Wow, you are the man I sold BV & the ASLRB to that time a year or two ago .. you remember me, that's awesome!! Usually people forget
. Take care of my 7-0, he usually becomes expendable/dies in my own games
.
True if there are no dummies then the defender still needs to reveal a 'real' unit, even if everyone knows there are no dummies (because no extra concealment counters were given in the scenario card), *if* the defender really wants to force un-concealment on the attacking unit anyway (sometimes it might not be necessary to un-conceal the attackers because they will just become un-concealed later on, or in another turn .. just depends on the situation). Right, it is the same thing with the gun, but of course the attacker won't know exactly what *type* of Gun, unless there is only one in the scenario card. And remember, a Gun can keep firing & potentially retain concealment indefinitely--a great advantage to the defender.
From a design perspective there is really no easy way to do concealment, without having a third party *neutral* person (which would bog down the game very much IMO). It's been my experience, more often than not, that the attacker uses HS 'scouts' to move into concealed defender stacks in order to reveal them, or by using the 'search' rules A12.152.
This is usually what I do when I'm attacking vs many concealed defenders: run a couple of HS scouts adjacent to more than one defending concealed unit (optimally two or more) then 'search,' becoming TI, but usually revealing all concealed adjacent units. Other attackers were designated as Opportunity Firers in the PFPh, and these are the attacker's primary shooters in the Advancing fire phase. There is no way the defender can defend against this, without shooting the HS scouts, and thus revealing his own concealed defenders (which is ultimately what the attacker was trying to do to begin with).
If the attacker *really* wants to reveal concealed defenders, there is not much the defender can do about it. The only question is, how many *HS scouts* is the attacker willing to risk? As the defender, the best strategy in this case is to use a well placed MG firelane, so that potentially only one defending unit looses concealment & kills/breaks many HS scouts that try to reveal any other concealed defenders.
Vehicles are a completely different thing. In this case the Attacker can end a vehicle in motion bypass of concealed defenders in order to automatically reveal them, as opposed to ending IN the location (not bypass) which only reveals concealed defenders if they don't pass their PAATC (or a 7 for dummy units).
Consider also, putting one 'cheapo' defending unit (like a conscript HS, or 6+1 leader) in a location that has wide LOS (such as in a second level location, or on the top of a hill), thus this one 'cheapo' unit can potentially reveal many concealed attacking units. Concealment goes both ways too, it favors attacker & defenders equally IMO, but especially certain nationalities in certain situations, such as the Japanese/Gurkha in the Jungle.
I was recently playing scenario J9 as the Gurkha (Gurkha vs Japanese with Tanks) and my opponent tried to move a Tank into my defending hex & un-conceal my defenders, my defenders passed their PAATC so they didn't become revealed. He wasn't able to move a HS scout into my hex in the movement phase, but was able to move ADJACENT (I chose not to fire & not to *temporarily* reveal my squad/leader: I had no dummy concealments but I had two different squad *types* 458 & 648 as well as deployed HSs, I didn't want him to know which *type* I had, so I chose not to reveal my units & allowed him to keep his concealment). He decided to take a chance (risk) & advanced on my squad & Leader in CC with 3X447 in a Jungle road hex, and the ambush mods for him were: -2 concealed, +2 vehicle, -1 stealthy, +1 advancing in jungle (G.6) for a net of 0 drm. My mods were: -2 concealed, -1 leader (I had a 648 & -1 Leader), -1 stealthy (Gurkhas) for a net of -4. I was able to ambush him & attacked with HtoH CC since I was Gurkha, needless to say I killed all his Infantry with a 1:2 -3 DRM CC attack (-1 HtoH Gurkha, -1 leader, -1 ambush) .. I only needed a 9 or less. And since I killed my opponent with the DR I was able to withdraw & keep concealment (since I ambushed him).
So, to make a long story short, sometimes it is wise to keep concealment as a defender and not even *temporarily* loose it. It probably would have made a big difference to my Japanese opponent if he *knew* I had a 648 squad instead of a 458 or a 248 HS, or a -1 Leader instead of possibly a LMG ..
Just depends on the situation. Concealment helps both sides, especially at night. Night scenarios are great for learning concealment & HIP rules, I definitely recommend trying one if you haven't already, you'd like them immensely.
Guess I've rambled too much here.
Take care & have fun,
rk
