Urbcoin is the capital city of the small country of Ruritania. It is a large cosmopolitan place. It population is politically literate and has widely varying views of what is right and wrong.
The government is fairly right-wing, with strong views on law and order -- but Ruritania is a democracy. (Although the current President did come to power as a result of a legality, engineered by his uncle who runs one of the provinces, and influenced by his father who was previously head of the secret police).
There is some small scale terrorism -- from time to time a bunch of separatists hold a bombing campaign, but they lack widespread support, and are more of a thorn in the side than a threat to the state.
Some political groups on the Left are violently opposed to President Shrub and his party -- and will protest and even act violently to express that opposition.
Player Roles
- Police Area Commander - in overall charge of police operations
Senior Patrol Commander - in charge or regular uniformed police
Riot Squad commander - in charge of specially trained riot police
SWAT Commander - in charge of heavily armed SWAT team
Paramedic and Fire-fighters player
Situation
It is Friday 21 June. The Democracy And Freedom Today Movement is protesting over the Ruritanian Government’s involvement in a foreign war. They are strongly of the opinion that their President is a poodle for the Americans and British warmongers. A recent military operation in far-off Baltistan has really got people steamed up.
The Movement has applied for and received permission to hold a march and demonstration - following an agreed route which runs as follows:
- Assembly in Western Leisure Park - with a rally and speeches.
Then the route is Grave Bridge - Canalside Boulevard - Thompson Road - City Square - Palestrina Park (demonstration outside Government Offices), then move off and disperse south down Central Boulevard.
Police Resources and Deployment
The following units are available for crowd control on the day:
- 3 Serials of regular patrol police on foot (10 each)
4 Van loads of riot-equipped regular police (8 each)
4 Van loads of specialist riot police (8 each)
1 van load of SWAT (8)
4 Ambulances with paramedics
2 fire engines and crew.
Reinforcements are available -- but that take time to arrive. These must be requested formally by the Area Commander himself, and there must be a good reason because they obviously have to be taken off other duties. The delays are time elapsed after the request. Obviously, the fewer reinforcements players ask for, the more successful their policing.
- 4 moves delay -- 4 car loads of regular police (4 each)
8 moves delay -- 2 van loads of regular police with riot equip ment (8 each)
12 moves delay -- 2 van loads of regular police (8 each)
16 moves delay -- 2 van loads of regular police (8 each)
The demonstration is expected to attract around 12 ‘crowds’ of about 20 figures each. These are expected to be peaceful and not much trouble. Heavy-handed policing might cause them to become troublesome -- so initial deployment should be done carefully.
Game Control Only
Notes for Game Control
Setting up the game - the players can deploy their resources on the map - the area you actually game over will depend on the table size and models you have.
The chief player - the Area Commander - should discuss with the other players how they are to deploy, and who is responsible for what.
What the players should not be told at the outset is that a proportion of the crowds want to demonstrate outside the US and British embassies - and to paint the War memorial with anti-war slogans. They probably won’t mind taking on the police either. So the playing area is more likely to be the war memorial and embassy district.
However, player decisions might manage to contain the protesters until they get to the demo in Palestrina Square - in which can the frustrated demonstrators will try and break back towards the war memorial.
Start up with 12 crowds - though if you can raise more crowds - up to 16 or so, that will be fine. All crowds start out at RL of 5. If the SF don’t do anything of annoy them, they will mostly follow the agreed route.
If a crowd encounters an unblocked route to the war memorial, they will take it as a preference. You may arbitrarily designate 6 crowds at RL of 6 if they encounter a blockage between them and the war memorial.
With any luck the players will annoy the crowds and this won’t be necessary. If you want to generate some additional problems for the players - here are some optional suggestions:
- 1. There is the annual Summer Solstice meeting of Druid Society in the bar on the corner of Gordon Street and Central Boulevard - a crowd or robed and hooded people will gather there at some point during the day. They have always met here and cannot put their meeting off to another day (it is the solstice, after all).
2. Military intelligence has a tip-off that the Separatists are planning at attack on the Army Barracks on the day of the big demo. The police have to be on alert for car bombs or even a sniper.
3. Horrid’s Department Store has just opened it’s Summer Sale. 2 crowds of enthusiastic shoppers hoping for a bargain are to be found around the store.
Civil Disorder Wargame Rules for Civil Disturbance
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