Need a Sumarine Mechanic

. . . use a mechanic like the Fellowship in War of the Ring. 'Moving' a sub wouldn't really move it, but keep track of how far it might have moved on a chart/table/somewhere. Players would have to divert resources to try and discover where it is every time it 'moves.' Then you have a chance to use them to attack anywhere in the movement radius if they aren't discovered.

Depending how central submarines are to the game, and how many you have, this might be clunky or too much work, but if you've played that game or want to research it a little, it could provide some inspiration.

1805: Sea of Glory also is a decent example of fog of war movement in a naval game. I haven't read about that one as much, though.

:)

I say it's a good idea to keep the sub on the board at it's last known location (at least that known to the opponent).

If you don't want notes, the player of the sub must keep track in his head. Hopefully there is no subterfuge nor mistakes. Once the sub resurfaces the opponent may challenge the player to show her how the sub moved while it was submerged. If it does not add up there should be penalties (sub is actually in the wrong location due to miscalculation). But this may slow down the action of the game.

I think that the best way to do it is to keep a map/notes on the side to speed up challenges. Besides, real subs have to plot their own courses.

I don't see what is the problem, you just write the coordinates of the sub on a piece of paper and that is it. Or if you do not want to use pen and paper, you could use 2 set of cards (X and Y) that gives you the coordinate of your sub.

I also have a small sub game idea too and I have not seen any technical problems so far. In my game, one player plays a fleet and the other player a sub. You can play with more than one player if you have multiple sub fighting the same fleet or multiple players controlling the fleet.

Many people have advised taking notes, but the OP says he doesn't want note taking.

My recommendation would be to use cards that say North, South, East, and West on them. Define a number of turns that the sub is allowed to stay submerged, and for each turn he is submerged, play a card in front of you upside down. You need several of each cardinal direction (at least as many as turns you will stay submerged in case you want to go in a straight line). While the sub is underwater, have a different colored sub represent its last known location. On the turn that the sub emerges, flip the stack of cards over, and retrace the movement of the sub for everyone to see. This prevents any type of cheating, and forces the sub to avoid things like sonar nets and mine fields.

Plus if the ships have anti sub measures such as depth charges or some other item, you don't have to rely on the sub player to be honest when they are hit. If the ship plays a depth charge on the third turn, and when the sub's movements reveal he was within range on the third turn, then the sub takes damage.

Edit
If you are okay with note taking, check out the game Scotland Yard. It has secret movement where the hidden player has to reveal himself every few turns and the other players have to catch him.

Google is the ninja of the internet. Do you remember trying to use the internet without Google? It took a lot longer to find stuff...

I certainly look forward to knowing. I think it's fiar to say that everyone who participated in this discussion would be curious to know how this turns out.

A quick reply: You described it very clearly. It makes a lot of sense, and I suspect it'll work well. Thanks for letting us know what you decided to do. I hope you tell us how it works out. I'm really curious to know if your play testers like it.