Hide-n-Seek in minis gaming

A thought:

Mikko mentioned that miniatures gaming while doing hidden sneak and peak
is
kind of problematic. Having run a hidden minis game, it does make you
wonder
sometimes about why you paint stuff. Plus it has some odd sensations
when,
after having been spotted, your figure is placed on the board and not
only
does the enemy see you, but you have a strange feeling you've been seen
(you've been forced to place the mini, after all). 

Even so, I find the hide and seek element adds an additional level of
thinking to the game, and it helps discourage Banzai moves, because you
never know what you haven't seen. Audacity seems far more fraught with
peril
- is that clump of trees enemy infested? You haven't seen any, but who
knows! It adds a whole other dimension to commanding units. I find it
actually encourages sound strategy and less to-heck-with-the-risks (or
there-are-no-risks-I-can-see-his-figures) style of play. It means you
actually have to watch your flanks and your rear... you don't *know*
where
every enemy unit is. 

And for practical experience, I'll sight my own microarmour (challenger)
background. It seemed in that game that a lot of the game was
spotting...
and you often saw only a portion of the minis on the game board because
others were hidden. It usually worked out okay and was fun, for those
who
like that style of game. 

These games do suit boardgames, or even better, computer modelled games
where all sorts of erroneous info can easily be provided to a commander
without a huge amount of effort from the ref. That is probably where it
shines the most. But it can be used successfully in a miniatures game,
if
some thought is applied. Having the figs hide for the entire game is
kind of
silly - else why did you paint them? But having some or all units hidden
to
start with (if you have the luxury of a ref) isn't too bad. 

Thomas Barclay
Software Specialist 
Defence Systems
xwave solutions
www.xwavesolutions.com
v: (613) 831 2018 x 3008

Alea iacta et pessimo resulto factura est.
 
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