Impetus - Germans vs Italians, The End

Part 3, The End
Turn 10 - On the Italian right, a timely charge by arriving knights from the last command succeed in routing German knights while the remainder of the command hurries to deploy.

Turn 10 - Italians charging up the hill

In the center, both sides have taken a beating, and the long-engaged German sergeants and Italian light cavalry are rolling one die apiece to try to break the stalemate (to no avail). On the Italian left, two units of heavy cavalry charge up the hill into the German infantry, but both become bogged down in ongoing melees. More and more German foot troops deploy and move up the hill.

Turn 10 - End of turn

Turn 11 - On the Italian right, knights engage each other in a swirling melee while the last of the German knights hurry to support them. The Germans have now been split so that all of their remaining infantry are clustered around the hill near town, and their cavalry is all gathered in the plain below.

Turn 11 - Italian knights bogged down on the hill

In the center, the German sergeants finally rout the valiant light cavalry, but are now by themselves in that part of the battlefield, surrounded on three sides by enemy and hanging on by a thread. There aren't many Germans left on the plain.

Turn 11 - Germans faltering in the center

On the hill, the Italian cavalry launches repeated charges at the German crossbows and infantry, and makes little headway. The impetuous Italian cavalry has outpaced their infantry supports, and are taking some losses in the attempt to drive the German foot off the hill.

Turn 12 - On the Italian right, the German horse pulls back, forming some semblance of a line. In the center, the German sergeants rout from the combined shooting of two Italian bow units.

Turn 12 - End of turn

On the hill, the Italian cavalry destroy a crossbow unit on the crest, but take losses in the process, and both units move to the rear to regroup. German infantry forms a solid line on the hill as the Italians recoil.

Turn 13 (The End) - No units are engaged in the turn, and both sides take the opportunity to reform their lines.

Turn 13 - The End

Wrap up - At the end of turn 13, it was apparent that the battle had reached a logical end point. On the open level ground, the Germans only had three somewhat battered knight units opposing the bulk of two Italian commands. The Italians facing them had taken some losses as well, but had sufficient combined arms numbers to make a renewed attack by the Germans suicidal. At the other end of the field, the Italian knights were fairly well spent by their unsupported assaults on the hill, which was now lined with a solid wall of fresh German foot and crossbowmen. The logical conclusion is that the German cavalry would cover the withdrawal of the infantry back through the town, leaving the field to Italians. The Italians would be able to claim a decent victory, losing three of their own units while routing six German units (including all four units of the German vanguard), but with a number of battered units of their own.

Summary and Conclusions - As noted before, I like Impetus as a rule set. It is a little simplistic in places, and a little too rigid for my tastes in others, but makes for a fast playing and fun game. It gives a good feel for this period, which is something of an accomplishment in that the rules are designed to be able to play anything from ancients through the Renaissance (basically everything before true gunpowder periods).

As for this particular game, I enjoyed playing it solo, and have a good idea of how I will create a scenario somewhat similar to this for when we are able to get the guys together for a real game.

It also continues the urge to paint. I wish I had some of those 12th century infantry primed and ready...