[House Rules] How to Solo with Hidden Units and Still Surprise Yourself

[Shad]

(posted these long ago on CSW, dusting them off for archival purposes)

A method I've employed successfully to play with hidden units and still surprise yourself is:

• if the Japanese are allowed X hidden units, choose the units you'd like to start hidden and give them X identical additional units.
  
• before play, fish out 2X minefield tokens - X real numbers and X decoys (if you don't have enough decoys, use decoys & 1's or decoys and 2's...)
  
• shuffle the minefield tokens face down, and without looking at their numbered sides place them under your chosen JPN units (& their "clones"), these are now all treated as "hidden units"
  
• play rules-as-written with respect to revealing hidden units, and once revealed (or once attacking/attacked) check the counter underneath - if it's a decoy that unit is removed from play and was never really there, if it's not then carry on.
  

Strengths of this Method

1. Most of the element of surprise is preserved, because as the non-hidden player you don't know if you're manuevering against real enemies or shadows in the bushes.
   
2. Setup is easy and requires no bookkeeping.
   
3. The same scenario will not play out the same way twice because the "ghost unit" allocations are random.
   
4. At start the non-hidden player must face 2X enemy forces, which ably simulates the tension of facing off against an unknown enemy.
   

Weaknesses of this Method

1. As the hidden player you may find your defensive position was just ghosts, and the enemy is allowed to waltz into a sensitive area unopposed.
   
2. There is no mechanism for re-hiding. Though in my experience this happens very rarely so I do not consider it a serious flaw.
   
3. Having to move and manage 2X the OOB for the hidden player can be a burden in large scenarios.
   

Final Thoughts
In the end, hidden unit scenarios are always best played with... really hidden units! However, should you happen to live alone on a sailboat, or in a hermitage, or just have really offensive body odor... well, these rules might be useful.

I have used them with satisfying results, and I encourage you to try.

All feedback politely considered!