How do you keep the game state straight when playing Battleship over CW?

I've run a few games of battleship over CW and the sync problem is very solvable if you change the procedure slightly. Instead of 'A5, miss, B2, hit', make each shot include the result of the previous shot. So player one sends 'B2' and the answer comes back as 'B2 hit, your A5 was a miss' or whatever. That way both stations are constantly confirming the board state and a single garbled word never desyncs you, you just repeat that one exchange til it gets thru. It roughly doubles the traffic but on 40m evenings you're not exactly racing a timer. Numbering the shots works too, like 'shot 7, C4', which makes it obvious when you've dropped one.

You gotta treat these exchanges like a scheduled net, not just random QRS chatter. If you're trying to get a group going, you need a reliable operator who can sit on the line and keep track of who just shot where. Don't just hope someone pops up; find a dedicated enthusiast running structured nets allready. It's much easier to integrate a simple game like this into an existing regular schedule than trying to pull strangers into an ad hoc session over 40 meters. Old school practice says if you want cooperation, you have to set the clock and the rules clear.

I tried playing a simple game like that once, but the noise floor was really rough, even on the 20 meter band. I found that the procedure was fine, but trying to catch the actual signal on my scanner during a call was a pain. I eventually figured it was easier to just run a separate digital mode rig, like Winlink, just to pass the shot coordinates quickly, instead of relying on spaced CW exchanges. It kept the actual radio ops much cleaner. The key for me was the reliable input, not the call itself.

I had trouble with the bookkeeping once we got into a longer game. Writing down all the hits and misses on my notes got totally overwhelming pretty quick. I eventually switched to a small whiteboard, which made tracking the grid much easier beacuse I could just wipe the board clean between matches. It helped keep everyone on the same page. Do you guys find that the whiteboard setup is as effective across different modes as it is on CW?

I was thinking more about the idea of playing a game over a fading signal. If both sides are trying to keep track of hits and misses, it seems like I would need a simple way to track who is supposed to shoot next without getting confused. What is the typical way to agree on who has the turn when the short exchange of calls is over? I worry about just guessing the next shot and messing up my own board. It all feels a little complicated to keep straight.

Update: tried the echo idea from the first reply last night, sending each shot with the previous result packed in. Worked way better than I expected, sync stayed solid through one fade. Ran into a new snag though. Mid-game I lost the guy entirely for about ten minutes. When he came back we had no clean way to resume. Is there a usual checkpoint move, like re-sending the last three exchanges and both sides confirm before continuing? That seems clunky but maybe fine.