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| Mercenaries Clash With Milanese |
I play: Primarily 15mm these days, specifically my Armagnac force and my Avar/Slav force.
At the beginning of 2008 I was searching for a new gaming experience. I wasn't sure what it was until I started finding photos of beautifully-painted historical armies in many scales all over the Internet. I looked into Warhammer Ancient Battles but it was too clunky for what I wanted to do. I bought the newly-released Field of Glory rulebook and looked through it - clunkier! Finally, while searching for free wargames rules I stumbled upon the Italian ruleset Basic Impetus and its full-grown (and not free) older cousin Impetus. I was very attracted to the big bases and the free-form diorama approach to modelling and unit construction. Before long I had a copy of the rules and the rest, as they say... well you know what they say.
Armagnac
| Scale: 15mm Models By: Corvus Belli & Feudal Castings After painting historical armies in 6mm, 10mm, and 15mm, I have to say that 15mm is my preferred scale as a painter. I had played around with painting a handful of Corvus Belli's Hundred Years War range, but it wasn't until I found my first opponent who was interested in painting a 15mm army that the project really took off. My Armagnac army (originally my Free Company) is a fairly balanced force, with perhaps a slight leaning towards infantry units over cavalry units. I tried to choose as many types of units as I had models to represent, mostly so had the opportunity to paint lots of different subjects while using an almost limitless palette of colours. Our initial goal was to paint 400-point armies (which we finished at the end of 2009) with the option to add new units down the road as time and inspiration allowed. This limit has since extended to 500 points. The 15mm scale really allows the individual features and character of the models to show through, and as we started playing, it didn't take long for our generals to be named and for an ongoing narrative campaign to arise from the games table. The Free Company is led by English mercenary general Sir John Stockwood, who is often at loggerheads with his ass of a nephew Sir Rodger of Lynn. Initially, Stockwood's primary adversaries were the Milanese general Francesco Prosciutto and his ally, Austrian General Karl Van Dertfhlinghan, however, our Impetus group has grown since then and my regular medieval allies include Swiss, English, and Later Teutonics. The Original Army List  The painting of my Free Company army coincided with the publication of my first article in an honest-to-goodness wargames magazine. The article Medieval Mercenaries: Free Companies in Impetus outlined the building and painting of my army and culminated with the release of the official Free Company army list for Impetus. It was a very exciting occasion for me (I'm not nearly as worldly as half of you reading this right now), and I hope that there will be more geek-worthy articles in my future. | Army PhotosThis gallery post shows photos of the entire 400-point army in the field and includes informative captions and explanations. Unit-by-Unit Gallery
Ongoing Conflict Our battles are presented as brief pseudo-narratives with lots and lots of photos. |
Scale: 10mm
Models By: Pendraken
My Pendraken Carthaginian models were originally purchased so that Keir and I could start playing Warmaster Ancients. Before the models had arrived, Keir had learned that he and his family would be moving around eight hours away. Needless to say, without an opponent my models were stored away.
When I discovered the Impetus rules and decided to start working on a project, I pulled out the Carthaginians and began planning a force for Basic Impetus. I painted the models and based them on 80mm frontages, the recommended base size for 15mm figures. Over a year passed and I decided that it was time to finish off the army. After seeing some 10mm figures based on 60mm frontage I decided that I would re-base everything I had painted and complete the army on the smaller base size. I don't actually have an opponent with a painted 10mm army yet, but some day I'm sure I will, and when that day comes, I'll be ready. |
Impetus Army
Basic Impetus Army
One of my first posts on Geektactica showcased my Carthaginian Army based for Basic Impetus.
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Early Imperial Romans
Scale: 6mm
Models By: Baccus
When it was time to start playing Impetus (instead of just painting models and reading the rules) I found one of the geeks in the group who was willing to give it a try. Stu is a bit of a 6mm fan (used to be a Baccus dealer, in fact) and he already had a bunch of 6mm Parthians painted. I had some 6mm Romans stowed away (from another failed attempt to start Warmaster Ancients), so I dug them out and started planning the army.
Although I'm not quite as excited about painting or playing with 6mm armies anymore, we had great fun learning the game with these armies, and I would strongly recommend the 6mm scale for those who want to start playing dirt cheap. I'm sure that an interest in playing 6mm will come around again some say, and when it does, I have some figures poked away to expand this force and to take advantage of the more comprehensive EIR list that was released in Extra Impetus #2. |
The Might of Rome
Project Coverage The army was planned out and painted during January of 2009. Follow this thread of posts to watch how the project developed. Battle Reports | ||
