The Fog of War - In Cardboard

If you go back a couple of posts you'll see a report on a Crimean War wargame I played in October. This was in my good friend Roy's lovely wargaming room, and when deploying we had the pleasure of using the pre-installed roller blinds which one can wind down from the ceiling, so that each side can deploy simultaneously without knowing what the other side are doing.

The idea, of course, is as old as recreational wargaming itself, dating back at least to the 1960s - Donald Featherstone describes the use of curtains in chapter 5 of War Games. Setting up a curtain or erecting some sort of barrier across the centre of the table so that both sides deploy in ignorance of what their opponent is doing is an elegantly simple way to recreate the fog of war, and is also a way to save time by avoiding the need for alternate deployment of units or the setting up of 'hidden' units with counters or 'blinds'.

I had a go at this some years ago using a curtain, as you can see in this post from 2016. But the bamboo tripods I had to use were rather fiddly and prone to toppling over, and whole contraption rarely got used. 

But after that Crimea game I decided to think again. Maybe not a curtain, but a solid barrier laid across the table between the opposing sides. I remembered those TSS Terrain 2' x 2' tiles I used to use before the days of terrain mats. Standing those on edge would probably work - but I had only kept one of my old tiles (in case I ever wanted to try DBA again!).

Eventually I settled on using plain old cardboard. I could get some good-sized sheets, then construct some sort of concertina-style barrier that would fold up for storage but would also stand up fairly solidly across the table. Getting card in large sizes is pretty easy on the internet, and eventually I went for some corrugated cardboard in A0 size, which is 1189mm x 841mm, or about 47" x 33". I used these guys on eBay. Cost me less than £14 for 5 sheets, including delivery. Bargain. 

Then it was just a case of cutting up the pieces into a more suitable size, and using duct tape to put them together in a way that allowed the whole thing to fold up nicely. Only a moderate amount of swearing was required. I would say that 24" high is plenty high enough in most cases, but you might want to go for 30" to cover all eventualities, such as very tall gaming friends! Your line of sight to the far side of the table is now completely blocked.

Each panel in my finished barrier is 24" x 16". The dining table here is nearly 6' long, so for a 6' x 4' gaming table five panels was plenty. I have extra card left over if I want extend the barrier for an 8' table. And storage is a doddle, as you can see below.

It's time this kind of device had a rennaisance. It's handy and simple, and creates a better game in a very straightforward way, especially for ancients and the horse and musket period. Let me know if you're already using something like this in your gaming.

'Til next time!