Don't forget your civvies! Civilians in AQotMF

 One aspect of the game I think has been underutilized is the effect civilians can have on the game of AQotMF. There are some scenarios and some good fan based games that do somewhat expand their use on this forum in the battle report section. I want to propose a facet of their use that hasn't been fully explored. THE REAL PURPOSE OF CIVVIES IS TO GET IN YOUR WAY, TIE UP VITAL TRAFFIC POINTS AND PANIC. This mostly applies to the human player of course but is an additional food source for the Martians (shudder). One can look to history for examples of what civvies are good at. The western powers during the early years of WWII had to contend with civvies blocking vital roadways, blocking firing lanes etc. The great Belgian refugee flight of WWI is another example. Below, I have included what I use in my games to simulate civilian traffic and obstruction problems for the human forces but at the same time being a tastier snack for the Martian race . 

 At the beginning of the game the GM or someone who controls the Martians places the 8 arrow counters designated 1-8 on the table edges. Each road edge has priority except as stated above, any roads leading off the humans deployment area do not. Only one road (if any) going off the deployment edge is the destination for safety if no waiting transportation is on the board. As stated before all points for the civvies to get to should be placed towards the humans board edge to make it a game. I usually place two counters on roads as this is more likely to be their route of fleeing. Each arrow other than that must be at least 6" from each other. You can also place them in major building area like a town or farm complex, be sensible.  

After each full turn, move any civilian traffic along roads and always towards evacuation points that you must designate on the game board. A ferry, train station, stationary train or perhaps a road end on a board edge that promises to lead to greater safety. This should try to be the farthest point from where all civilians will be entering. If there are any civilians within 30" of a martian unit and in its line of sight they must roll morale. If they fail, use the civilian template to see which direction they flee in. Something we've added is if there is a human unit ( not a blip) between the civvie unit and the Martian unit they don't have to roll, your choice if you want to add this rule or not. Aim the threat arrow on the template towards the enemy unit that is causing the panic and roll a D10. That is the direction the civvie unit moves (notice its twice the rate). If more than one enemy unit fulfills the parameters for a panic, the civilians will always react to the closest unit. If they don't panic, they resume their movement towards the designated evacuation points. Regardless of the height of the enemy, human forces will never fire over civvie units. Firing over civvies is permitted by any artillery whether direct or barrage. BTW, in my games civvie units are 3 elements strong and must stay within 1 inch of each other.

Next is checking for additional civilians fleeing on to the game board. Before the game starts and the arrows have been placed, shuffle the civvie deck. The deck starts to be used if a D6 is rolled and a modified 6 is rolled. Turn 1 is a +1 up to turn 3 (+3). If not, civvies automatically start coming on turn 4. If a "1" is rolled at any civvie reinforcement roll no card is picked for that turn. Civvies come on until the game ends early or the cards are exhausted. You can vary the card count to reflect higher areas of population. Perhaps the game board is close to a major city, or perhaps its a rural area so less cards are needed. Custom mix the deck to what your game represents. If coming on the board, the human player rolls a D10. 1-8 place 3 elements of civilians at the designated point. Follow the card instructions as there may be more than 1 unit. If a 9 is rolled the Martian player gets to choose where. If a 10 the human player gets placement. The civilian unit makes one standard move onto board. They only double move when panicking.

Any movement by either side through civilians is considered difficult terrain. Example: a unit of tanks is moving down the road to get through some woods to deploy to take on some tripods. They move through a group of civilians on the road heading towards a train that is taking civilians to Market City (offboard). The tanks have to take a penalty for difficult terrain because the population is clogging the road. BTW civvies always move out of the way but still clog everything up. Only rule that must be maintained by the civvie unit is the 1" separation rule.

"Well Gunny, you've bored me to death, what's the point to all this?" Can't argue with that but I'll try. It's about victory points. Whether its a matter of honor and decency for the humans or a tasty meat sack lunch for the Martians, its all a matter of extra victory points. I use a VP level of 5 Points for each element. This way it makes it hard for each side to ignore. Perhaps being that much in value, if focused upon the extra points, may be a factor. Notice in the original rules they were only objectives.  

Below are the cards and templates. Use as a guide or make your own! Please give me credit!
                                                                                                         Respectfully,
                                                                                                             Gunny