys are nothing to sneeze at. Last night, however, my longbowmen, with the help of one particularly courageous unit o dismounted men-at-arms, gave them a sound thrashing.


We'll be playing again next week and, for 15mm historical fans, my Free Company will be fielding some newly-painted units. I've said too much. You'll just have to check back next week. Until then...

Thanks for reading,
JET

Fantasy Impetus: First 300-point Game

Last night four of the guys in the group brought their Fantasy Impetus armies out for some bashing and smashing. My first game was against Marc's High Elves. We've both just finished painting up to the 300-point level so it was the largest fantasy game we had played so far.

Marc's starting army consisted of FP x2 (Spearmen), CP x2 (Knights), Art x1 (Bolt Thrower), CH-Hero x1 (Elven Archer Hero), M x1 (Great Wurm), and of course, and Expert general with a Good command structure.

We used the road rules, which meant that these goblin units could make two moves without making a disorder check.

Marc began wheeling his army in order to give his knights access to the open ground.

By the second turn, this is how things looked. Notice the Elven Knights (left) preparing to charge the goblin skirmishers and medium cavalry (right). Now, also notice the position of the goblin hero near the middle-bottom of the photo. Keep that in mind.

Heroes move like skirmishers so broken ground has no effect on them. Doesn't Marc's bow-armed hero look sexy?

As I pointed out above... When Marc declared the charge towards my goblin cavalry, we discovered that he would cut through my heroes ZOC. I took advantage of this and opportunity charged him. As you can see above, my hero caused a hit (rather unfortunate for the elves) and stayed fresh.

As it turns out, the combat wore on...

...and believe it or not, Bloodmoon routed the elven cavalry all by his lonesome.

On the other side of the field, Marc's dragon came charging into my shaman and his boys. This encounter went on for a few turns and, although my shaman was eventually defeated, the Great Wurm was seriously limbed and had little effect on the rest of the battle.

My light cavalry tried their best to harass the elven spear but, thanks to their being heavy foot with shield wall, they were nigh invulnerable to that level of missile fire.

While all of the other shenanigans were going on, Marc charged his second unit of knights towards my wolf riders. Sadly (snicker), he rolled on less than he needed to make the charge distance.

By the following turn, combined fire from my wolf riders and my skirmishers caused serious damage. Furthermore, my spearmen and Marc's hero rushed in to join the scuffle.

The hero defeated the spearmen (handily) and charged forward into my general's entourage.

My wolf riders eventually routed the knights and made their way back around towards the elven hero. We were both mere points away from breaking but, after a lucky shot, the wolf riders took out the hero with their bows and won me the game.

My second game of the evening was against Chris's rat men.

The filth-ridden general and his rats.

We deployed about forty inches apart.

I deployed my light cavalry on my far-left flank. As you can see, there's still one rider not painted yet.

Chris chose to attack in waves as I moved up to the road and waited. He left his mass of infantry on opportunity back in his deployment zone and sent out his rat ogres and his skirmishers.

The light cavalry made their way around Chris's flank, but the bulk of the game was spent dealing with one wayward unit of rat men.

As with my first game against the elves, my shaman spent the majority of the game holding up a monster.

My wolf riders put their bows to good use by cleaning out a unit of skirmishers and almost annihilating this rat ogre. They finished off the game by charging into a unit of rat men.

rat slingers moving through the forest.

And here's every Impetus player's dream: I managed to pull off a group counter-charge and even up my goblins' odds against the impetuous rat men.

Although Chris was starting to get some units around my flank, it was too late - I destroyed a unit of rat men and caused the army to rout. Two victories in one night!

I managed to quickly stick my nose (and my camera) in on Chris's and Chris's game. I can't remember what happened but it looked great.

I'm almost finished my 400-point goal for this project and, although it's been fun and I'm pleased with my results, I'm more certain than ever that I am first and foremost a 15mm historical guy. The historical armies (as well as the stricter limitations in the army lists) inspire me more and 15mm, although not always substantially cheaper than some 28mm options, really allows an Impetus player to make the most of a 6x4 foot gaming area.

Thanks for reading,
JET

Chaos In Carpathia - Battle In (And Under) The Wilderness

This game actually took place a few weeks back but I'm only now getting around to posting the pics. Chris had just finished painting his new ruined tower and my underground interiors still had that "new crypt" smell so we were eager to throw down. Although the primary source of victory points for this scenario comes from defeating the enemy in combat, there's a chance of finding victory points by searching chests, bookcases, and sarcophagi.

Scenario: Battle In the Wilderness

The wilderness area, dominated by a ruined tower

The crypts under the ruins, accessible from three above-ground locations

Warbands: Romanian Vampires (me) vs. British Monster Hunters (Chris)

Special Events: Indoor House Rules

Synopsis:

Although taking out enemy models in combat was the primary objective of the scenario, we each sent some members of our warbands to the crypts with hopes of stumbling upon some of the random victory points available there. By the scenario's end, my vampires had scored more victory points in both kills and treasure finds so it was an overwhelming victory for me.

The Battle:

Chris sent his best searchers (Dr. Alcock and Ms. Poundwood) to the crypts along with Hugo Forst for protection. Ms. Poundwood used her uncanny intuition to discover a secret door in a cabin cellar and gained access to the crypts that way.


Meanwhile, the Count advanced quickly towards the ruined tower...


While his minions came upon a hidden entrance to the crypts in a nearby cave.


As the humans began their search they were suddenly aware of a threatening presence in the darkness.


Out of nowhere, Lyleth flew into the unprepared humans and puts her vampiric savagery to good use.


The Count descended and joined his second-in-command. Poor Dick and Hugo never stood a chance really.


Lyleth got bored with the encounter and moved on while vampire acolyte Hestor and the Count's manservant, Dolf, joined in the fray.


On the surface, Sir Thrustam and Johann moved quietly around the perimeter of the tower...


...and found it occupied.

The vampire acolyte was threatened from all sides without any of her kind to assist her.

Johann moved to the top of the tower to gain a commanding view of the countryside.


After successfully besting their opponents in combat, Lyleth and Lucretia sniffed through the contents of the crypt. Lyleth actually managed to score a victory point when searching a chest.


Not the scholarly type, Lucretia quickly lost interest in the bookcase and found nothing of value.


Result: Major Victory for the Vampires

After being defeated quite handily by Sir Thrustam and his crowd numerous times, I was glad to finally put the Brits in their place. When the vampires get up close and personal with the more academically-inclined humans it often tends to be a one-sided affair.

As for my Interior House Rules, they are serving us quite well. What I like most is how rolling on the tables specific to each furniture type gives models secondary objectives to aim for. In other words, there is a purpose in going to explore the far-off places on the map, especially for those character types who are more stealthy or intellectual and less physical than their combat-oriented companions.

I spoke to Jordin this weekend and he has begun painting his vampires. With any luck we will be able to play a large four-player game very soon. Until then...

Thanks for reading,
JET

More Fantasy Impetus Gaming

Two things to start. First of all, Happy Belated New Year. Second of all, please excuse my blogging laxness. Our baby has been teething since Xmas and no one is getting a great amount of sleep around here. However, geeking is alive and well and I thought I would kick-start my posting with some photos some Fantasy Impetus games we had on Saturday night past.

My goblin infantry line advanced through the gap.


Chris's ratmen warbands advanced towards my line. These large units are tough to deal with, despite their Discipline C. You can see some rat ogres in the background as well.


Here's one of my new units of goblin light cavalry pelting the advancing rats with arrows.


More of Chris's new units - skirmishing ratmen with slings.


It was a close game but, in the end, I was victorious. It takes a combined arms approach for me to deal with Chris's large units as, one-to-one, my goblin spearmen are no match for them.


My second game was against Chris H's Lizardmen army. Sadly, I took even less photos this time because the lighting didn't seem very good.

Chris's Slann Mage character. We had some discussion after the game about the value of individually-based wizards. In short, keeping them at a low-points cost seems the best compromise since they will never be (and aren't meant to be) the game-winning elements that similar units are in games like Warhammer.

The advance of the lizardmen infantry. I had units in position to charge the skirmishers in the flanks which negated their evasion ability and made them easy to disperse.


Chris's heavy infantry and monster. The heavy infantry are really the guts of the army and more of them would be a worthwhile addition to his force.


As I've said before, we're really having a good time with Fantasy Impetus and, with four of us with painted armies already, there's lots of opponents to test oneself against. I hope to post some proper photos of new goblin units soon so stay tuned and until then...

Thanks for reading,
JET