BASIC IMPETUS Part 1: Introduction

 Impetus is a set of wargame rules for fighting tabletop battles from 3000BC to 1500AD (and beyond). They were developed and are available for purchase from the Italian publishers www.dadipiombo.com

As they were written in Italian, and translated to English afterwards, some of the unit acronyms take a little getting used to, and some of the wording within the rules are ‘odd’, but on the whole, they are easy to understand and follow – especially for those used to rules such as the DBx family.

There are two versions of the core rules; Basic and ‘full’. They both use the same troop types/basing system, battlefield terrain, etc., but the fuller version has many extra bits tagged on. The Basic rules run to around 15 pages, whereas the full version runs to around 55. You get a trimmed down version of the hundreds of army lists with the basic set, but have to purchase additional PDFs for the main set (5 in all covering various periods/wars).

In the Basic game, an army can comprise from 7 to 13 units.

1. Troop Classification.

CP: Heavy Cavalry. Come in two grades; CP1 (the really heavy stuff) and CP2 (the standard heavy cavalry). “C” stands for Cavalry, and I think “P” stands for Premier.

CM: Medium Cavalry. Melee and missile options (mostly melee).

CL: Light Cavalry. Melee and missile options (mostly missile).

FP: Heavy Foot. No extra distinction between these, other than weapons used (shown in the army lists).

T: Missile Troops who use concentrated firepower. I can’t decipher what “T” stands for, so I imagine it as the image of a crossbow.

FL: Light Foot. Includes auxilia, warbands, etc., with or without missile weapons.

S: Skirmishers. Armed with bows, javelins, or slings.

CGP: Heavy Chariots. No idea what the “G” stands for.

CGL: Light Chariots.

CF: Scythed Chariots. “F” stands for Falce (scythe).

W: Wagonberg war-wagons.

EL: Elephants.

ART: Artillery. Come in three grades A, B, and C.

Camel-mounted troops are identified in the army lists and have some special rules (as de Wagonbergs and Elephants.

The army lists also show which units can have an integral General (they have an asterisk beside them).

2. Unit Statistics.

VBU: Base Unit Value. Indicates number of dice rolled to shoot and melee. It will reduce as the unit takes damage. When it reaches zero, the unit routs, and removed from play.

I: The Impetus value added to the VBU under certain conditions in melee.

VD: Demoralisation Value. When the unit is destroyed, this number is deducted from the army demoralisation value (sum of all unit VDs). When the army losses exceed half total army VD, the army routs and the game is over.

3. Unit Status.

Units can be FRESH (taken no loss to VBU) or WORN (taken at least one loss to VBU).

They can also be DISORDERED which occurs under some (quite a few actually) conditions. This affects their ability to do things, like fight and make special moves for example.

You can Rally off Disorder, but losses to VBU are never recovered.

4. Groups and Large Units.

Units can move as a group for one activation order, but are cumbersome.

Some units can pair-up and act as a single unit. They gain benefits. Use the front unit for rolls (except shooting if rear units is T), and losses come off the lead unit first. They gain a rank bonus in melee.

5. Commanders.

A General must be included in one Unit. They add a bonus for Cohesion tests and is lost if unit routs.

The next post will be about the terrain and battlefield set-up.