On Jun 26, 2007, at 11:24 PM, Andrew Heath wrote: > > So basically what I'm asking for, is suggestions on how to > implement either rule feature so that PBEM play could be done > smoothly. The hidden movement and deployment is actually an > optional rule, but it adds so much to the game that it'd really be > a shame to have to leave it out. Is there any way to make Briton > counters "disappear" for the other player when they enter special > hexes?
I don't think you need to worry too much about actually implementing this automatically. I think it would be enough to just make the pieces hidden (using the standard Vassal mask feature), and then you would dispense with the need to track their location separately. The Briton player would just be able to see them on the map. Now, I presume that the map edge boxes are used to allow the Roman player a chance to see how many stacks are in each forest. I suppose that what you would then want to do is effectively clone the hidden units and put them in one of those boxes. You could handle the box choice and number assignment just like in the real game, and have the player do it. You could presumably have the command which hides a unit also clone the pieces and move them somewhere. The problem is that unless you have a box for each wooded area, you couldn't send the clones there. I would guess that just creating the new stack and offsetting it a bit would make it reasonably convenient for the Briton player to move it to an appropriate box.
