"Representing Reconaissance, Ambushes, Spies ?" Topic

Great article this month in Miniature Wargaming Magazine. It deals with Umpiring games, but what I found interesting was the author's thoughts that we, as wargamers, rely too much on formal "meeting engagements" as game fodder. He mentioned reconnaissance efforts and ambushes as neglected scenarios, but which are commonplace in real warfare. I am also thinking along the lines of Washington's spy network as a source of scenarios.
Anybody out there have any ideas on how to bring these to the tabletop?
Or could you recommend any books or other sources for such ideas?

Anybody out there have any ideas on how to bring these to the tabletop?

That's why wargamers rely on the meeting engagement. The other scenarios are more complicated to implement.

The problem is mostly how do you get surprise. If side A has to exit across the board and there's one long road ahead, you pretty much know an ambush is coming.

Actually, your question put me in mind of how to run an ambush game – and to answer Extra Crispy's point.

Have a force moving across a table with an opposing force in place across the table in a defensive situation so they are not maneuvering forward. Place sufficient terrain at way points across the table. The 'offensive' force believes one situation entails but the defensive player knows that what they have in place is not available for the game, pure decoration. But they do have hidden troops in place to spring an ambush. Does need to be more than one point for this to be set up or it might be too obvious. As the offensive force moves across the table at some point their opponent – and the game master – say, "Surprise, very unpleasant surprise! Bang, bang, those ten (or 48) figures are now casualties."

This does require a game master and defensive player able to pull this off without tipping their hand. A simple solution (in my opinion, anyway) to a long challenging gaming conundrum. I know. I've run Extra Crispy type scenarios and everyone knows what is coming.

And their is always the possibility that the offensive player is sensible enough (or suspicious enough) to scout his way forward. In that case, if the ambush gets discovered then maybe those defending troops do come in to play as the ambush parties high tails it back on its supports.

Going to have to try this out one day and see how it goes. So, thanks for the question.

And, oh, yeah, there are all those defensive engagements to be run that are not meeting engagements. Plenty of those through history.

If you play at skirmish level and have lots of civilian miniatures in the villages etc, they can act as NPCs, and some of them can secretly be spies and join a player's force, or they can tell a player's recce about possible ambushes, enemy unseen movements etc.

It takes some time to imagine and to plan in the game scenarios but it can be a lot of fun; I encourage this when I organize a game.

Fantastic suggestions, thanks.

This crossing of lines scenario is a related concept.

Though ostensibly the supporting volume for "Funny Little Wars," "Little Campaigns" has extensive rules on use of spies.

Together, both volumes provide systems for use on the table top and in the context of campaigns, and in such a way that figure scale is not really significant.

TVAG

Here is a working idea from another rules designer. I wish i could remember his name as the rules he wrote are at home.
the rules were for bush wars.

A player could declare that a unit was going into "infiltration mode". A die was placed (1=first turn using stealth,2= second etc. Up to how ever many sided die they remain in stealth mode, sneaking into enemy lines). The unit was removed from play and set aside. The owning player could declare (at the beginning of his turn desired), which units were "de-cloaking" into an ambush. He picks his target. Measures from the marker die, times half distance he could cover in that terrain for the number of turns displayed on the die (he's being cautious, remember) and roll a loss of 1D6 in inches. That is how far his furthest figure/stand can be from the die. He can deploy anywhere within that radius on the table, the unit's stands. Sometimes he is short and cannot perform an ambush- too bad, you were seen before you could get in place! But if successful, he gets first fire and the hapless target unit gets no return fire that turn! That added effect can be devestating if properly executed! be mindful that the most effective ambush is an "L" shape…less chance of getting fired upon by your own men!

Adds some tension to the game for both sides as that roll of a die and guessing the distance is tough to do! BTW, pre-measurement is not allowed!

I really liked the game that gives. Wish I could claim the credit but it was not me who came up with it!

best
Tom

I like it, Dye4! Although it might need a GM to keep the "cloaked" player honest.

Lots of great ideas here. Agree at skirmish level it is actually rare to play a meeting engagement. Will put a pre plug in for my black powder campaign rules which I am playtesting called "For King and Country". They are based on my WW II rules " Platoon Forward". They will probably have about 20 scenarios only one of which will be a meeting engagement.

Cheers

Joe

Most WW2 games I play start with the defender completely concealed and often with much of the attacking force on blinds of some sort.
Reconaissance is an active part of the game; you can't defeat the enemy till you find where he is.

Thanks, Pan.

I use a hidden unit rule for Irish War for Independence games that I plan to use for Westchester "neutral ground" skirmish in AWI. Ambush player places figs in ambush locations then marks the location on a map. The figs are then removed from the table. As the enemy approaches, he can scan a specific terrain feature to spot hidden bushwakers (die roll) but scanning counts as his turn. If the enemy gets close to a hidden fig he might be revealed (die roll) and firing might reveal him(again on a roll). I played a game where IRA at the far end of the table were revealed, but the IRA right alongside the road behind the stone wall were not, much to the dismay of the Crown Forces. For AWI firing would have to reveal the unit.

We use Hidden Deployment with IABSM. We also play that hidden units that fire are not put on the table, but rather are then put on a blind.

We play mostly attack defence games.
The defender map deploys and the attacker will usually just deploy on table.

We also play double blind with duplicate tables and a referee. Although it's a lot of work this adds a lot to a game. There have been games people recall and talk about decades later.

I also play and umpire a double blind game that seems similar to AONeill's
SUTC by Michael Korns (Small Unit Tactical Combat) 1973 based upon his The Modern War in Miniature
though I have had to rework the charts some and add things he had in Modern War but failed to include in SUTC
At the other end is Command Decision by Frank Chadwick who has written that he isn't interested in the opening moves, the recon phase but wants to begin with the "middle game"
This approach is the most common in miniatures wargaming--indeed, in board wargaming as well--but here's the rub--without any, or even a few, rules about hidden movement or placement, historical ambushes cannot be done--a case in point was the demo game of CD3 at a Celebrate History con with Chadwick himself umpiring--the so-called surprise attack by some Soviet cavalry never came off because, well, the cav couldn't move far enough from the table edge(from off table) to contact the Germans--who were then facing the wrong way, and CD's crummy command rules allowed the German to face off against the Soviets before contact on the subsequent moves (by crummy, well, the Sov command piece for the entire Sov force had been hit hard by German arty, with no ill affects at all on orders or command--a feature of CD)The other difficulty, which afflicts almost all games, is the turn by turn sequence, where a piece can move only a certain number of squares/hexes/inches stop and go, which allows for sudden reversals at the "last minute" as well as the always seen but not spotted pieces
In the SUTC, there are no "turns" and as the figures are not on the table until spotted, no forewarning--a huge disjunct from games like CD--and most gamers I have encountered do not have the psychological fortitude to game in a double blind--it's too scary not to mention--and this is where I part with Korns who says that the gamer need realy know nothing about small unit tactics, he can get along "naturally"--that the player usually suffers because he has no idea of fieldcraft--such as where to view from, as an example, not from over the obstacle, but from its side
or the hearing of something struck hard on metal or a rock in a Japanese-Pacific WW2 scenario usually means the arming of Japanese grenades--and the list goes on
So the uneducated gamer--or worse, the wargame educated gamer, gets it in the neck
Usually by shooting the stray animal that rustles in the bushes or stepping into the quicksand--but then a lot of green or merely trained troops do the same--but the gamers object because it should not happen to their elite SS--except that they are playing that elite SS leader and they sent their troopers into the trap--another common fault--you are not, despite the advertisement--Napoleon or can even manage a single division

the so-called surprise attack by some Soviet cavalry never came off because, well, the cav couldn't move far enough from the table edge(from off table) to contact the Germans--who were then facing the wrong way, and CD's crummy command rules allowed the German to face off against the Soviets before contact on the subsequent moves

I am not familiar with CD's system, but even if the enemy has time to turn to face the unexpected attack, it still is an ambush: they did their deployment and moves ignoring that an attack would come that way? An "ambush" does not necessarily means that the attacker can strike without reaction.

An "ambush" does not necessarily means that the attacker can strike without reaction

No
An ambush, and here we must determine the definition, for these purposes means a successful ambush, means the attacker/ambusher does inflict losses on the defender/the ambushed that the ambushed would not have received if the ambushed had been prepared for reacted well
In another game (Vive L'Emperuer--a unit in line formation may attempt to form square vs a cavalry attack, and its success depends upon the distance from the cavalry, in short, a reaction check--no such thing in CD--now you could claim that the whole German force in that CD scenario had no knowledge of the ambush, and that might satisfy a definition of an ambush, however, the cavalry ambush failed because the german was able to face off enough forces to nullify the even partial effects of the ambush because of the turn sequence and the crummy command rules (you can change orders with no penalty every turn--and there's no reaction chart or roll of a unit on say turn one facing the wrong way attempting to reface or reform in another direction against an oncoming force, with the possibility of the defender being caught off guard--the German simply changed orders and was able to have a defense line vs the cavalry--this nullified the ambush so much that Chadwick had to ask the German player if he could have faced off, and the German player explained that he had seen the Soviet figures, even though his troops had not spotted them, but so what, and had his German pieces turn to face the attack--to Chadwick's consternation(I assume with the crummy command rules that permit such quick changes and the turn sequence, the stop and go we have in the games, and the figures themselves--a compromise that nullifies any real simulation value in this hobby--I mean, how do you do an ambush when all the figures are on the table?--everyone knows who and what they are, to the unit types, to the damage they have taken and their moral and command status--and you are going to redo say Mtsenk, where the 4th Panzer is supposed to go up a road with forest on either side "hiding" those T 34 regiments in "ambush"--the Soviet pieces are all on the board, and the player can see them--even though his troops cannot--neither this CD scenario of Skiminovka(with the cavalry attack from the rear) or the CD scenario of Mtsenk are able to simulate the ambush--the gamers know too much--the essence of the ambush is that you do not know or know too late--neither which appeared in these CD scenarios
Let's get real about this--if you can see the sniper figure, then the whole business of sniping--the camouflage, the sniper's fieldcraft, his selection of vantage point, etc, is wasted as the other side--which technically may not have spotted the sniper--but has, the gamer that is, seen the figure
Where's the ambush here? There isn't any
I've seen skirmish games with both sides figures all on the table, and the losses inflicted known to all, and some of these skirmish games are in the forest--with even sides too boot (as usual--are you kidding?)
Of course, no one is going to game, say, some 1945 disaster for the Germans, being overrun by the Allies--there's no hope for the loser--so in order for it to be gameable, the Germans get some more stuff--at Waterloo, Napoleon's commanders came to him late in the battle demanding more troops--he replied, "would you like me to make some"--the miniatures rules/scenarios are of that thinking--we make for the Germans some extra stuff, we allow them total information--so that the Soviet deception methods wont work and we call it authentic simulation, a good probable alternative history--?? are you kidding?
It's those figures……those plastic or metal figures that sink the historical of the games
and the "chess" mentality that all events were "even chances for each side" like chess with the creaky turn sequence that allows for the gamey chess and miniatures moves (or have you never heard of break points, pre-measuring, the examination of the other sides figures/units for type and losses, etc? As in chess, there are no ambushes, just the gamey games with the games own "ambushes"
but nothing hidden in the way of information or forces deployed(a real ambush in chess would be that one side would get off board reinforcements--unannounced--in the Skimanovka CD scenario, because it was historically based, the German knew about the cavalry "ambush" before the Soviet cavalry even arrived

The Muskets & Tomahawks FIW/AWI ruleset is a system set up for gaming varied, and irregular warfare encounters and mission types, with event cards interjected into the activation deck to also add in unexpected twists of fate (responding to this thread in the American Revolutionary War forum section).