Army Lists

Hi all.

The two groups I game with have adopted Impetus as their default ancient/medieval rules and thoroughly enjoy playing it.

However, the issue of the army lists has risen up a few times over that period. You know the score with wargamers - never happy with anyone's army lists!

With over two centuries of wargaming experience, the players in my groups would like to create their own lists but need help doing so.

Are there any guidelines available to help us create our own army lists?

Thanks.

If you download Basic Impetus Fantasticus, you will find point values for the different troop types and abilities. Just skip the fantasy ones and you should have a solid base for your own lists.
You might also want to discuss your lists in the armies and lists forum - such discussions are usually interesting and provide usefull information for all.

Thanks for the info.

well, this would be a way to go, but from my experience this is the road to hell  
I mean, you can follow the point system, but there are some other criteria to use and they come only by taking existing lists as a model (for example on VDs, or on upgrades). Not to talk that lists should follow some historical basis and balance is hardly achieved by the player that want to use the list (it is like lawyers to make the laws). Also some criticism about balance often comes from unexperienced players that can distort lists just beacuse they don't know how to correctly use them ("hey, better to have some CL with VBU=6 as they are too poor")

So just be aware 

You have to be careful with army lists. I tend to just produce 'Historical' ones, so that if you stick to the list, the armies you produce will have some historical precedent.

BUT I don't play competitively and don't perhaps play as many games as some do. So when I do an army list it helps if someone goes through it and tries to produce the tournament tiger army which I might have inadvertently left in there

So if you're doing army lists, be careful out there    

Jim

As I said, we have a lot of experience with wargaming, and between us we have collected a good amount of reference material to help us i our task.

We are aware of the pitfalls that can happen when creating army lists, but we are mindful enough to avoid these as much as possible - no VBU=6 CL!

We aren't competition-orientated, we just love to put our figures on the table and do battle.

Over the coming months, I'll post what we've come up with and see what others say - all comments are welcome.

If you're just doing 'friendly' games then I'd go for it, produce lists and post them here for discussion. That way it benefits everybody and we might get a few more beta lists out of it  

Before there was EI1 or the beta lists we did some experimenting with our own lists (using WRG list primarily and few other sets to assist us.) Frankly I am relieved not to have to produce my own lists. For one, I don't trust my objectivity. For another, I've come to realize that I'm not smarter or more knowledgable than the rules writer. Any list is always one person's interpretation of how an army fought. It's more fun for me to try and make the lists work to their full advantage than to design my own.

Making your own armies is fun. Use the lists for the basics and the points guidance too. But I've found it very useful to ask on the forum for comments and advice. I have made up armies for King Herod the Great and Cleopatra and found the comments very useful and helpful. There's a lot of knowledge out there and you may as well take advantage of it. Also if the list has been subjected to public scrutiny your opponent is more likely to accept it as reasonable.

Astronomican wrote:Hi all.

The two groups I game with have adopted Impetus as their default ancient/medieval rules and thoroughly enjoy playing it.

However, the issue of the army lists has risen up a few times over that period. You know the score with wargamers - never happy with anyone's army lists!

With over two centuries of wargaming experience, the players in my groups would like to create their own lists but need help doing so.

Are there any guidelines available to help us create our own army lists?

Thanks.

Hi I do not know if this will be of use but I have generated an Excel spreadsheet that calculates points values.

It should be accessible at the following link


https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=860014D266585431!1632


I am sure that there still some omissions and errors so if you find any please let me know.

I have made a couple of fiddles to some of the factors to get the correct result without making a special case. For example the artillery weapon factors are lower so that the total is correct.

While checking the calculations I have found that for camel the calculation is correct for the Pharaoh wars lists but on the Parthian list I am 1 out.

Also I only have one scythed chariot set of stats to base this troop type on, and have added a -4 fiddle factor to get the right answer.

For those wishing to extend the calculations to the realms of fantasy, the tables of data are shown on page 2, but you will need extra columns for the magic.



Regards

Tony

For me Gaius has hit the nail on the head pretty much. I'm also way too lazy    …army lists are worth every cent   

It's always good to hear the opinion of experienced players though so like the others have said it would be great to see them posted in here.

army lists are essential .There are way too many crooks and lopsided personalties  out there playing who wish to win by any dodgy means.

They certainly make life a bit easier.

And are definitely essential in tournaments.