Another Lust for Glory Playtest
/Lust for Glory is the chronological successor to For King & Parliament i.e. the same basic game structure, but covering the period from the late-17th to mid-18th centuries.
Today’s playtest would be a huge, 300-point battle between the Austrians and the Danish fought in 6mm on 10mm squares.
Before we get to the report, a brief confession. I must admit that I’ve never really got on with figures smaller than 10mm. In fact, 15mm (or perhaps Epic scale at roughly 12mm) is about as tiny as I care to go. I do, of course, recognise the many virtues of these smaller scales: the splendid god’s-eye view of the battlefield, the ability to refight vast historical encounters and so on, and all at a pleasingly modest cost.
Unfortunately, there is one insurmountable problem—I can’t actually see the blighters. At any sort of distance, unit identification becomes guesswork, my strategic acumen evaporates, and the whole affair starts to feel less like generalship and more like shuffling around a collection of indistinct Kriegsspiel blocks and hoping for the best.
This is no slight on the figures we used themselves, which were beautifully painted given their diminutive proportions. Still, they failed to stir my soul in the way larger miniatures do. I felt no emotional bond, no heroic attachment, nothing. I won’t let this stop me playing games when offered, but 15-28mm is really my thing!
Now, with that off my chest, on with the report…
Commaning the Austrians, I thought I saw an opportunity on the left flank, where I had superior numbers of cavalry that I could back up with infantry and artillery. I therefore sent my horse forward, but was somewhat dismayed when they were roundly beaten by the outnumbered Danish cavalry, who then followed up their success with their own infantry and put my whole left flank at risk!
Meanwhile, on the right of the battlefield, the reverse was occurring, as the Danes led their superior numbers of cavalry forward, supported by infantry.
Equally similar to what happened on the left flank, my horse, despite the fact they were outnumbered, pushed the Danish cavalry back, but foundered against the wall of Danish infantry that followed.
I advanced my foot to support, but had little success: the initiative was firmly with the enemy and, despite my best efforts, I was soon being pushed back.
Fierce fighting took place as both sides fed units into the melee, but it was unfortunately the Danes that prevailed again and, now under overwhelming pressure on both flanks, my troops crumbled and fled!
A defeat, but at least I know what I did wrong! Firstly, I need to support my horse more closely with infantry: combined arms is definitely the way to win. Secondly, I let me desire to keep the area in front of my guns clear so that they could shoot at the enemy interfere with my tactical thinking far too much: I should have moved infantry to the left sooner than I did and taken a turn’s worth of not firing the guns as the cost of improving my position. I shall do better next time!
The real good news, however, is that overall the game played very smoothly, with the need to look things up gradually disappearing as the morning went on. We had a couple more questions and suggestions which were sent on to Mr Miller, but it looks as if Lust! is coming along nicely, and we will hopefully see them ready for publication soon.
