Civilians in scenarios

[skypig53]

I just recieved an order of mujahadeen and some civilians and I'm trying to work some modifications into the GHQ Modern Rules to make the civilians an integral part of the scenario, and no, not as targets. I remember there was a pretty heated debate not too long ago over GHQ adding civilians to its line of figures. Lots of griping over the horrors of war and baby killers blah blah blah. Politics and real world atrocities aside, has anyone used the new figures in any scenarios?

I was just thinking about all the interesting, and possibly difficult, twists they could add to a game. Has anyone implemented crowd control rules, special victory conditions in regards to civilian casualties/collateral damage, ie. none allowed? What about having a civilian populace that are not just sheep but have leanings towards a certain side of the conflict, thus hindering or helping one or the other?

Just curious, not trying to start a debate or anything.

[1ComOpsCtr]

Civilians play a critical role in all "current" scenarios. If they don't the simulation or game isn't based on the reality of today's warfare. Those gamers who don't understand that are just "playing war"...

http://commandoperationscenter.com/serv011.htm

The above link takes you to our "basic information" section that gives participants a little information prior to each exercise for NATO forces entering the Balkan Theater of operations. A much more detailed "read ahead" is supplies 48 hours prior to the actual exercise, and mission specific information is supplied when the unit's commander wants the information to be presented to his staff...

Civilians are considered in detail (follow links at bottom of page) with detailed bios, etc., provided and in most simulations an active participant (inter-actor) participates and is encountered in miniature on the terrain board, via cell phone, through video conferencing, plus live action encounters on location or boardside.

Every local faction with significant influence is represented, though in a wargame based on GHQ's representative rules the level of importance can be scaled back, or up, as necessary based on how much you want the civilians to influence the game...

Will

[Timothy OConnor]

How does an insurgent move from place to place in the face of overwhelming regular force firepower? Well, in most cases he blends in with the population and moves anywhere he wants while avoiding close contact/scrutiny by the regular forces. On the other hand, this also means trying to remain inconspicuous so running around with weapons or driving in technicals is usually not a good idea.

Here's how our group has used civilian stands in modern wargaming. (I mark my game matt in 4" x 4" squares...just indicate a proximity/distance in inches for other rules). Basically they are a special type of terrain which provides safety for the insurgents but which flee once the fighting starts.

1. Regular forces may not fire into a square containing insurgents if the square contains a civilian stand

2. Regular forces may assault into a square containing insurgents and a civilian stand at which point the civilian stand flees the scene/is removed from the table. Of course since the insurgent stand is not pinned/suppressed it will get to attack first in the assault (this represents the regular force conducting a search of the area and being ambushed by the insurgents).

3. If an insurgent stand opens fire from/through/into a square containing a civilian stand the civilian stand(s) flees the scene/is removed from the table.

The result of all this is that insurgent stands can hide/maneuver while the civilians are around and while avoiding close contact with the regulars. But once the regulars close in or the insurgents open fire then the insurgents usually have only a brief window to inflict hits on the regulars before they must break contact or be overwhelmed with regular firepower. This is especially true since the insurgents are generally less skilled and less well equipped than the regulars.

When insurgents are forced to attack they're in a real pickle. They can usually safely move up to a regular force position in a town. But if they try to assault into a regular held square they're usually toast. If they open up their fire is usually ineffective against regulars holding the fort in prepared positions, the civilan stands flee, and the insurgents get pummeled. So, their best opportunity is to hit regulars who are on the move or to hit soft targets such as infrastructure to draw regulars into an ambush. (That's why scenario victory conditions and set-up are so important.)

We also have used special hidden event markers placed under the civilians markers to represent booby traps, very small insurgent ambushes, informants, etc. As regular forces move through squares containing civilian stands they must reveal and resolve the event marker below the stand (eg resolve an IED attack, resolve a close assault by a hidden insurgent ambush, use an informant marker to reveal a special event marker in another square, etc.).

We've also used civilian markers to hinder the insurgent side. In one scenario the insurgent players started only with their leader stands. These stands then needed to move from civilian square to civilian square to look for their troop stands (special event markers). If they found an IED marker they ignored it and simply declared it a "blank". If an informant event marker they could remove it from play.

In the absence of civilian stands insurgent options are very limited and we're played such "free fire" scenarios too. In those cases the insurgents are forced to defend the interior of terrain features (rather than the edge which is more vulnerable to effective prep fires). When the regulars enter the feature the insurgents open up and then break contact as fast as possible.

John Poole has written several excellent books on this topic and are great source material for scenario development.

[skypig53]

Some excellent ideas which I'll definately have to incorporate into a scenario. Add those in with the concepts from the hidden movement thread and the "infidels" will certainly have their work cut out for them. I was considering adding a few rules for "observing suspicious activity". Perhaps special recon or elite stands could have a special die roll once per turn that would "compel" the insurgent forces within an area to show themselves. If the roll failed the insurgents would have the option to attack with the initiative or remain concealed.

I think the biggest, and most realistic, change one could make would be the use of restrictive ROE. If a certain percentage of civilian stands were harmed you could possibly forfeit the game , or even better, an equal percentage of stands could turn hostile and become enemy stands (Somalia).

The possiblities are endless and we need only watch the evening news for ideas (unfortunately).

[hauptgrate]

While I don't play modern, I have tried to adjust WWII scenarios based upon the impact of civilians. A very late war Eastern Front battle might be set up around the objective of German units protecting and/or escorting fleeing civilians to the rear. Often 1944 Western Front scenarios put a restriction on Allied artillery fire into towns. Another aspect I sometimes use is not necessary the civilians themselves, but a soldiers reaction to civilian life -- hence an infantry company coming into a town might lose a turn or two "searching" for hidden stashes of valuables and alcohol. Several times we have played with a random events chart on which rolls are made to determine if events such as that occur. It can present the player -- representing the battalion or regimental commander -- with some of the same sorts of problems faced by his historical counterparts. Perhaps the easiest way to model civilain "intrusions" into our nice, neat (and rather small) battlefields is to stretch out the scale time of game turns. After all, an overturned civilian car at the intersection, or a group of refugees, or the possibility of a sniper in the crowd can take real-world soldiers many minutes or even hours to deal with.

[Mk 1]

Civilians and the challenges they provide to commanders can be modelled in victory conditions too. This is often easier than putting in rules about how you can or can't treat them.

ie: Yes, you can fire artillery on the town. But under the game's victory conditions you loose 1/2 point for every civilian stand you kill, and 1 point for every civilian stand that you SEE killed by your own forces. (It is always easier to kill women and children if you don't see them dying. I know this sounds like morbid humor, but it is in fact a real battlefield phenominon. You must worry about the future combat effectiveness of any unit that has witnessed civilian casualties caused by their own actions. They will become gun-shy.)

You can also build civlians in to scenarios in more direct ways. One scenario I developed years ago, for modern (1980s) cold-war fighting, was to have a US force (typically one company combat team) protecting a town against a Soviet battalion attack. Inside the town there are several military transport trucks gathered at the town square, with two jeeps of MPs as escorts. There are civilian stands scattered throughout the town, as well as a few civilian vehicles. I would even add a taxi just for fun.

The US player has, as his primary objective (victory conditions), the preservation of his own forces AND the evacuation of the civilians. Points for each. The Soviet player has as his objectives (conditions) destruction of opposing forces (gets points for the military trucks, not for the civies), and geographic objectives (such as taking the town, or a bridge, or exiting the board, etc.)

The civilian stands are dormant unless "activated". To activate any given stand, the US player needs to throw a 1 or 2 on a D10, or to get an MP unit into base contact. Then the civies move at 1/2 infantry move rate towards the town square, where they board the trucks. Civie stands that are in houses with civie vehicles can choose to use those vehicles instead of walking to the trucks. Civies who are left if the convoy leaves without them can take their own vehicles if they have them, or can make their way to the taxi and try to escape in that.

The US player must then decide when to have the MPs lead the convoy of trucks and civie vehicles away. Any vehicle that is NOT controlled by an MP vehicle in front AND behind (as in not within the convoy) must throw at every intersection it comes to, with an equal chance of taking each turn that is available to it (in other words, it will NOT wind up going the way you want it to).

The whole battle that the US player will fight will change in this scenario.

It would easily be adapted to other national forces (British leaving the German civies behind without concern = extra points? French only get points for evacuating the pretty young ladies?), or for other periods.


I collected many of my civie vehicles, and painted up a fair number of civie figures, specifically for this scenario. But I never did play it.

[skypig53]

Your civilian escort scenario brings up another possibility for modern gamers, Non-combatant Evacuation Operations. Recent events in Lebanon are perfect examples of such operations. NEO operations are one of the trademark missions of Marine Expeditionary Units. They are required training exercises during work-ups for a MEU to get its Special Operations Capable designation. The MEU(SOC) has been a major player in the majority of these operations for the last few decades in places like Sierra Leone, Somalia, Monrovia, etc. They primarily rely on transport aircraft and boots on the ground so you won't see much armor (unless your opponent has it) but I'm sure it would be a short, interesting game for those who simply enjoy re-creating actual historical events.

If you wanted to do something on a grand scale you could always run a Fall of Saigon Scenario.

[chrisswim]

Fortunately, I just play war.

[Cpl_Blakeman]

Your civilian escort scenario brings up another possibility for modern gamers, Non-combatant Evacuation Operations. Recent events in Lebanon are perfect examples of such operations. NEO operations are one of the trademark missions of Marine Expeditionary Units. They are required training exercises during work-ups for a MEU to get its Special Operations Capable designation. The MEU(SOC) has been a major player in the majority of these operations for the last few decades in places like Sierra Leone, Somalia, Monrovia, etc. They primarily rely on transport aircraft and boots on the ground so you won't see much armor (unless your opponent has it) but I'm sure it would be a short, interesting game for those who simply enjoy re-creating actual historical events.

If you wanted to do something on a grand scale you could always run a Fall of Saigon Scenario.

Another possible scenario might be to have Marine Embassy guards in a now hostile country have to hold out against insurgents and angry civilians till a CH-46/53/Huey gets there to evacuate the VIPs. The Marines have to identify the insurgents and suppress them while not harming the mob of civilians. There is a movie about this but the name escapes me atm.

[voltigeur]

Some where in this thread someone mentioned ROE (Rules of Engagement).

I have often wondreed how you can get players to observe those. How would you put some teeth to the rule that says not to shoot up civilians especially if the rule set doesn't directly address it.

I like the idea that civilian stands be rolled for to see if they become insurgent! It is just soo wrong. Imagine a stand turning in the middle of a press of civilians and the US forces can't return fire. [/quote]

[skypig53]

There is a movie about this but the name escapes me atm.

Rules of Engagement was the movie you are referring to. The premise is a little goofy if you ask me. They never would have opened fire like that in a real world scenario. They just would have continued taking casualties until everyone was out. If that had actually happened they would have crucified the commander regardless of whether or not the civilians had weapons. The Marine Corps is very sensitive when it come to public perception and opinion. They have to since every few presidents wants to merge them into the army. America has a Marine Corps because the American People want a Marine Corps.

As far as scenarios go, I think it would be a great scenario for just killing an hour or two. It certainly would not drag on for hours and hours until someone's wife called and they had to go home. A few infantry stands, some aircraft and maybe a Hummer or two, but like I said before the only armor would be the enemies' armor.

[/quote]

[Cpl_Blakeman]

I never understood why the embassy guard doesn't carry riot squad type gear anyway. CS gas and some rubber shotgun shells and you could really clear out the non combatant crowds.

Anyway, another thing would be to have a field hospital under attack and only minimal defenders. Then have some reserve forces come on after a random amount of turns.

Thanks for the name of that movie, I agree it wasn't a good movie, but might be fun to play as a quickie.

[skypig53]

I'm going to purchase some blackhawks and little birds so I can game Operation Gothic Serpent, aka. Blackhawk Down. Mark Bowden's book of the same name has some pretty good maps in it so It shouldn't be hard to put together on a board. The force was so small that I might be better off using a 1:1 ratio. Coming up with hundreds of civilians and combatant stands is going to be a challenge though. It will be interesting to see if things turn out the same or if I will have to "crash" a blackhawk as part of a scenario.

[Cpl_Blakeman]

I don't know if they still do this but Leatherneck magazine used to have a hypothetical command scenario in the back of each magazine. It would be interesting to adapt some of those into scenarios, I know at least a few had some civilian involved as well.

I thought of a scenario that would involve a small town that needs to be evacuated before the enemy forces move through. You would need civilian stands and a few buses and prime movers but it would be interesting.

[skypig53]

I remember a previous thread that said the Marine Corps Gazette has those articles about scenarios and problem solving.