wargame

I'm playing an HO-scale miniature wargame with little clockwork ships and soldiers. A model harbor is built on a real pool of water, and the ships are able to cruise across the surface under their own power. The simulation is similar to the video game Advance Wars, except that the pieces all move simultaneously, in realtime.

My opponent is a megalomaniacal stranger who has just chased the entire home fleet out of the harbor with his attack ships. He gleefully sings to himself that the operation was "specially designed for the S.S. Nile," which I notice is the name of the very fast ship at the forefront of the attack. He and I both circle around the model harbor, contemplating our next moves without speaking to each other, without even looking directly at each other.

I walk next to the now-empty coastline and spot a single tiny policeman standing near a lighthouse. If I can get him to walk to the seaport a couple feet away without him being spotted by my opponent, I'll be able to reclaim the port and use it to manufacture more naval units. Peering over my shoulder, I surreptitiously tap the policeman to activate him, and I try to use my body to conceal him from my opponent's view.