Basic Impetus- Greeks Vs Persians

I played two very good games of Basic Impetus last night against Ed. We used the standard rules but allowed light horse and skirmishers to flee from an enemy charge if they had no impetus rating.

For the first game, I had the Early achaemenid Persians, with 2 units of medium cavalry, 2 units light cavalry with bows, 1 unit of Immortals, 2 units of sparabara, 2 units of skirmishers and 2 units of heavy foot levies, who were absolute dross. The general was with one of the medium cavalry .

EARLY ACHEMENID PERSIANS (VDT=19/10)

Nr	Type	M	VBU	I	VD	Notes
2	CM(*)	10	4	1	3
2	CL	12	3	1	1	composite bow B - Skytians or Bactrians
1	T	6	5	2	3	short bow A - Immortals
2	T	6	4	1	2	short bow A - Sparabara
2	S	8	2	0	1	short bow B
2	FP	5	2	1	1	Levies

The Early Persian army list for Basic Impetus



Ed had the Asiatic city state Greeks. He had 1 unit of medium cavalry, 1 unit of light cavalry, 5 units of heavy foot hoplites and 2 units of skirmishers with bows. The General was with one of the hoplite units.

MAGNA GRAECIA, THESSALIANS AND ASIAN CITIES (VDT=20/10)

Nr	Type	M	VBU	I	VD	Notes
1	CM	10	4	1	2
1	CL	12	3	1	1
5	FP(*)	5	5	2	3	long spear
2	S	8	2	0	1	short bow B, sling or javelin

The Asiatic Greek city state army list for Basic Impetus



We rolled for attacker and it was the Persians who attacked. The Greeks set up the terrain, and then deployed first. The board looked like this

The first turn was a general advance on both sides, but the Greek cavalry stay out of harms way ( officially he called them a reserve, but they were too valuable to risk near the enemy as they couldn't fight their way through a fog...)



End of turn 1



Turn 2, The Greeks won initiative and advanced forward, the Persians advancing slightly on the flanks, holding in the centre. The Immortals fired at long range at the hoplites in front of them, causing some disruption, but no hits.



End of Turn 2.



Turn 3, Persian won initiative and sent another few volleys towards the Greeks, causing more distruption, but no damage.

End of Turn 3

Turn 4, Initiative to the Persians, some advancing by the Greeks and much shape throwing on either sides but little damage caused on either side.

End of Turn 4







Turn 5. Greeks win initiative and run amok. His hoplites on his right flank drive off my Light horse and his generals hoplite unit charges my cavalry causing some damage. My light horse on the right charge his general, a desperate move to try to take pressure off the cavalry unit currently being perferated by Greek spears. The light horse gets slapped soundly and is sent fleeing back. In the melee between the spears and the medium cavalry, the persians are driven back again but the Greeks cannot maintain contact. The Immortals give the Greeks a volley ( rolled a double 6!) and they fluff their hit test, taking 3 points of damage and look very shaky.

End of Turn 5

Turn 6. The Persians win initiative but their bowfire is ineffective. The Greeks move forward again. The hoplites on the Greek right charge the levy in from of them. The levy act like speed bumps, slowing the Greeks for a moment before being driven over. The Greek general charges the damaged Persian cavalry to his front, driving them back again with more damage.



End of Turn 6



Turn 7, The Persians win the initiative and the Immortals destroy the hoplites in front of them with another heavy volley. That is the high point of turn 7 for the persians. The hoplites on the Greek right charge the sparabara in front of them. The Greek general charges the shattered Persian cavalry and finishes them off. The Greek light horse charges and drives back the Persian light horse on my right. Things are looking back for the Persians.....

End of Turn 7

Turn 8. Greeks take the initiative  ( again :(  ). His light horse charges my skirmishers who flee. His light horse then contacts my light horse, driving them from the board. His pursuit took his light horse into the back of my fleeing skirmishers with predictable results. The Persians are now very close to breaking. His hoplites charge the Sparabara unit, driving them back with 3 points of damage to their VBU. My Immortals wheel to their right to threaten the flank of the hoplites while my general on my right wheels towards the Greek general.

End of Turn 8

Turn 9. Greeks take the initiative but cause little damage. My Immortals charge the flank of the hoplites and destroy them. The Persian general lines up for a charge on the Greek skirmishers.

End of Turn 9



Turn 10. The Persians win the initiative. The Persian general charges the skirmishers. They flee behind the hoplite general who is a bit worse for wear at this stage. The cavalry charge takes them into contact with hoplite general. The Greeks are destroyed and are now only 1 point away from breaking themselves. The cavalry follows up and hits the rear of the Greek skirmishers who had just fled from them. The skirmishers are ridden down and the Persians snatch a (Pyrrhic) victory from the jaws of defeat.

End of Turn 10.



Hardly a glorious victory for the empire, but a very enjoyable game that took about 90 minutes to play to a finish. The Persian bowfire wittled down the Greeks, weakening them just enough to give me a chance later on. The fact that the Persian general was in the right place at the right time was an accident, not planning on my part, I only brought him right so he would have enough room to turn around to face my left. He plugged the gap that appeared in front of him and he got lucky.

We swapped sides for our second game, I took the Greeks while Ed took the Persians. The bowfire was more effective this time, helped by me rolling incredibly baddly for damage checks and my general appeared to be wearing magnetic, arrow attracting armour... . After 1 hour of play the Greeks had broken, causing minimal damage to the Persians. At least I scored some damage on the Immortals, but not much   :(

A very good pair of games with good fights, a few mistakes and plenty of laughs.

Phil