'Blinding' Players in a Board Game

Your "blinding idea" is ideal for computer games, but a nightmare for board games. In order for a board game to be fast-paced (and fun!) it shouldn't required the tedious management of all sorts of bits (as would be the case in a game with complex "blinding" techniques). When I think of battle type games (not typical wargames or tabletop games) like HeroClix, I think fast paced. Therefore, the goal should be to design some blinding technique which isn't too laborious to manage.

Here's one. How about recording the starting position and subsequent movements of each character on a sheet of paper from a numbered hex map. Each player would actually place the characters at the front of the pack--the ones that actually form the perimeter of the wave making up the front line--on the map for his opponent to see and vice-versa. Then, as the two waves of characters collide and opposing characters actually delve into the opposing perimeter, other characters within "x" spaces are revealed. Gradually, all the characters would be revealed and the extra tedium of recording moves would be eliminated. This would allow for surprize encounters.

In case you haven't figured it out, the paper record will serve to validate the individual moves and final encounter location of characters as they're encountered.

In any case, whatever your solution, don't require too much player effort to manage it.

Thanks for all of the ideas. I will probably use one of these ideas unless I can think of a better one.

I considered this problem as well. I could not figure out a way to do fog of war without trusting players alot - as the game mentioned above this post does. The best thing I was able to come up with was simultaneous movement/actions. Players plan out a number of moves in advance, then carry them out simultaneously. Conflicts are resolved in order. This is far enough long term that strategies can be employed without the opponent knowing. It is also a manageable amount of paperwork. Lastly, it doesn't trust the player at all: As the moves are carried out, they are being checked for accuracy by your opponent.