Yes, that’s right, had my first crack at the full version of the Impetus Ancient Rules at the weekend with Roundie (Wayne Steward) down at the AWC. I have been meaning to get into these for a while as they have looked promising as I have dabbled with the idea of them off and on over the years… Roundie offered to tutor me in a game and so on Sunday we got stuck in to have a crack at it. Roundie’s been hard at work converting his existing and building new armies for Impetus (or Impetvs as it would actually be written long ago), and his latest are for the Punic Wars, the series of struggles between the Graeco-African empire of Carthage, and the emerging new power that was Republican Rome.
Roundie advised I should command the Carthaginians, because apparently they don’t lose in Impetvs! Deployment was simple and fast and we were soon under way, the mechanics while relatively simple and straight forward still feel right for the period. Like any rule-sets there are odd quirks (in this case due to the sequencing of how the turns evolve and each command activates) but other than that they played smoothly and enjoyably. The two biggest pluses for me is the way the combat and attrition works, so as units take losses and spend more time in combat their resilience can crumble faster making it more like what we know of ancient battle for me (with how units or armies would suddenly collapse and that’s when most casualties occur), and secondly the basing – which make 28mm figures look so much better and the whole visual aesthetic a lot more pleasing (which is a big part of the pleasure of wargaming).
Gallery of photos below of the game, all the figures and terrain are Roundie’s, and look fantastic, and for the record the Roman’s achieved a decisive victory despite Roundie’s protestations that the Carthaginians were going to roll over his Romans!
