About the Bird's Eye View of the Table

My approach to gaming is that during the game, I make decisions based on what my troops and commanders know, rather than what I know as a player with a bird's eye view over the table.  I've also tried to remind players from time to time, to not react to information that they shouldn't have.  Within my own game groups over the years, it hasn't been a big deal, but at conventions, it was sometimes very obvious that players were acting on information that they shouldn't have had.  This is a completely subjective thing, but players can be more or less subjective in their actions.  

For years, I had considered ways to minimize this, ranging from written pregame planning to hidden movement to double blind systems.  One and maybe the most simple way to combat this was to hang a sheet over the table at the center point of the table.  This was easy to do as my table was in the basement, and hanging a sheet with thumbtacks from an exposed joist was quite simple.

I tried this during a 6mm NATO/WarPac game one night, and was surprised at how it changed the perception of the game.  The sheet was hung such that there was about 6-8 inches of space between the top of the table clutter and the bottom of the sheet.

Players could crouch down and get a very oblique view of the table or use periscopes to see the miniature's view of the battlefield, and actual line of site to targets.  The primary effect was that players could not see movement in the enemy's rear areas, allowing the advance of units without immediately disclosing their placement and type.  

Each side viewed the entire table prior to set-up, and thus had familiarity with the topography and constructs, as they would from their tactical maps, but once set-up began, each side had to stay on their side of the sheet, until such time that miniatures movement, advanced past the location of the sheet.

There was clearly a greater sense of doubt about what was happening, and much notably less confidence in placement and movement (which was probably the biggest impact in our game), even though the players were familiar with their opponents tendencies, the rules, and table top. 

After the game, the group discussed the experiment with everyone agreeing that it changed the perspective of the game somewhat.  It seemed to increase the fog of war a little, and clearly hid details of the advancing forces and placement of the defending forces from the opposing sides.

We never had a big problem with players within the group abusing their bird's eye view, but given that we all perceived a difference in the game, I think that the sheet worked fine in achieving its goal and added to the experience of the game.

The placement of the sheet was high enough that it permitted the placement of close air support miniatures, and of measuring distance for long shots.  it didn't seem to subtract from the game in any way, except maybe for taking photos.

Ideally, I think the most effective application of this method would be to hang the sheet around, or near the perimeter of the table, though this might make movement a little tedious.  Additionally, this might not work well with terrain that has more than a few inches of change in elevation, or in games where players compete against each other, and/or are spread around the table at the start.

In any event, I'd thought that I'd throw this out there, as it was simple to do, clearly had an impact on the perception of our game while in progress, and seemed to enhance the experience.