AAR; Greek Hoplites (Basic Impetus 2)

This is a brief report on a couple of games with Ian’s 15mm Greek Hoplites using the new version of Basic Impetus (Dadi e Piombo, 2017). Ian has just returned to the UK following a sabbatical in Kenya. Unfortunately he contracted Malaria out there. He is now on the mend, but not yet fit enough to get about, so I visited him at home. Although we are both familiar with the standard Impetus rules, this would be the first attempt with Basic Impetus 2. I forgot my camera, so the photo simply shows my own Greek Hoplite forces.

The first game pitted me, using Athenians, against Ian’s Thracians. Surprisingly my sole cavalry unit got the jump on the Thracian cavalry, destroying both Thracian light cavalry units, before succumbing to a counter-attack by Thracian Nobles. Still, the flanking move by the mobile Thracians had been blunted. Meanwhile my hoplite line trudged across the whole width of the table to strike the Thracian peltasts. When I made contact everything seemed to go well, and both of us thought an Athenian victory was in the bag. Big mistake! The Thracian Noble cavalry finally made it back from the flank and hit my hoplites from the rear. Athenians were falling in numbers and the losses passed 50%, so a narrow Thracian win resulted. If I had Just one more turn before this disaster then I believe the Athenians would have emerged on top.

Note the Pittsburgh Steeler fan in the centre of the photo!

For the next game Sparta (me) was matched against Thessaly (Ian). I thought I had a strong position with both flanks of my hoplite line anchored on woods. I did send some hoplites on a flank move (mistake, too slow), but Ian decided to match up against my hoplites whilst moving his cavalry through the flanking woods (!). I did manage to hold up the cavalry but I must have really upset the ‘Dice Gods’ because the Spartan hoplites went down to the mixed bag of Thessalian hoplites and peltasts. I don’t think my forces could have been ‘real’ Spartans, they were just imposters!

So, two defeats but it was an enjoyable afternoon of wargaming. It is great to see Ian back and I hope these victories will help him to get better more quickly. Regarding the rules; the mechanics will be familiar to any who have used the Impetus rules family. We really like the new elements e.g. the charge/pursuit move bonus, the variable retreat move, and the reduced shooting effectiveness. All worked well. I hope these additions are included in the next version of Impetus, which I believe is due to be released at the end of the year.