Quote from: Dour Puritan on 28 August 2014, 10:41:24 AM
I really should have thought of that!! The above 15s look really good. My 15s are based up for Impetus and give a terrific game.

I keep looking at Impetus and keep getting put off by the strange designations (in English at any rate).  And my pet hate of movment expressed in base widths- It just adds another calculation.

Do they work for Italian wars?

Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 28 August 2014, 02:11:47 PM
I keep looking at Impetus and keep getting put off by the strange designations (in English at any rate).  And my pet hate of movment expressed in base widths- It just adds another calculation.

Do they work for Italian wars?

I only play Basic Impetus and you get used to the terms fairly quickly, not sure about full Impetus but the basic version uses ordinary measurements not base widths  depending on the figure scale

We normally use Impetus for Italian Wars in one of my main groups (in 15mm, looks *very* impressive!). Plays really, really well (but then, we like Impetus anyway and its become our de facto rules set for anything pre pike & "lots of shot as opposed to early handguns"

Right I have downloaded the free set and will give it a try.

Trouble is if I like it the Set with the 3 exra listys I need is going to set me back a few bob

I have tried both and still prefer the basic set so I can get a battle done in an evening

As mentioned on a previous thread I now play Simple Impetus, which is an upgrade of Basic Impetus. Gives a really good game in one to two hours. Also play main Impetus. Movement is definitely in inches or cms (depending on scale). Still think it is one of the best sets for playing Ancient, Mdieval and Early Renaissance. Main rules are now available on Wargames Vault as a download. Will be demoing a 28mm Italian Wars Impetus game at Battleground.

Just a little question :
Italians wars span from 1494 to 1559.
What lists do you use ?

I've downloaded the free version of Impetus, and had a read through, but really struggled to understand it

As with several sets of rules that have been through a few versions the web site seems to focus on the updates and tweaks and doesn't do a getting started bit. While this is understandable for the writers and long time users of the rules, it makes it hard for newbies.

Also the abbreviations are quite hard to grasp having kept the original Italian letters.

I don't know if I am missing out on some good rules, as lots of people seem to like them.

Barbarian - my list above is a very generic early-ish one intended for "feel" more than direct accuracy

Impetus - we've used the ones out of the source book for Italian Wars. First game we played was amusing, old style Italian city state list versus gendarmes and Swiss pike. It showed in no uncertain terms why the pike, gun and shock horse knocked out the competing army set ups

Basic Impetus - Fred, I agree - if I hadn't actually played a couple of games so I knew what I was doing (*insert laughter here) I'd be a bit put off by the basic rules as it's kind of "DBA without explanations". Try popping a couple of units down and having a quick bash - it makes sense in use! Although VD makes us snigger like teenagers in Biology class every time, even now

The period generally classed as the Italian Wars really wound up with the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Yes, officially the wars dragged on to 1559, but beyond 1530 the Spanish started to use the tercio rather than the colunella, cavalry started to use pistols, the Landsknechts and Swiss were not as effective as they had been and troops began to look much more like those associated with Elizabethan times. Yes Fred, you are missing out on a really good set of rules, but it is best to start with Basic Impetus and work from there.

Pavia is about as late as where I'm interested in with my set up, so it's kind of a caricature of the stereotype of French gendarme/Swiss pike versus German men at arms and Landsknecht pike & hand gun

Agree, but you have to use Spaniards too!

Quote from: Dour Puritan on 29 August 2014, 07:30:16 AM
As mentioned on a previous thread I now play Simple Impetus, which is an upgrade of Basic Impetus. Gives a really good game in one to two hours. Also play main Impetus. Movement is definitely in inches or cms (depending on scale). Still think it is one of the best sets for playing Ancient, Mdieval and Early Renaissance. Main rules are now available on Wargames Vault as a download. Will be demoing a 28mm Italian Wars Impetus game at Battleground.

What is Simple Impetus?....Is it online?..Haven't heard of it before

Simple Impetus is a variant devised by one of my regular opponents. It is the same as Basic Impetus except:

1. Massed troops - they form a double depth unit and receive a depth bonus, even if not fresh. The VDU is for the whole unit and once the VDU reaches zero the whole double unit is removed.

2.Command Control - Moving troops around the battlefield is restricted by this rule. Three types of command depending on the army:
a) A professional army mainly of full time troops and officers, eg. Roman early Imperial, Italian Wars Spanish. these have no restriction on command.
b) A social army where command is determined by social status rather than ability, eg. Italian Wars French, Normans, Greeks. A social army can only move 4 units or groups.
c) A charismatic army where command is dependent on the personal presence of the leader, eg. Celtic warband, viking raiders (but not Alexander's Macedonians - that would be classed as professional). A charismatic army can only move two units or groups.
This does not affect shooting or continuing melees.

3. Mandated Charges - Fresh impetuous units, eg. French knights, Celtic infantry, that are within a move of the enemy and qualify for impetus bonus must charge. Foot need not charge mounted troops and only FL must charge in difficult terrain.

4. Evade - S, LC, or GCL evade from slower troops. To evade a LC or S unit, upon contact, moves backwards a full movement and becomes disordered. The contacting unit, if impetuous, must continue moving up to its maximum allowed move; other units may halt at the point of contact.

5. Massed Bow - receive a +2 dice bonus when firing.

In the firing table there are no longer A or B classes of Longbow, shortbow, composite bow crossbow, handgun, arquebus or musket. The no. of dice for 10u, 20u and 50u are as follows:
Longbow          2     1      No
Shortbow         1      0      No
Comp. bow       2     -1     No
Crossbow         2      0      No
Handgun         0      No    No
Arquebus         2      -1     No

Hope that's of some help. We find it adds a little more to the game and makes shooting a lot more straightforward.

Cheers

I will have a look and and have a quick solo go with it