”Hidden” Napoleonics

[tomek917]

I recently played in a WWII game which was sort of a mix between a wargame and an RPG. The players took on the roles of different company or platoon commanders trying to direct and coordinate their forces against each other. Most movement were hidden and players took turns talking to the game master. There were no exact movement or charts and so on, the GM handled most of that based on the players actions and some dice rolling.

I’m not exactly sure what this type of game is called? We called it ”Hidden” and the miniatures used were 1/285th scale.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about doing the same thing but set during the napoleonic era.

Has anyone here ever done this? How did you do it? Any tips?

Thanks!

[vtsaogames]

Sounds like a version of Kreigspiel. The Too Fat Lardies sell a copy of the Prussian 1824 rules. It is played on a map. You could play it so that only the umpire sees the map.

[james]

I have done something similar with playing modern " pulp Vietnam" using the old TSR top secret rules. Used 28mm figures and it was  loads of fun. Was toying with idea of doing same with Napoleonic's using league of Augsburg rules.

[Plynkes]

Science vs. Pluck or "Too Much for the Mahdi" is a bit like this, only in a colonial setting. The players are British officers, the umpire runs the Dervishes. It is a bit of a mix of RPG and war game.

Might be worth plundering for ideas.

[levied troop]

SvP is a great game, always surprised it wasn’t extended to more periods.  Players talked through what they wanted their troops to do and the umpire worked through that until the Dervishes appeared and action was transferred to the tabletop.  Much fun was had at the expense of players who cheerfully assumed their troops would march across a burning hot Sudan without a tea break, or who sent infantry out to check a wadi isolated from the main column.

[Sir_Theo]

SvP is a great game, always surprised it wasn’t extended to more periods.  Players talked through what they wanted their troops to do and the umpire worked through that until the Dervishes appeared and action was transferred to the tabletop.  Much fun was had at the expense of players who cheerfully assumed their troops would march across a burning hot Sudan without a tea break, or who sent infantry out to check a wadi isolated from the main column.

That sounds brilliant. Downloaded!

[levied troop]

Hope you have fun with it, it was a very radical set of rules and need an imaginative umpire but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Has anyone here ever done this? How did you do it? Any tips?

Thanks!

I’ve done a similar game in the past which was set in 1940 and required downed German aircrew to evade Home Guard patrols and get to a phone box to call up a 5th Columnist.  The table was set up with plenty of cover and players told me what they wanted to do, I marked their moves on a rough map, told them what they could see or hear and where necessary, put figures on the table as the various parties saw each other - and removed them as they hid or ran for cover.  It worked well and we even ran it as a participation game at Bovington one year (although given that figures rarely appeared on the table it may not have been the most thrilling game to watch  ).

A couple of thoughts:
1 keep the rules very simple and in the umpires head - I ran it on a percentage chance to hit based on what I thought the odds were.

2 get the players to explain their thinking - one chap in the participation game asked if the Home Guard were trained or whether they were likely to panic on hearing a shot.  He then fired a random pistol shot as they crossed open ground towards his hiding place  and made successful rolls to have them all dive for cover while he ran into new cover.

3 wider access to digital photography would make it easier to allow players to show the umpire secretly where they wanted to move to/do.  I suspect adding sound effects from the iPad might also add to the general confusion.

[tomek917]

Thanks for the tips everyone!

I checked out Science vs Pluck, some really good stuff in there that you wouldn’t think of (such as the effect wounded would have on a units speed because the wounded would have to be carried or left and so on).

1 keep the rules very simple and in the umpires head - I ran it on a percentage chance to hit based on what I thought the odds were.

I was planning on using Black Powder, they are quite ”free” as they are and no bookkeeping and so on. And since there won’t be many units on the table I dont think it will be too difficult to kwep track of unit status.

[Murawski1812]

In my opinion, double blinds, hidden movement, etc.... anything that makes for a good fog of war is awesome.... and this can really be done at any scale and any time period.