FOG

[Gunner]

Has anyone thought about how to apply fog that cover large areas to the rules, i.e. The opening scene in Master and Commander?

[David Manley]

I've used a couple of methods. The first, and easiest if you don't have an umpire to help out is to replace the ships with markers, and allow one dummy marker per real ship. The identity of a marker (real or dummy) is revealed when it comes within visual range of another marker (regardless of type). The actual ship is placed on the table if it is spotted by another real ship. There are some artificialities in there and its not entirely satisfying, hence a better way to do it is to have a third party umpire tracking movement and advising the players what they can see. I've used this system for double blind games in a number of settings (our WW2 Barents Sea game being the most fun - or mind bendingly nrerve-wreacking as some players described it!)

I'm sure there are other methods and it would be great to see what other ideas people have for this.

[Volunteer]

Why not have grid sheets that combatants plot and make moves on, sort of like the old game "Battleship". When the fog lifts or the opposing ships are close enough to be seen, the player places the ship on the table corresponding to the ship's position on his grid sheet. Just a thought. This would make it a "Surprise".

[Devsdoc]

Little boxes or match boxes glued together. Each box has a number on it. to match a grid on the table. Each player puts in secretly a marker of his ship, squad or fleet in a box. moving one box at a time (Playing can go any way). give the block of boxes to your opposing play and they move too. When one player finds the opposing marker in the box, let battle start.
Grid scale is up to you. If you keep a record of movement you can set-up ships in the right direction. One of the top, bottom, sides or corners is marked for wind direction.
Hope this helps
Be safe
Rory

[7eat51]

With SoG, what would you consider to be an acceptable visual distance? One ruler? Two rulers? In Vol's setup, neighboring grids? Same grid? Rory raises an interesting question - fleets. Do you place all the ships of both sides on the table the first time any ships of the two forces become visible to each other, assuming each force is sailing in relatively close formation?

David, how long were the games in which you used fog? I like the ideas presented here; I want to assure there is sufficient time when running games at a con. I have the feeling that utilizing interesting AoS mini rules might require more time than typically allotted. If I scan swing it in the future, I would reserve two back-to-back time slots.

[David Manley]

With SoG, what would you consider to be an acceptable visual distance? One ruler? Two rulers? In Vol's setup, neighboring grids? Same grid? Rory raises an interesting question - fleets. Do you place all the ships of both sides on the table the first time any ships of the two forces become visible to each other, assuming each force is sailing in relatively close formation?

David, how long were the games in which you used fog? I like the ideas presented here; I want to assure there is sufficient time when running games at a con. I have the feeling that utilizing interesting AoS mini rules might require more time than typically allotted. If I scan swing it in the future, I would reserve two back-to-back time slots.

My thoughts:
Distance as far or as short as you wish. Perhaps two for mist, one for fog, half for a heavy fog. Only place actual models when they are within visual range of an enemy ship. Revert to marker if they go out of range. Perhaps also grow a dummy if you are using them.

Our reduced viz games were slower, but they were really tense. Well worth giving it a go occasionally.

[7eat51]

Thanks, David. I really like the idea, and can envision quite easily the tenseness. This thread has me thinking about fog and shoals, running aground, etc. With WoG, Zeppelins, bombers, and the like provide players with very different playing experiences. I am hoping with such rules as fog, the same can be done with SoG. I think this is imperative if I have any chance of developing consistent play locally, especially when trying to attract a younger crowd.

[The Royal Hajj]

Another simple spin on what has been posted so far... What about numbering each ship and it's base. Place the base with out mini or stat card on it and move that around the table until ships come with in range of each other? The players would know where a ship is located, but not what kind of ship it was. This could simulate the sailors seeing a a dark area moving through the fog, but unable to make out what it really is.

For more added realism when a Game Master is about, have the GM label the ships and annotate which ship belongs to which player. Then mix up up all the marked bases and randomly hand them out to the players. The players move the unknown ships around until they are "spotted". The ships would then be relieved to be either a ship from their side or an enemy ship. If it was an enemy's ship the player was moving around, control would revert back to the true owner only if combat was joined (as both ships could be relieved to belong to the same side). Or perhaps control of the two ships that were spotted would be exchanged between those to players if combat was not joined. That might help keep some players from trying "game" the system.

This is all just thinking out loud after reading this thread with no more thought that went in to it while typing it. So sorry if they don't work out on further discussion.