Ravings of a fan-boy

Since my introduction to these rules way back in first edition they have been my go to set of ancient rules. I think this is due in a large part to what isn’t in the rules as apposed to what is. Less is more as the saying goes. No movement pips, no conforming or lining up, no individual figure removal, no turn sequence or phases therein. Now, I’m not suggesting for one minute that any of those things are broken or wrong. In the end it all comes down to what you find enjoyable in any given set of rules

One for the price of two

In the various systems I have played over the years dishing out damage was very much a one way street. The classic six-one or quick kill would remove your opponent’s stand from play and leave your element fresh as a daisy. While this system works undeniably well it has never felt right to me. How can a unit bulldoze its way through unit after unit and not be any worse for ware afterwards? That just seems wrong to me.

Impetus combines a unit’s offensive and defensive factors into one stat (VBU). The net effect of linking these two stats is that as a unit’s health is reduced so is its ability to dish out the damage. There is a third peace to this puzzle. As saving rolls are made against a unit’s modified VBU and damage reduces your VBU. The more beaten up a unit becomes the easier it will be to beat up.

Have At You

With that in mind let’s take a quick look at combat. If you want to damage someone in this game you will only ever need to roll double fives or a six. You could be shooting with slings, longbows, crossbows or stabbing with swords and pikes, in the end double fives or a six is always what is required. It is the size of the dice pool that will affect your chances of success. The harder it is to damage something the less dice you will get to attempt it. At first glance this may just look like another way of skinning the same cat, but it goes a little deeper than that. Your combat dice pool is linked to your VBU, which in turn is linked to your health. The more beaten up a unit is the less combat dice it gets. The less likely it is to score hits.

Disorder

This is a biggie as it ties into many other aspects of this system. Whenever a unit takes damage either in close or range combat it must take a cohesion test. Regardless of whether this test is passed or not the unit will become disordered. A unit can also become disordered after failing a discipline test. The net result of disorder is a negative modifier to a unit’s VBU. Which of course will affect your ability to both deal and deflect damage. Unfortunately the bad news doesn’t stop there, disorder limits the movement options of a unit and fragments unit groups. If while disordered you are forced to take a cohesion test (pass or fail) your unit will suffer a permanent loss to its VBU.

Movement

Movement is simple and there is no conforming on contact. No magical sliding or turning units to face their attackers. You hit where you hit and there you stay until you die or run away. There is group movement and I quite like the multiple movement rules as well. This lets you move units more than once per turn. After every extra move you must make a discipline check. Units that fail this test will find themselves disordered and their movement ends for the turn. Pass and you are free to move again if desired, but be warned the discipline tests get progressively harder to pass the more times a unit moves. Also the test is made after you have moved so you won’t know if you have failed and are disordered until it is too late.

Turn sequence

The last point of difference I’d like to touch on is the turn sequence or lack there of. This is not an IGUG system nor does it have any phases within a turn like moving, shooting or melee. In Impetus commands are activated one at a time. This is done by both players picking the command they wish to activate and then competing for the initiative. Once each unit (in turn) within an activated command has performed all of its possible actions the players repeat the process. This makes for very dynamic gaming as the initiative can swap between players several times in a single turn.

About the book

When I first started playing Impetus there was a free down loadable introduction version of the rules (Basic Impetus). The army list for BI were also down loadable, while Lorenzo had produced five supplement army list books for the full rules. This has since changed with the release of the second edition. Basic Impetus is still available, but it has now blossomed into a full book containing both the rules and 340+ army lists. The second edition of full Impetus contains a reworked version of the original rules system which still works with the current army list supplement books. My understanding is that Lorenzo was currently revamping the old army list books the first of which is due out in 2020.

Right about now the fan-boy in me wants to point out a couple of things about the second edition rules that appeal to my sensibilities. Namely, the index and clarity of rule writing. So far there has been very few in-game issues I haven’t been able to clarify by rereading the appropriate section of the rules. The section index is referenced throughout the book which again I find very helpful. When for example the rules on shooting mention counter charging a paragraph reference number will appear in brackets detailing where more information on counter charging can be found “(EG Par5.7.2)”.

Lastly, it is a spiral bound book. I can’t express how good this is for a rule book killer like myself. This book has weathered my harsh treatment much better than any other in my collection.  All rule books should be made this way, it is so handy.

Is there anything I don’t like?

Yes, I’d have to say I’m not overly fond of the tactical cards in the appendix. They are not bad, in fact it is a handy way to square off the last of your points. I’m just not a card playing guy, never have been. The good thing here is choosing not to use them has no detrimental effects on the game at all.

I hope this article has given you a little food for thought. If I’ve sparked your interest try checking out Ross figurepaintingukco’s Basic impetus AAR video’s on you tube.