Re: bayonettes are too a useful device

You wrote: 

>Actually, Practical Wargamer included a set of rules for crowds and 
mobs in a >recent issue. It was a simple set of rules that spanned 
several eras. The way >they had it set up, it looked rather 
interesting. Putting a mob in the middle >of a two-way battle could be 
an interesting, if chaotic, game.

Sounds cute--but how realistic?  How often do crowds seriously resist 
troops trying to put them down?  Maybe I'm just thinking US crowds, but 
IIRC in LA once the Guard showed up with the armored Hummers w/ machine 
guns on top, the city got real quiet real fast.  It's of course 
different in places like Northern Ireland where you have serious 
terrorists manipulating the crowd and providing backbone as well as 
sniper and bomb-throwing support to the riot.

>Of course, it assumed that there was no crowd control. The crowd was 
already >beyond control... :-)

All it takes is one .50 cal to regain control.	Really, most mobs have 
no stomach for real fighting.  They're just there to loot something.

Besides, who wants to paint up a couple hundred (small mob) civillian 
figures for use in a one-off sort of scenario?

<topic change>
On the other hand. . . Civillians might come in handy for some 
Stargrunt scenarios.  Patrol walks on one side of the board, into 
villiage, and begins searching for arms and supplies.  Most of the 
civillian figures just wander around the board aimlessly and/or try to 
get out of the troop's way, but a few draw weapons and take aim. . . 
Once a shot is fired all legitemate civillians begin rushing out of the 
villiage by shortest route, even if that accidentally takes them in 
line of fire.  Government troops gain three points per guerilla killed, 
10 points per arms or food cache located, loose four per soldier 
killed, 1 per guerilla who escapes off-board after firing at the 
troops, and 1 per civillian killed or injured.	Guerillas may not 
target civillians deliberately.  Throw in booby traps, experience rolls 
to realize certain civillians 'don't look right', and other nasty 
tricks.  Note also that kids tend to flock around troops that don't 
have a reputation for brutality (see: US Army in Europe during WWII) 
and if one of them happens to have grenade. . . And don't forget that 
baby carriages make a good place to hide weapons, with or without baby 
included.  Of course anyone who'd actually use this scenario idea is 
sick, but that doesn't exclude many wargamers I know.  Just don't give 
me credit when your rampaging troops flatten the entire villiage.  
Should be a reaction roll(s) to see if your troops get a little out of 
hand and flatten anything that moves (and civillians who've watched too 
many movies have no tactical sense--they run when a sane man hugs the 
ground).

John M. Atkinson