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.

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.

Konstantian or Nikephrian? Ladd's lads . .

Jack Ladd is another St. Paul Irregulars (SPI) member working on 28mm Impetus armies.  Jack is building a Byzantine army from Volume 15 army lists found in Impetus Supplement 2.  I believe it will be able to be either Nikephorian or Konstantinian.  The majority of the army are Crusader figures.  Jack has some of his army painted and on bases, but without the basework.  Jack's shared his WIP before a game -- so, here's some more visual stimulation!

First up are the Varangians.  The shields and banners are primarily provided by Little Big Man, but I believe the Madonna and Child is a postage stamp.  (Jack never forgets his projects!)

Jack also had his horse archers along, and several stands of Thematic cavalry units.  I really like the portrayed movement of the light horse.  The Thematic cavalry are depicted with four figures a base.  i believe the Thematic (higher quality standing cavalry) will be five figures a base, and the Kataphractoi will be six.

Light cavalry archers, front and back views

Thematic cavalry

Jack also brought some personality figures he plans to use as game markers.  These include the Gripping Beast Harald Hardrada figure.  Harald's the guy who absolutely towers over the rest!

The tiny guy with the axe resting on the ground is a Crusader figure, which is a big 28.  The others are Gripping Beasts, so these beasties are really large personality figures.  For Harald, that's totally appropriate.

We'll leave Jack's Byzzies in Progress with a final view of the Varangians in a nice setting . . .

_______________________________________

For the past several weeks I've been working on my 2012 LIttle Wars game, the Vikings in Ireland.  I am working out the forces, terrain, and objectives.  Some obstacles have been encountered, but shall be overcome!  More on this task will follow in the days ahead.

TAFN

Who will you send against me now? -- Irish dark age camp

I have all next week off!  My intention is to finish painting the Irish portion of my Irish Impetus dark age army, and get it based up.  I shall certainly make good progress on that.

I wanted to share a camp diorama my good friend Jack Ladd did for me back in July.  Jack and I were going over figures I had in my basement, and Jack developed an idea he insisted he run with.  The basis of the setting is a fine bear by Trent Miniatures, a hero from the Crusader Irish line, and a handler, archer, and standard bearer by Gripping Beast.

Views of the front and side show the Irish/Viking area above, and show the Irish view of the hero and "tamed" bear.

The suprise Jack envisioned and created is the enemy archer.

I hope you enjoy.  I will share pictures of how I intend to organize my army soon.