I like the Impetus rules, although I never got around to buying 2nd edition. It seemed unnecessary, given that I do not play enough to have got irritated with any part of the rules set. With all the work I have been doing on 15mm figures for Oathmark armies, I suddenly realised that I might be able to put together a couple of armies and play a bit more Impetus. Therefore, I dug out the 2nd edition Basic Impetus rules and checked what I needed. The movement trays I bought for Oathmark are only fractionally larger than the standard bases for 15mm Impetus, so there is no need for rebasing, blu-tacking to temporary bases or any of the other improvisations that might otherwise have been required to make this work. All I needed was to make sure I had the right figures. A little bit of painting and a few spacer bases later, and I had two armies with a small number of options ready for the table.
The Vikings
At this point, I should note that I have issues with the Vikings list in Basic Impetus. The core list seems oddly specifically oriented towards 1014 and the Battle of Clontarf with the inclusion of Irish troops as part of that core. I also do not agree with the inclusion of "raiders" as a troop type in any Viking list for the Viking armies that fought in Europe in this period. These people being called raiders are the same people that are normal troop types at other times. And don't even get me started on having "berserkers" as a weird and wonderful special troop type! Army lists are such strange fictions. Still, I am working with what I have, so here are some of the Vikings.
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| Veteran Huskarls |
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| Viking skirmishers with spacer bases |
The Normans
I have no real issues with the Norman army lists, although I suspect that this is because I know so much less about Norman armies of this period. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes!
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| The Norman army |
By using spacer bases, I was able to set the Norman knights up in a V-formation while the Breton medium cavalry are in a single line, letting me differentiate the two from each other. Spacer bases also differentiate the Norman skirmishers. In this case we have peasant stonethrowers standing in for Breton javelinmen and Norman crossbowmen.
A Quick Game
So, with the armies ready and organised, time for a throwdown on the table. The Normans wound up defending. Not sure how that happened given their superior mobility.
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| Set-up as seen from the Viking side |
There was little subtlety to this game. My goal was to push figures around and learn the rules. So, the Vikings set up with their skirmishers occupying the marsh and their flanks anchored. The Normans were slightly more constrained and set up in a big block. They hoped to use their cavalry to steamroller the Vikings.
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| Norman luck after a cavalry charge |
Alas for the poor Normans, their general was insufficiently lucky. As in the example above, they consistently failed to hit even when rolling generous numbers of dice. The Viking hird troops saw off the Norman cavalry and wheeled onto the Norman right flank.
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| The end of all things (weirdly squished image but you get the gist, I am sure.) |
Over on the left flank, things went better... sort of. The Norman cavalry charged the Viking raiders and sent them packing. They regrouped and prepared to fall on the Viking flank and roll the troops up. Unfortunately, the Viking huskarls had other thoughts and drove off the Norman infantry before this could happen. Discouraged, the Norman general decided to retreat, regroup and try another day.
Conclusions
Mistakes were made. Lessons were learned. I got a headache checking the rules repeatedly, despite them being so short. It was fun though. I've always enjoyed Impetus in the past and this iteration of the rules worked for me. One thing I particularly like is the limited options in the lists. When DBA first came out, I loved the rules because each army was only 12 or so elements. It was simple, easy to collect multiple armies and the armies were cheap. Then the whole thing bloated with multiple versions and way too many options and I lost interest. I really did prefer the army lists that were aimed at getting to the core of what each army should be about, whether you agreed with that interpretation or not. Having something similar with Basic Impetus is precisely what I want, even if the armies are larger in number of figures. However, I do wonder about just using smaller armies with the full-fat Impetus rules. That would make it easier to avoid the peculiarities I noted above that I do not like. We shall see.
Happy New Year!
Well, that is my last post for this year. It has been a productive year on the gaming front and I am pleased with what I have achieved. For once, I seem to have found my painting groove and stuck with it, as well as playing a lot of games. Let us hope that 2025 is more of the same.
I hope you have a Happy New Year and that 2025 brings you what you need.
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