Very few rulesets attempt to represent the role of pre-battle scouting, while most ignore it entirely and go straight to the fighting. Including recon can enrich your gaming experience and reflects more accurately the historic strengths of different armies. The following suggestions can help model reconnaissance in a practical way without requiring umpires or preparation.
WINNING THE RECON BATTLE
In earlier time periods, scouting (typically by mounted troops) tended to be slow and haphazard. Even if the enemy force was observed, this did not always guarantee accurate or recent reports to be useful to the general. The more professional scouts, advancements in communications, and clear army structure should allow significant army advantages.
This pre-battle reconnaissance and army manoeuvre should be a game in its own right. Most players will probably want to abstract this down to a dice roll to see who gets an advantage. I’d suggest rolling 2D6 and adding a ‘scouting score’, based
