A step back (in time): Medieval Basic Impetus 2.0 in 15 mm

 We're Back to the Middle Ages (in 15mm)!

After a long period dedicated to the chaos of the battlefields of the Thirty Years' War and 28mm scale, we marched our miniatures back to the medieval battlefield—this time, in 15mm.

In our latest session, we dusted off Basic Impetus 2.0: Luca’s Aretine Communals faced off against a Catalan-Aragonese host. The latter was assembled by combining my own army with some timely reinforcements from Giacomo’s ongoing Scaligeri's project.

We’ll admit it up front—some of the bases weren’t fully finished (mea culpa!), but the game spirit was very much alive.

Without diving into too many gameplay details, we found Basic Impetus 2.0 easy to pick back up after the break. In just a few hours, we were deep into a balanced and exciting battle that delivered a clear—but far from predictable—result. The Aretines ultimately had to retreat after suffering heavy losses, their fate sealed by a decisive Almughavar charge that shattered the mercenary heavy cavalry.

And now? Well, the fever has spread. Everyone at the club is already scouring 15mm manufacturer catalogues, dreaming up ways to finish off their current armies... or field entirely new ones.

More to come soon—stay tuned!

The Catalan Feudal Cavalry

Spanish Jinetes vs Mounted Crossbowmen

Mercenary Heavy Cavalry fighting for the Aretine

The clash of the infantries in the centre

The Company of Death

Military history is full of examples of men swearing to die rather than retreat. A remarkable example in the Classic Grece is the Spartan motto "either with shield or on the shield (you will return)" (greek: E tàn e epì tas), which was spoken by mothers and wifes to their men leaving for war. 

This tradition survived well into medieval times, these groups of knights taking oaths before battle often adopted dreadful names as Company of Death or Knights of Death. In the battle of Legnano (1176 AD) between the imperial army of Frederick Barbarossa and the troops of the Lombard League, a group of Italian knights named themself Company of Death and swore to defend with their lives the symbol of the Lombard League, the Carroccio.

Here I present some figures from a later example, taken from the Battle of Gagliana (1300 AD), fought during the Sicilian Vespers war between the Sicilian army and the Angevin French. A group of French knights formed a Company of Death to avenge their relatives killed at the battle of Falconara the previous year. I hope you will read the complete story, along with a scenario for Lion Rampant in a future issue of Wargame Soldiers and Strategy.

I painted some dismounted French knights for their last stand against the Sicilian army. All figures are from Fireforge Games (the standing figures) and Crusader Miniatures (the two wounded ones). I had a lot of fun painting the flag bearer of the Company of Death. The motto is in Latin "Or die or win" (latin: Aut  Vincere aut Morere") and it is taken from Francesco Petrarca's seventh book of Africa (written between 1339 and 1343 AD).

the first casualty

the painting steps for the flag

flagbearer and captain of the Company of Death

the final group of knights

Hanseatic Cog (Umbum - Clever Peper Ltd)

Here I present a short review of  cardboard Hanseatic Cog from Umbum - Clever Peper.

The finished ship

During lockdown I ordered some Cardboard scenic from the Russian firm Umbum. The range, including many medieval building, the Cog, a Greek Bireme and an Arabian Dhow and many many other things in different scales was designed by Clever Peper Ltd and is available both from the Russian  and the German online shop. Their products are also available through retailers (Amazon and others). I ordered straight from the Russian shop, since I made a massive order and price was very competitive, even with shipping and import taxes added. I thank Eugene for availability and kindness in answering my questions and helping me following my order across half Europe. Their products are designed at approximately scale 1/65 - 1/70 as toys, but RPGgamers started using them as scenics. They also include their miniatures about 28-30 mm in height.

The front of the Box

The rear of the box

The Hanseatic Cog box contains four sprues with numbered pieces, a booklet of instructions, a short rope used for rigging the sails and ...a toothpick! (seems silly, but really useful to remove small cardboard pieces). The set is meant to be assembled without knife/scissors and glue.

Content

The toothpick!

Content/2

A detail of the booklet

The kit took about three and half hours to completion and the only real issue was making the knots right and able to be moved to put into tension the sail. The instruction of real sailors' knots help immersing in the nautical atmosphere. After building it, the kit is ready to be placed on the tabletop. It is about 29 cm long, 8 cm width, 3 cm height of the bulwark, 21 cm for the mast.

Working...in the Arsenale

Here with both my Catalan crew (Admiral Roger Lauria) and Umbum cardboard miniature.

Aggressive Marine ready to assail enemy ships!

In conclusion: the kit is reasonable priced (500 rubles from Russia), and makes surely a nice piece of terrain in any sea city scenario. Maybe it could be also a gaming piece on his own (more to follow).

Admiral Lauria, almughavar and crossbowmen

Catalan-Aragonese ready to become the main Power in 13th century Mediterranean!