Byzantine Army of Jack -- The Formed Infantry

Jack brought his Byzantines over on Mothers Day.  We'd hoped to have a game that afternoon, but the rest of the guys were occupied with more important matters.  So Jack and I spread the army out, shared conversation, and took pictures of the arrayed forces.

The army is all painted and glued to the bases, but much is still not flocked.  However, the formed infantry was complete, and so will be the feature of this photo study.  First we'll focus on the command stands Jack has completed, the emperor and a general.

Emperor Constantine Diogenes and infantry line

George Maniakes - Strategos attacking a Syrian horseman in the foreground, while Harald Hardrada and his Varagians await the enemy

The two general stands can be combined as one piece, seen here in front of two Skoutato units

My previous blog post, Byzantine Dioramas by Jack Ladd, features more shots of the George Maniakes base.

The main line infantry of the Byzantines were the Skoutatoi, close order heavy foot (FP in Impetus) armed with long spear, and backed up by a stand of supporting archers.  These are a deep unit in Impetus for the Nikephorian and Konstantinian armies, or are separate units in in Comnenan armies.

The standards are both Little Big Man Design banners and art-work Jack found on the internet or in other places.  The LBMS pieces are the more vibrantly colored ones, but I think the combination of sources works well.  This is a well arrayed army.

The Varangians are the other component of the formed infantry.  These are mercenaries from northern Europe and Russian -- originally they were primarily Swedes and Russ, although many other adventurers joined their ranks.  After the Norman conquest of England many huscarls joined the Varangian ranks.

Harald Hardrada's unit

Gunnar's unit, with a murder of crows!

The cavalry and light infantry will be featured in a future post.

Jack's work is very nice -- FYI he does do commission work.

TTFA

Byzantine Dioramas by Jack Ladd

One of my favorite aspects of Impetus is the creativity you can show on the bases. My friend Jack Ladd is a great modeller, and is always thinking about how he can use figures he finds out and about in the army he is currently modelling.  Another example of Jack's creative use of figures and materials can be seen in the Irish diorama featured in one of my earlier blog posts - "Who will you send against me now!"

Jack's Byzantine army has a hard contingent of Varagians.  One day Jack saw a group of crows for sale as part of a fantasy line at the Source, a local game store in Roseville, Minnesota.  He thought he could incorporate it in his Byzantine Varaginians --  here is the result.

ODIN!!!!!

I regret I didn't get shots from more angles.  There is a decayed body beneath the flight of crows, the varagians next to the crows are looking at them, and the officer is facing them, and appealing to the god Odin.

Another diorama Jack made as part of the army is of the leader, George Maniakes - Strategos.  George is pictured in the act of charging a Syrian foe, caught at the moment his stallion is bowling over the Syrian's mare.

This piece is outstanding.  The more you study it, the more you see.  I'm confident we'll see more of Jack's dioramas in for future armies.

The Sassanid Army of Jim - Brief Teaser

Jim S. brought his Sassinids over in April, and played a 500 point Impetus game against my Fatimid's.  I took pictures of the game -- I don't enjoy writing AARs (I was there, after all), but I want to introduce Jim's Sassanids. We are playing a big group game this Sunday, May 20, pitting Jim's Sassinids against Jack's Byzantines.  That will be spetacular game, and I really look forward to it!

So here we go on the Sassinid teaser:

Heavy Cavalry Pushtigbhan

First are the Pushtigbhan, cataphracts that form the fist of the army.  Jim's are very well painted, and some future close-ups will show just how painted they are.

Next up are the Savaran.  These are medium cavalry in Impetus, and quite good horse archers.  They can soften an opponent up with missile fire, potentially evade when charged, and then charge home when the enemy is ready to break.

Shapur I leads these lads

Last, but certainly not least, are the elephants.  These are hazardous to enemy cavalry, but vulnerable to missile fire.  The elephants are accompanied by a skirmisher screen of slingers to help protect them from opposing missile fire.

The elephant's come on -- they are already effected by missile fire.  When they fail a cohesion test caused by missile fire, they must retire.

I trust that I will have the opportunity to take more pictures of Jim's Sassanids, and I will gladly share them.  That's all for now!

Little Wars, April 27 - 29

Little Wars is coming up quick, and for me, Impetus is it's name!!

I'm  looking forward to running a Vikings invading Ireland scenario Friday morning.  A lot of effort went into balancing out what is a tough match-up for the Irish in a straight tournament game.  Here are some teaser shots --

Vikings move in on the Irish village

But find their flank "a hangin' in the breeze"

There will also be two other Impetus games run, each by a different group.  So three groups are running games this year.  There will be a game of Adrianople, and one set in Japan.

I'm runninng an Impetus Open Saturday night, and continuing open gaming Sunday. I reserved space for the Open Saturday evening from 6 pm until 2 am. Several friends have commented on the hours, so I want to clarify this.

These open gaming times are to encourage regional players to meet each other and have fun gaming some small games. The Saturday Open will include awards for the best painted army and the best player. These awards will be presented between 10:30 and 11. I trust a couple of games will have been played by everyone interested by then.

I reserved this time so that interested people could play until they closed the doors on 'em. There was never any intention that you had to play the entire 8 hours!! But for the die-hard enthusiasts, you can.

Gunthar, painted by Jim Smiley, St. Paul Irregulars

Victory, painted by Jack Ladd, St. Paul Irregulars

Sunday will be very relaxed -- we have space for the day and can do whatever seems appropriate for the people around.  Replay some of the earlier games, play a group game, have some learning games, or matches against other Impetus fans!  If you're curious about Impetus, you have lots of opportunities to learn more.

I'm looking forward to Little Wars, which is the regional gamers mixer.  There will be friends from all over the region there, and I'm sure that I will make new friends this year.

Impetus at Little Wars

Little Wars 2012 April 27 - 29 Pheasant Run Resort, DuPage Expo Center, St. Charles, IL.

There will be plenty of opportunities to play Impetus as Little Wars this year.  Two games on Friday -- the first features Vikings in Ireland (Fri, 9:00am-1:00pm; Event ID E111: I Just Need to get a Few Things), and the second is the battle of Adrianople (Fri, 3:00pm-6:00pm; Event ID E037: Battle of Adrianople 378 AD).  Saturday has a beautiful Samurai game (Sat, 9:00am-11:00am; Event ID E117: Road to Edo)  and an open gaming event Saturday night (Sat, 6:00pm-2:00am; Event ID E112: Impetus 300 Point Armies).  Bruce and I are planning to continue playing 300 point games on Sunday, and will add this to the events if others express interest.

These games represent the efforts of four different local groups from the Chicago area, Madison, and the Twin Cities.  So lots of opportunities to play, and to meet other regional players. This is a so-far unegualled opportunity to share Impetus with others in the midwest.

And do please give a "shout-out" if you want to continue the 300 point match games on Sunday so I know to get it scheduled.

Regards,

Brent