Pictures of Ancients Impetus game

Hi guys

a freind came over a while back to try out Impetus. He is an avid gamer, but rarely plays ancients, being unhappy with DBMM , and had agreed to give Basic Impetus a go. We played our favourite current pairs of armies, Alexander vs Darius.

We had two good games of BI, and our new player was well pleased with the rules,having gotten very good use out of a scythed chariot. We had a large 3 way game of Dystopian wars afterwards. All in all, an excellent day of gaming with plenty of laughs and copious amounts of tea drunk.

Pictures of Basic Impetus game

Hi Guys

Ed & I played two games of Basic Impetus last night, Macedonian versus Persians. We had planned to do a full write up with sequenced pictures but there were a good few interuptions and we got caught up in the game before we realised we hadnt taken a photo in about 4 turns. So instead, here is a few shots from both games.

The games were good fun. The first was a close game, with the Persians winning. The second was even closer, with the Macedonians winning, just. Two wins for Ed, so he must have been cheating or using tactics or something. Most  of the units with good stats were underwhealing do to appalingly bad luck, and the dregs of the levy performing well above expectations. The scythed chariot finally killed something ( a unit of pike) but ran out of steam and bit the dust. Might take on the Galatians next to see how loony Celts vs Pike phalanx works out.

Phil

Basic Impetus Alexandrian Macedonian army finished !

Hi Guys

Finished my Macedonian army for Basic Impetus, at least, finished for now.  Here are a few pictures of the finished article.

The whole force for BI

Pike Phalanx

Cretan Archer skirishers

Peltasts



Agrianian skirmishers with Javelin



Hypaspists

Prodromoi

Alexander with Companions

Thessalian Cavalry

We had two excellent games with these various Achemenid Persians. Both games went to the Macedonians, with the second being very close. No pictures though as the king of kings forgot the tripod for the camera though ( The Muppet ! ). We will try another game soon and if the outlanders synapes fire, we ight get some pictures out of it.

Phil

Alexanders Companions

This is the final unit to finish my Basic Impetus Macedonian army, the mounted companions. These are a compulsory unit for Alexanders army, and a very strong unit in Impetus, but I can never bring myself to like the helmet. A bit part of the appeal for me of a Greek/Hellenistic army is the look of the Greek equipment. The linothorax armour is for me one of the iconic images of the classical era, the phrygian helmet is cool and the common image of a Greek helmet, the Corinthian with full vertical crest ( none of your Spartan transverse crest guff) is probably the coolest piece of military kit in the ancient world. The boetian helmet however looks like an up-turned soup bowl with none of the military menace of the Corinthian, its the bicycle helmet of the Greek world, soldiers only wearing it because their mum made them.

With Alexander at their head.



How the unit will look for Impetus

 I was pleased how the unit looked over all. The xystons are cut down pikes from Black Hat, the same ones I used for the foot companions, but with a bit taken off so they would not be overly long. They only have one point of contact, the hand, so they are not very secure. I went with the reverse of the colour scheme I used on the Prodromoi. I only realised when I was finished that I had used different colours on Alexanders base, so a quick repaint was called for. I used a P3 yellow called sulphuric yellow for the cloaks and horse fittings. I bought this paint a good while back on a whim and hadnt used it , but since starting the Macedonian army, it has seen more use than Sean Beans grim reaper loyalty card.

That is the army finished for Basic Impetus. I have one unit of pike left to do and a successor general painted but not based yet, so I can do Pyrrhic and successor armies with these figures. I will have to add Cataphracts and Argyraspids as well when finances allow, so I can do Later Selucid to face the Romans. When I have the last few elements done, I will post a few pics of the whole army laid out together. Next up after that is some GW Imperial guard.

Phil

Prodromoi or Light horse, big stick.

Here are a few pictures of the next unit to be finished for the Macedonian army, the Prodromoi. These are very unusual in that they are pike armed light cavalry. The models didnt look right when assembling them, as the Sarissa looked way too big for light horse and it was tricky to position them in a way that looked realistic. I also had to make sure the bases would be able to line up as a unit without looking like a mounted pole-vaulting team. I tried to stick to a yellow/purple theme as the Osprey book on the Macedonian army shows these colours from Prodromoi, Thessalian cavalry and the Companions.

Only two units left to go for the Alexandrian army now, one more unit of pike and the Companions. After that I have a few bits to add to cover early successor lists. I will have to pick up some cataphracts before I can do a later selucid list. Next up is the second unit of pike. I will go with the same colour scheme as before so they look right when forming up together as a large unit for Impetus.

Macedonian Pike Unit for Basic Impetus

Hi Guys

Continuing the project of painting up my Alexandrian Macedonians for Basic Impetus, I got the first unit of pike finished. There will be two units of pike for this army, and a third done to cover some of the successor lists. Once I am done with the figures I have, I will need to add so cataphracts for the later Selucid list. I love these pike figures, they are easy to paint, and the pike has 4 points of conact with the model so is very secure. Both the models and the pikes, which are sold seperately, are from Black hat models. The pike wire fits to the models hand perfectly and is surprising strong for such narrow wire. The head is well shaped as a spear point and not just a pointy bit on the end. They are also bloody sharp, and I have a thumb like a tea bag after not watching what I was doing while picking up the next figure to paint. I have all the pike I need to do a successor list, but as they mostly fought each other, I can see this army mutate until it can field two successor lists so they can fight each other. This could be a project for next year, as the next army I hope to do for ancients is an Indian army to face Alexander. They could also face my Late Achemenid Persian army, which could be an interesting fight with lots of colour.

I have to get transfers for the shields, as my hand painting isnt up to scratch

The pike heads show up well in this shot.

The Command stand

In column formation.

Next up is the unit of Prodromi. They are half painted so far. It looks strange to have light horse equipped with pikes and they could be awkward to line up as a unit without poking the figures in front.

Hypaspists

Here is the next unit for the Alexandrian Macedonian army, the Hypaspists. These are modelled with spears rather than pikes. The pack size meant I ended up with 6 bases worth, when I only need 4 for Impetus.

All 6 stands from the front

Two views from the side to show the colours of the troopers

The command stand with the heroic unit leader.

The pattern on the shields and banner is a wonky handpainted attempt at a star. This is only a temporary job until I get some transfers with a proper Macedonian star, but will do to give the idea, as long as you look from far away, in poor light, with your glasses off....