Pub Battles does a great job at Fog of War. Here are a few variant or house rules we’ve been experimenting with to make this even thicker!
Hidden Status
Why rotate the block face up when spent? It shows the enemy what you have and their status! Shouldn’t this be kept secret?
Instead of rotating Spent blocks up, we flip them upside down. We also keep them facing their player when they retreat. This keeps them hidden, as they should be.
-Instead of centering the stickers, I put these on lined up with the bottom edge. Just for kicks. ?? I kind of like it better. They look more like the Kriegsspiel blocks this way. It also gives you a better visual cue for which way the block is facing. They are also easier to put on the block without getting crooked. You can just line them up flush with the bottom. I think I’m going to keep stickering my new games this way!
Hidden Blocks
While we’re on the subject, why not keep the whole block secret too? Why tell the enemy which unit it is? What its quality is? Is it just a Detachment or an Elite?
Let them keep guessing as you fight round to round. They should at least know the type: infantry, artillery or cavalry.
Hidden Dice
Why should the enemy know how many hits you just took in that last shot? This should be unknown really, right? We’ve been experimenting with pulling chits from a bag or pool rather than rolling dice. The player taking the hits should pull and then implement the results in secret. You can easily make your own chits or maybe even a small deck of cards.
Hidden HQ
The board looks cool with the flags all showing face up.
The problem with this, is that when you flip your HQ when it Alters, it reveals who that general is!
Why should the enemy know that? Better to keep this secret, right? Instead, place your Fresh HQs with the gold, leader’s name side down, the flag facing towards you.
Rotate it Flag up when you Alter. There. Now you can still keep track of who has already Altered, but the enemy is still left in the dark. As it should be.
Yes, some of this will help with Solitaire play too. If none of the blocks are face up, when you spin the board around, all you see is a field of hidden blocks. That makes it easier to forget exactly what they had where and their status.