Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Pikes, Muskets and Flouncy Shirts => Topic started by: Leman on May 24, 2019, 04:23:38 PM
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Many Moons ago I started an Italian Wars project for Impetus when it was first published. I had many good games, but only ever completed a Venetian Army. My opponents could field French and HRE armies, but only by combining DBR bases. After a few years I moved on to other periods and rule systems as Impetus added more and more amendments.
At the end of last year I discovered Alternative Armies’ Furioso rules and supplement for the Italian Wars. These rules do not take themselves too seriously as they include all sorts of period surprises like Papal blessings, disgruntled and unco-0perative Swiss, Mercenaries deciding to do their own thing, not to mention the option of including some of Leonardo’s more imaginative inventions.
This reawakened my interest in the period, as it was the unpredictability of the troops and the move from medieval to modern warfare that had first intrigued me. However there was one important problem to be tackled first. Furioso has been designed to be played using DBR style bases, but my only complete army was based up for Impetus (i.e. one Impetus base = 4 DBR bases). Counting an Impetus base as four was going to be a bit of a nuisance, but counting it as two would not, after all, it is base frontage which is important. Furthermore the frontage of some of the Furioso units is bigger than Impetus units. The simplest way to deal with this was to create some Impetus half bases. So, I will be adding two half bases of gendarmes to an Impetus base to create a Furioso four base frontage, one base to light cavalry to make a three base unit, etc.
Three base mounted arquebusiers
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60948550_142476993578236_8545890514128338944_n.jpg?_nc_cat=106&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=e84fcebfd22b37591da251682b66bc2c&oe=5D9AABEF)
Eight base Romandiole pike block - three Impetus bases with two half bases making the fourth rank.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61009526_142075890285013_3309254666432282624_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=b05585565283e952542ac969cdcfc333&oe=5D6993AF)
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Cool project. I have 18mm Great Italian wars figs - French v.s. Hapsburgs with various Italians on both sides. I did try out Furiouso and while I really liked some of the concepts, my buddy and I found the rules are too slow. I was looking for something to finish in a four hour period at least for convention play so I went back to Pike and Shotte. Heavily modified at that.
Looking forward to following your project though with interest. It is a great period.
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I would like to play it as a solo campaign, which is covered in the rules. I can set up a table at home and leave it there as long as I like. this is a really personal project rather than something for the club, so time is not an issue for me.
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I started this project with a camp as I know that once you start army building things like camps become an afterthought:
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/53877542_118471245978811_836209959069810688_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=21f8df6cf2842b1da750effc9f63f3cf&oe=5D9F5AE2)
tent by Magister Militum, landsknecht guard by Museum Miniatures, drunken landsknechts by Jacobite, everything else by Ancient and Modern (Donnington}. The dismounting knight was modified with a bit of green stuff to give him a skirted tunic more in keeping with the early 1500s.
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Lovely looking project. Good to see you being able to use some previously painted miniatures with not too much effort.
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One of the results of this project is the opportunity to revive some now defunct Peter Pig figures that I have had since Impetus first appeared, but never got round to painting. I discovered in my lead pile six of these guns and crews so started to paint them up. As they were fresh I put them on the 40mm frontage bases. If I want to use them for Basic Impetus 2 I can simply put two bases together:
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/54358737_118471152645487_3246857484635209728_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=cf21555200c3c3bf020ed78ce8b24cbd&oe=5D560D12)
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Nice work. Good to see you are able to use most of your existing figures (and basing) with some new additions
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Thanks; a bit more old and new here. A commander for Milan from one of the command packs bought from Gladiator Games many moons ago, and a second camp featuring a new tent from Donnington but a mix of older figures taken from an original camp scene I did about 15 years ago, including the old Peter Pig renaissance baggage wagon, again no longer available:
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/59909851_137594397399829_1475866662598082560_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=dfb66571d8957339e5a293ff450ca271&oe=5D957356)
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/59731721_137620604063875_2724593876667990016_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=a091313f42cf41062d04cced17908b68&oe=5D53E147)
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/58380540_133548607804408_6989065526181888000_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=26aa92dac7346a380c3e0146f49e7e60&oe=5D672A53)
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/58708005_133757961116806_4565483740964323328_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=f887051434197405d075d9a15b0f8c38&oe=5D5E5FF8)
My painting technique has been inspired by Javier Gomez from Spain, in his book Painting Wargaming Figures, and from the website of Fat Wally in the UK.
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Papal blessings, disgruntled and unco-0perative Swiss
well, Papal blessing were a feature of the period (as excommunications...) and the Swiss cause their own share of problems (an example, the French defeat at Bicocca was cause in large part by Swiss 'quirks' ). So they look quite spot on, more than the usual blanket rules we tend to use for medieval and renaissance warfare.
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:) Quite so; this was very much the appeal for me.
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Fat Wally suggests that it is an idea to produce some command stands before launching into units, so here’s some I prepared earlier. First up a couple of French monarchs:
Charles VIII
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61114532_143029153523020_2818964744931639296_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=016d85cf8d5a7efb9b61c5c6a722b601&oe=5D64899C)
Charles VIII unhorsed
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60698929_143029566856312_2066180969353707520_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=d2cdfb67a6b8b56b9ea5305e5e68a1e0&oe=5D5CFB24)
Louis XII
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61247973_143029866856282_22515700329349120_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=00eb91c5a57f039fd2ba7cff53c4ae3a&oe=5D927944)
The Swiss
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61018053_143030143522921_6273217520161783808_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=28a801276d9781a960095e2cda2e5286&oe=5D5EA931)
Colonna discussing war machines with Leonardo
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/60984364_143031233522812_7273550063786262528_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=a5ac299e13adaa8a83d310599fba84e8&oe=5D93426C)
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Very cool to see, thanks for sharing. I'm looking at some 15mm IW gaming at a smaller game scale, using the Lords and Servants rules, with the revived Venexia figures from Lancashire, supplemented with Mirliton.
Chris
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Excellent stuff!!! ;)
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Hi Chris, I have bought in some extra Venexia from Lancashire Games to add to those I’ve had for some time and to boost the Impetus units I originally did for my Venetian army. I am just about to base up the old Rank and File gendarmes for Milan. Back in the previous century I bought an army pack at a show. There were only four lighter cavalry in the pack, so I have added them to the gendarmes to act as outriders. I have given four of the gendarmes skirts from green stuff just so they look a little more early C16th.
Archiduque - many thanks for the positive comments.
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Beautiful command bases! I am sure your rank and file troops will be happy to follow them to glory :D
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A few more bits and pieces featuring some old and some new pieces to enable Impetus based figure to be used with Furioso.
Two more condottiere from my original project. I shall leave these as they are rather than rebase.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61619326_144234986735770_5236262709527314432_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=adc3c2e104fb10a00b555c47e6d557ef&oe=5D8D715B)
A universal Italian skirmish unit by painting up two additional QRF figures for a half base, making a Furioso three base unit.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61862199_144234196735849_1883829482737893376_n.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=46b585870c3268dd7f2551972701169b&oe=5D96A7E9)
A Venetian skirmish unit.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61199973_144233233402612_8028308330319446016_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=819a2f62203a40c219f190f95b907f4f&oe=5D9B35AB)
Two skirmish screen bases for the Romandiole pike. Furioso allows a pike unit to have a skirmish screen base for every complete four bases in the pike unit. The Romandiole have eight bases.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61312719_144235006735768_2768352970574659584_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=f8222f7812219351dd4e956008046e1a&oe=5D554679)
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These look good.
I was wanting to give Furiso a whirl, but having recently rebased huge amounts of figures on to 40x40mm squares, which would give 2 Furiso bases, but deep rather than wide like yours, I was a bit short of skirmishes. But seeing how few figures are needed for skirmishers, I should be able to get some 40x20mm bases done.
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These bases are in fact 40x30. When I first did Impetus back in 2008, the base size for 15mm skirmishers was given as 80x20 or 30. I opted for the deeper base having suffered from narrow bases too easily flipping over in a game. Consequently the half Impetus base, representing one Furioso base, can seem a little deep but the depth keeps it steady and allows for more diorama effects, which i really like in my games (although I appreciate it is not to everyone’s taste).
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Leman,
Very nice
I love the Imputus basing scheme and have used it for my recent ancient projects and and am rebasing old project, including Great Italian Wars. The size of the bases and the figure numbers used make it really appealing
Keep up the good work
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The basing is nearly dry on my first new unit of gendarmes - Milanese lanze spetzate - from Rank and File figures long gathering dust. However not wanting to waste time I had available I knocked up some test markers for Furioso, borrowing an idea from the ACW rules, Altar of Freedom (pretty sure Greg won’t mind). The front figures are infantry and cavalry casualty markers. Sometimes markers can get lost on a crowded battlefield, so I have given them a border of red. The two at the rear are cavalry disorder markers, bordered yellow. I wanted the markers to be simple but effective, so for those I was able to rebase I used rounded corner bases and a simple yellow green painted base with the border. The three mounted bases were too nice to start prising the figures off for rebasing, so I simply painted the borders over the previous texture.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61409166_144801190012483_1580901878823124992_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=fbf86abac2dbea6e46b8d7dd6ea118d7&oe=5D964173)
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Finally completed my first unit of Milanese cavalry. These are Rank and File figures that I have had unpainted for about 15 years. The army pack contained 12 knights and four lighter cavalry figures. I decided to use the light cavalry as outriders for the knights so that it gave me 16 figures for the four base Furioso unit (and two Basic Impetus units).
I used some superb flags from Petes Flags on Ebay (search using petesflags). These are typical condottiero flags, this one being Condottiere 10. I also put a couple of Peter Pig Wars of the Roses casualties on a couple of the bases to represent ridden down enemy pikemen.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61436559_144827816676487_3930527784652242944_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=c20b78aafbedd09407f4a54f71ee9a0f&oe=5D9C1E16)
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/61686590_144828300009772_1792306633058025472_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=790531c08b770c6253e6bf7711ab9c9c&oe=5D9AAAA8)
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Nice one. As a gamer who prefers knights over pike, I support your choice in basing.
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Indeed - I went for a red and white theme as these chaps will be coming up against Venice’s Romagnol mercenaries. I have also decided to enhance the base with a couple of dropped pike, so still not quite finished.
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A second unit of Milanese heavy cavalry/gendarmes. The original centre base features and eclectic mix of Minifigs, Essex, Mirliton and Foundry figures. The two supplementary bases are Minifigs from the lead mountain again.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/64375367_149290442896891_1054231892108247040_n.jpg?_nc_cat=109&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=86b6e0c4633620ae6b79321a2b44b306&oe=5D795899)
The two Foundry 15mm figures are in this close up picture. The one with the blue painted helmet and the one with the tall red plume. This was a short-lived 15mm range sculpted by the Perrys. They appeared in the late 80s IIRC but along with other 15mm Foundry ranges were withdrawn after a couple of years. The figures were exceptionally good and their withdrawal was a pity.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/64279911_149290646230204_5741984323968434176_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=d023e8cdb0978bfd12b12d51d0c0e91f&oe=5D860FE5)
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I have now expanded the first of my mounted Impetus Venetian units for Furioso. The original was all Venexia apart from the standard bearer who is a Mirliton figure. The two expanded wings are a mix of Mirliton and Essex.
(https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/65690580_152294162596519_4704706308455006208_n.jpg?_nc_cat=107&_nc_oc=AQnhkr7cuc379a0u3I5i1YyWfCfjlFo3F76brQUyEtHFf1l26lIYQnzLMuUvy46N6Jm-iBTL1rDFHa-iTB9g4vLF&_nc_ht=scontent-lht6-1.xx&oh=1a00ccd2aed919aec5011596dc288685&oe=5DBAC083)
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I’m going to take a short break from painting IW figures, whilst concentrating on an expansion to my 10mm SYW armies, in order to provide some club members with a Maurice experience. I’ll be back here when I have played the trial Furioso game, but until then will be over in the big battalions.
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I just caught up now with this thread. You have done a great job here, congrats!
I'm a fan of SYW, I'm sure your expansions will be very interesting!
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First up will be the Prussian 5th Hussars, followed by another unit of Prussian cuirassiers, a unit of Prussian infantry then some more Prussian artillery and cavalry - all based up for use with either Maurice of HOW.
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See you then again, either at the Big Battalions section, or at HoW forum! Cheers!