I have been struggling for some time to work up the energy to finish my Hittite army to be able to match them against my Ancient Egyptians/ A couple of months ago I finally started work. Steve and I had been thinking of giving Basic Impetus rules a spin. I'd been planning a 'double-based' DBA army but when I checked the Impetus army lists I found I had everything I needed already, bar some bow armed Egyptian skirmishers which I easily solved by painting up some Libyans. So earlier than expected I got the armies on the table using my magnetic unit bases for 'double-based DBA', which are conveniently exactly right for Impetus.
It was also the first outing for my 'plain terrain' boards.
Steve set up with chariots on his flanks, light troops covering the slopes of a valley and heavy infantry and archers in the centre, backed by his general's chariots. With a lot more chariots I set up in two lines. light in front, heavy behind, with most of my infantry in front of the rocky slopes on my right, apart from a unit of skirmishing archers on my left.
It quickly became apparent that maneuvering in Impetus is not easy. and chariots are especially difficult to maneuver, a simple wheel to avoid a wood disordered my light chariots.
I didn't bother reordering them as I wanted them to send them in to pepper Steve's infantry with arrows before pulling back to get ready for a charge. This didn't prove smart, as disordered moving chariots were outshot by standing infantry bowmen.
Good shooting destroyed one of my chariot units and damaged the other.
Steve moved up his infantry up but again any attempt to maneuver again just slowed things down,
I retreated my light chariots, advanced my heavy and moved my skirmishing archers into a palm grove on my right,
I turned around and rallied my light chariots and charged them into an infantry unit who destroyed them.
Our forces closed on my right flank but archery weakened one unit of heavy chariots
Steve's chariots swept out on to my left flank. but again had to stop because they were disordered.
In the infantry clash on my right Steve drove back some light infantry.
My heavy chariots lined up to charge.
I swung around my heavy spearmen, disordered again due to wheeling...
...but once rallied I could charge in...
My general's heavy chariots completely smashed a unit of Egyptian menfat heavy infantry leaving them to charge again ...straight into Steve's Pharaoh's chariot bodyguard
With the roll of an impressive 10 dice my charging general's heavy chariots scored two hits
Weakened the Pharoah retreated
A follow-up charge and they destroy the Pharoah's bodyguard!
Unfortunately this is not enough to turn the battle. Two light chariot and an infantry unit lost and my skirmishers scattered now my other heavy chariots get charged in the flank by a unit of Steve's chariots. .
....and the battle's over, despite the valiant actions of my General I've lost!
I have subsequently played a few more games of Impetus, particularly the Pike and Shot 'Impetus Baroque' version and really enjoyed it. For me, however, I was not greatly impressed in how they worked for the chariot period. I would have been much better off just lining my chariots up and charging straight in to get their Impetus bonus, but this doesn't really seem to jive with my idea of fluid light chariot tactics.
The 'plain terrain' boards livened up what would have been a dull playing cloth, it did, however show up my hills which looked a bit tatty, desert hills would have looked better, and the effect would probably have been better with more of them.
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