What I came up with is pictured to the side, dividing up the battlefield by the roles involved. This is not a totally original idea, The One Ring RPG by Cubicle 7 uses something similar (a little from the D&D 4th ed combat roles too). I'm adapting it in a more free-form way however. You can just use the boxes without worrying about the roles to have a good idea of where everybody is, put your miniature or token in the corresponding space. Or you could get more detailed, adding bonuses or penalties to each role to help make combat more tactical without the foot-counting precision of a grid.
I'd love to come up with a full set of house rules for several systems, like the D&D 5th ed I usually run, but also Fate and any other game that could use a semi-structured combat. Something for those like me who enjoy tactical choices but doesn't want to get too in-depth. I'm still working on ideas though, and with 2020 my group has had a hard time meeting to play of course. So I'm not sure when I'll be able to craft something detailed - but I decided to go ahead and throw this out there and see if anyone found it helpful.
EDIT 1/10/2023: Due to current confusion about the upcoming OGL v1.1 and how that might relate to the previous OGL 1.0a that I was using, I have removed all links to my previous documents. I will try to alter and re-upload them in the near future.
I have a few more ideas like this, visual aids for some common challenges, that I am going to be posting in the near future as well. I always welcome comments (it's nice to know somebody's reading this, inconsistent as I am about it).
