We love Columbia Games. Great company. Great products. We whole heartedly support and endorse them. They blazed a lot of new ground in wargaming ‘technology’ with their hidden blocks for Fog-of-War (FoW). They have made some of the best games ever.
We didn’t want to just copy Columbia Games. We wanted to break new ground. We like the look of the long, rectangular Pub Battles pieces. Unfortunately, they aren’t quite as good as Columbia for FoW. They do conceal type, command and quality but this doesn’t generate the same level of fear, like most Columbia games. Is that a 1 strength infantry or a 4 strength SS panzer? Big difference.
We have been experimenting with all kinds of different systems to achieve this with Pub Battles. We finally hit the right combination. I am very excited about this Variant. This elevates Pub Battles to the same unknown, Kriegsspiel type FoW, as Columbia Games. THIS is what we’ve been looking for.
This is what the board looks like:
What is really there? This:
Or this:
Hidden Reserve
HQs can act as a Reserve to hide pieces from the enemy. Pieces can move into Reserve by moving into the HQ. Remove them from the board while in Reserve, as long as the HQ cannot be Spotted by the enemy. To move pieces out of Reserve, put them back on the board at the HQ and conduct a regular move.
Simply track which pieces are in Reserve with which HQ by noting them on paper. An easier way is to hide them under a folder sheet of paper (or cards stock) with the HQ name written on top.
The HQ marks the location of pieces that are closest to the enemy. Consider all pieces in Reserve to be within 1/3 Cav move at or behind the HQ (away from the enemy).
While HQs hold pieces in Reserve, they can only move at the speed of the slowest piece they hold.
Pieces can begin the game in Reserve.
Army HQs can also hold pieces in Reserve.
While a HQ is spotted by the enemy, all of its Reserve pieces must be placed on the board.
Spotting & Line of Sight
Pieces can see up to 1 mile in clear weather.
Woods, Buildings, Hills and enemy units block line of sight. You can see into Woods and Buildings up to the thickness of a piece: 3/8”. You can see onto a Hill up to the center crest line.
Consider these obstacles to be the same height. So a piece on a Hill could see over Woods or Buildings to a target on another Hill, up to the crest line. If the target was not on a hill, it could see them if the target was further away from the obstacle than the observer.
Reassignment
This requires a little more work but greatly increases the darkness.
Before the game starts, you can reassign pieces to other commands. Simply note which units are attached to which commands. Treat them as a regular part of that command for the entire game.
Limits:
Every Command must have at least 2 pieces.
The number of pieces in any Command cannot exceed the largest historical Command of that army.
Add in multiple players with limited communications and you are very, very close to a real Kriegsspiel without an Umpire.