Thursday 15 November 2012

Terrain Blinds - a terrific idea


One of the real pleasures of  the blogosphere is the sheer number of terrific wargaming ideas people come up with and blog about.  Every so often someone comes up with something which is just incredible.  I’ve occassionally re-blogged these, or linked through to them, in the past and I’d like to mention another one here.



This one is just a wonderfully simple idea by Black Cavalier for “terrain blinds”.  As described by him on his blog, Two Tharks One Cup : “They are nondescript terrain place-holders that allowed me to show the players that something is in that area of the board but that their figures can’t tell what it was until they got closer”.



Simplicity.  Friction.  Suspense. Realism. Total and complete win!

It’s an idea with loads of uses, in all different gaming rules at all scales.  It fits the rules I really enjoy for the Great War, TooFatLardies’ “Through the Mud and the Blood” perfectly.  But it’s also perfectly easy to build into a game of Warhammer "Great War", or Iron Ivan Games' "The Price of Glory", or countless other rules in different periods. 

I've tried experimenting with different inserts in modular terrain before.  You might remember the prepared 7.7mmFeldkanone 96 n.a. position I built last year, and which British Great War tank commanders found so difficult to spot until almost at point-blank range. 




But I’ve not done the same with terrain which can be placed in a variety of positions on the tabletop, which is the very flexible idea proposed in Black Cavalier’s post.  I hope to correct that shortly, following his terrain blinds idea.  Where great idea go, it always fun to follow and see where you end up!

One great idea.  Hundreds of uses.  Simple but fun and realistic.  It doesn't get better than that!

18 comments:

  1. That is a great idea! I'm the type of gamer that does not like "unnatural" markers on the table and I find this a superb idea and one I hope I don't forget!

    Christopher

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  2. Stunning bunker !!!

    Thanks for the tip of the terrain blinds

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  3. What a great idea and a lovely piece of kit Sidney.

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  4. Lovely bunker. The idea with the terrain blinds could be expanded. Not only could the patches used to represent something be used but boxes could be used to cover objects. Ok, this would be limited, the size of the object being a factor but it would give a "shock" effect as "tada!!" the object was uncovered.
    Cheers
    Paul

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    1. I love that idea, Paul. Perfect for a fog bound morning of battle when you can't even see what the buildings are in front of your regiments.

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  5. I think its a great idea. I think you were already on that track though way back when you were working on the copse of trees. http://sidneyroundwood.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-mans-land-terrain-and-few-loose-ends.html

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    1. Thanks Kris. I was thinking that way, but Black Cavalier's post really had me pointed in the right direction.

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  6. Brilliant idea. Actually, some of my club mates complain that blinds are too visible on the table and aesthetically ugly

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    1. There you go, then! ..... terrain blinds might be the answer, or at least part of one!

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  7. That is a great idea, I'm all for the fog of war in games.

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  8. That is a very elegant approach. I've just used the typical large national flags as blind indicators but it seems silly when you think about it as the whole purpose is that the players don't know what is out there. I'm going to give this a go as well.

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    1. I'll be really interested in how that works out, Curt. I thought it was elegant and simple as well - and those things seem to always work well on the tabletop.

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  9. Sidney,
    I love this idea. This is so much more elegant than pieces of printed paper. It will help the suspension of disbelief that a great gaming table gives you. Now I just need a great gaming table.
    (I put you in for a Liebster award on my blog - http://ahunt-dulceetdecorum.blogspot.com/. I couldn't find another way to contact you. I hope it will introduce some new readers to your blog, which has given me so much pleasure. Please feel free to delete this part of the comment.)

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  10. Thanks very much indeed - although it's not my idea! I am just re-blogging from Black Cavalier, who deserves all the praise. That being said, it is a cracking idea of his, and has loads of potential on all sorts of terrain. I particularly like the idea of a terrain piece being shown as intact and cover-worthy at the start of the game, as the players marshal their forces, and as they draw nearer they find it a pile of ruins. Thank you also for the Liebster Award - that's very cool indeed.

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  11. Your progress is better than most's completes. Inspiring work.

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