"for the gamer take into account the weather?" Topic

snow rain and so on?

at waterloo two days rain terrain muddy

Na. Unnecessary complication. Just play the game.

Dave

even with troops moving?

Yes, of course. In battles like Eylau or Inkerman where snow and fog created variable visibility, it adds extra interest. Most amusing when the swirling fog or snow nullifies long-range artillery or covers a sneak attack, or alternatively lifts abruptly to leave your troops embarrassed in front of a grand battery.

Off-road movement at Waterloo should be penalized for most of the morning, especially for artillery. If you've never visited the battlefield in wet weather, it is hard to believe just how gluey and sticky that Belgian mud is. In very short order one has five-kilogram weights of clay on each foot.

Weather should likewise be a factor in any scenario where it had, or could have had, an impact. Movement and line-of-sight are the obvious variables, but for skirmish games don't forget spotting/stealth. Rommel noted that "bad weather favors the attack" in modern warfare, as rain/snow/fog dampens the noise of approaching infantry and enemy sentries are more likely to be trying to stay dry rather than keep a sharp watch.

No, it just complicate my game

I'm in the camp of it adds uncertainty and extra interest in trying to overcome the elements.

When I became aware of how Grande Armee deals with weather as a significant influence on movement, visibility and fire, it struck me that this really to be addressed. Some of my preferred campaigns take place in winter, it's true, but Waterloo (mid-June) is the most gamed battle in history and look at the difference made by the elements. I suppose you could just repeat the weather conditions of each day and and phase from 15-18th June, but personally I want to explore not restage. And what about fictitious encounters?

Anyway, I've incorporated the GA mechanism into my monster F&F/AoE/BBB mashup, and I think this does what's needed.

The TLNB games from OSG games have weather effects plus tests for weather change during the game.

If you have any night action in a game you can consider moonlight and cloud cover.

This is another great feature of Carnage & Glory II rules. The computer can track the weather. You can set seasons of the year, ground conditions, weather conditions, adjust the "heat exhaustion effect" and even choose to retain selected weather for a game. Otherwise the system will randomly present weather issues such as rain, mist, fog, snow, heavy snow etc. Thereafter the weather will impact the game from visibility, bounce through, fatigue etc.

Sometimes, but generally not.

My old gaming group's rule was that the game weather was whatever the irl weather was. This kinda ended when we fought a campaign battle in the harbor of Oran, and it was snowing.

We use weather conditions for our campaigns, it can affect strategic movement and also the actual battles fought.

We do not use it for a one off game. Unless it is an Historical refight that had weather issues.

It depends on the medium. Boardgames normally insert weather into any scenario as a matter of course, as long as it had a significant impact. The mud of waterloo is an exception, but the fog of Jena is normally included.

For figure gaming, if a scenario of an entire battle is being followed this is normally included as well, however most figure games do not attempt to refight an entire historical battle thus I normally find weather is ignored.

In summery, it all depends on the scale. If a game-turn represents 5-15 minutes, then weather is normally ignored. If it represents 30-120 minutes, its often included.

You can if you want to.
For replays and the like, probably yes.
For random single events, no, unless campaign based and route marching handicaps is the next biggest effect than misfiring muskets.

It's always nice weather in my wargaming world.

Has anyone ever played a game deemed to be happening in torrential rain, so that there was no firing?

What happened?

Yes, played (twice) the Battle of the Katzbach (26 August 1813). The scenario I wrote included rules for the varying degrees of rainfall that fell throughout the day. As you might expect, the battle increased the relative effectiveness of cavalry over infantry.

For anyone interested, here are the scenario special rules:
Rain: The following effects apply throughout the battle:

(a) All infantry not deployed in towns must double the target's score to inflict a single hit in shooting versus infantry & cavalry, and cannot inflict casualties on artillery at all;
(b) Due to the soft ground, all artillery fire over 4" counts as versus cover;
(c) At the beginning of each side's Shooting Phase (i.e. after command and movement), roll a d10 to see if the rain has lessened or worsened:
1-3 Rain lessens (unless already Drizzle)
4-8 Rain level stays constant
9-10 Rain worsens (unless already Storming)

The rain levels are:
(i) Drizzle (the starting condition): 8" firing range
(ii) Steady Rain: 4" firing range, and all units suffer an additional -1 to their Response number
(iii) Storm: No fire except in close combat; all units suffer -2 to their Response number

Generally no, but in historical games it is often a major influence. Waterloo has been mentioned, but more recent campaigns have also been affected by the weather. Poor weather in the summer of 1944 was a major influence after the D day landings and should be factored in to any wargaming scenarios based on that campaign. The autumn campaign was bedevilled by mud, fog etc, with frequent accounts of bogged down tanks.

You'd at least need wind, so as to blow the thick smoke from firing in inconvenient directions… ;-)