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"Impetus vs. Basic Impetus" Topic


Impetus

10 Posts

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Action Log

30 Dec 2016 7:10 p.m. PST
by Editor in Chief Bill

  • Changed title from "Impetus vs Basic Impetus" to "Impetus vs Basic Impetus"
  • Crossposted to Impetus board

30 Dec 2016 7:30 p.m. PST
by Editor in Chief Bill

  • Changed title from "How best to base Romans in (Basic) Impetus" to "Impetus vs. Basic Impetus"

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1815Guy09 Jul 2011 5:00 p.m. PST

Some of us down at t'club had a go at Basic Impetus the other week. Bloomin' good game it was too. A lot of subtleties came out in the play which werent immediately obvious when reading the rules before the game…. so now we are all thinking about buying the full set. Its not expensive compared to some sets recently launched, and if they play as well as Basic Impetus we will be well pleased.

But what are the key differences in full Impetus compared to Basic Impetus? Basic Impetus needs something like a "reserved movement" or "Overwatch" order available – we found that sometimes the first one to charge got a huge bonus of dice in the IGOUGO game sequence…. DOes that feature in full Impetus perchance?

Cheers,

doug612509 Jul 2011 5:23 p.m. PST

Big fan of the excellent full impetus rules, though basic i petus is still how i introuce gamers to the rules

meledward2309 Jul 2011 6:19 p.m. PST

Yes Overwatch, its called Opportunity.

Skirmishers are more skirmish.

Ranges on ranged weapons change a little.

It is a more advanced game. Really it seems to refine the interatctions of units. The core doesnt change much.

Major change in movement. It's the same, but you will see what I mean by "in basic they condesed the movement rules into 1" In full Impetus, you can move mutliple times. Basic doesnt do this if I recall, but the way it penalizes and controls movements reflects the full options.

Overall FULL is a far better game.

This is my favorite ancients.

1ngram10 Jul 2011 1:56 a.m. PST

I've played both and stuck with Basic Impetus. Its a clean elegant system. The multiple movement and Opportunity of the full set of rules put me off using them – though there is a move afoot at the Club to try them again. The failings of the Basic game can be attanded to by adding on some of the better elements of the full set of rules – skirmishers evading, countercharges for example, if you want and you can change the terrible terrain set up system for something more realistic and even the pursuit rules (which at present don't allow suppirting light horse to pursue when you've won a melee – surely in real life you would have had to work hard to stop them!)

Best of all BI is fast and subtle – what else could you wqant for an evening's wargaming?

blucher10 Jul 2011 2:59 a.m. PST

We got a small 300 point impetus game done in less than 2 hours so have a second last time.

It gives much more of a game than BI IMO.

RobH10 Jul 2011 4:41 a.m. PST

As well as the other differences already stated, the army list options differ between the 2 sets, Full Impetus having more detail and options which allow you more scope/variety in what you field.

As the basing is the same there is no reason you cannot play both depending on the time you have or detail you want.

I think Impetus is the best thing to happen in Anc/Med/Ren gaming for years. It really is a marvelous system and the level of support is first rate. Besides which it is also the best set of Fantasy Wargame rules for large battles.

meledward2310 Jul 2011 9:32 a.m. PST

I am with 1ngram in some respects. I do appreciate BI, and personally would like a mix between the two.

Full I, is "more game" than I enjoy in a casual setting. BI leaves a few points out.


Still my favorite set, and I would get at least one copy of the Full rules to see what they hold in store. A hybrid may work best for you. It probably would for me, but my opponents are stuck on is it in the rules syndrom and could never agree to a mutation.

(Leftee)10 Jul 2011 10:10 p.m. PST

Can't see any problem switching between the two. Though a 300 point army in Impetus is about the same as a Basic Impetus army. The game takes a little longer to do in regular Impetus. So, if you want to add a little more flavor to your armies over time and try some of the different morale, command and control and opportunity stuff Impetus transitions you smoothly into that. If you prefer the DBA aspect of collecting a bunch of different armies and a quick game, Basic is a good way to go. I don't find the added complexity at all taxing.

meledward2311 Jul 2011 5:04 a.m. PST

Taxing, no. I do find it prolongs the game. It also reduces the jawboning that can take place as I think it makes the game less IGOUGO and more Igo,UGO,Ireact, etc. Nothing wrong with it, very nice. I personally love the game, but have progressed towards a more WMA BP/HC simplicity mentality. With kids, I face my challenges every day in not killing them.

Switching between the two, I could see a shade of trouble, in that ranges are different as well as a fair number of rules. Call me dense, but I would get confused.

The other nice thing about it is Imp is 4xDBA, but 2x base size. So you can play DBA using it on a 4x4 surface. Careful, DBA is more base size sensitive (skirmishers in particular, they don't 4xDBA base size). Nothing you cant solve though.

I have less of a problem switching rulesets than I do nuances within rulesets.

CptKremmen14 Jul 2011 5:23 a.m. PST

Full Impetus is a great game, highly recommended.

As Impetus and Basic Impetus use the same units, very similar army lists etc would be easy to swap between the two

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