"I have scarcely the faintest idea of an attack ... being made on us ... "

"The Grant and Sherman of 1864 would have relieved, for utter inefficiency, any general who had shown no more skill than the same Grant and Sherman did at Shiloh."

Much like the Civil War engagement it is modeled after, Fury in the West is hard to win, but very easy to lose. This may be unexpected for a simple game in which one army has caught the other by surprise, spread out and disorganized, but it is true. A round of FITW is wicked competition. It takes skill to orchestrate an army in play with all the tactical problems that effect maneuver and combat. While I mean to consider strategies and optimum play, these tactical problems should be understood first. They are central to any winning plans.

Probably the single most important consideration in Fury in the West, one believed to be "critical" by the designer, is the problem of straggling. The farther and faster an army moves, the quicker it will fall apart. This, more than anything else, will control where an army goes and what it can do once it arrives. Just moving from the Rebel starting line near See's Farm to Pittsburg Landing will cost half the strength of an average brigade - and that's with a leader. Wasted motion becomes combat strength thrown away. The one thing a player must do is make every move count.

Straggling Solutions

There are several ways to economize movement and gain some control over straggling. First, a player must always ask himself what his needs are each turn. Never use more brigades than you have to in gaining your immediate objectives. Those extra brigades can be resting, collecting stragglers. Every opportunity should be taken to do this.

A player, whether Union or Confederate, will be moving most of his army in a race to beat his opponent to certain positions. Look ahead when facing your units Changing a unit's facing is one or more hexes that brigade can't go. Remember that you will be wanting to go in one direction over several turns usually and that you don't have to have all your units facing exactly the same way. One helpful tactic is to have your brigades crisscross if that would save changing a brigade's front. This works particularly well if you have interior lines.

Always keep a reserve. With only sixteen to seventeen units to a side this will seem a great waste of strength, but it is almost a necessity. Not only does it allow a player to exploit unexpected breakthroughs, but that reserve also can be collecting stragglers, or replacing units nearly exhausted because of straggling. Thus you can keep your army's strength up by circulating units through an unengaged reserve. Make the reserve about a fourth of your army. You will lose count of the times you will be glad you did.

Of course General Officers will help movement. Many times it will be better to have units bunched up with leaders than to have a line of brigades filling every hex. This will be harder for the Union with only five officers for fifteen widely separated brigades. Yet that makes it all the more important. The Union army must get back together.

If the advanced rules are used, straggling can be avoided altogether by having brigades in column. It is a fast and painless way to move troops. Use it as much as possible, These rules also make roads very important to control. It should always be kept in mind when taking ground.

Even combat is overshadowed by the need to maneuver. In FITW combat is rather hard to understand because of the unique, but well done combat results table (CRT). If two things are remembered, the CRT will never give you unexpected results:

1. Never look for favorable results at lower than 3-1 odds. Even at 5-1 using the "A" or "B" columns, there is the possibility of the attacker routing.

2. Maneuver will win the day more readily than combat. Never attack more than necessary - any combat is going to cost you men and it always involves the risk of failure.

All these problems must be considered and controlled or one will find the game lost with even the best strategy. Any successful plan will enhance the problems of movement for the enemy while minimizing your own. Now, let's look at the situation and possible strategies.

THE FIRST DAY: Confederate strategies

"Hit hardest on the right flank and roll up the Union lines, separating them from the Landing at Pittsburg ... "

General Johnston's plan has much to recommend it. He lost the battle because he lost control of his army. If one looks at the game board with the Union Army of the Tennessee spread out on it, the advantages of Johnston's plan become obvious. If the board is divided down the middle, North to South, the Confederate Right faces only six of the sixteen Union brigades, and two of the five leaders. Three of those six brigades are several moves from their respective leaders. The Federal defenders on the Confederate Right are scattered over ground containing none of the slopes or creeks enjoyed by the Union divisions on the Left. Most of the roads leading to the real Confederate goal, Pittsburg Landing, are on the Right. In addition to this, the Landing is closer to the Confederate starting line on the Right. Though an attack on the Left could be entertained for its novel and unexpected qualities, it is clear that the best possibilities for success are on the Right.

The Confederates cannot allow their attack to become spread out as it did under Johnston. There should be one point of attack where overwhelming numbers can be brought to bear. I have had success as the South attacking only four units the first turn, especially using the advanced game rules. Peabody, Miller, Raith and Hildebrand should be attacked, the first two brigades with as much strength as possible. The rest of the Blue 1st and 5th Divisions are ignored, one brigade being delegated to watch the left flank. Miller, a weak brigade, stands a good chance of being eliminated, while Peabody routs. The attacks on Raith and Hildebrand should be successful, but their main purpose is to dam up McClernand and Sherman.

As the attack develops in the following turns, the Confederate player will find that he has gained interior lines, a position that will help him stay concentrated. If a division is used to screen Sherman and McClernand, any defenders on the Confederate Right will be heavily outnumbered. The subsequent drive on the Sunken Road (turn 2) Tillghman Creek (turn 4) and finally Pittsburg Landing has a good chance of catching the 2nd and 4th Union divisions before they can form any effective defensive line. Once the Purdy-Hamburg/Eastern Corinth Road Junction is taken (turn 2 or 3), the South's interior lines will keep the widely dispersed Union forces from concentrating. It will also force a third of the Union army, Sherman and McClernand, to either attempt a spoiling attack on the Southern forces around Rea's Farm or to march around the edge of the board to support the weak line developing behind Tillghman Creek. Both choices will take time and cost stragglers and casualties. the most important thing for the rebel player to remember is that Pittsburg Landing, not destroying enemy units, remains the prime objective of the assaults the first day. All but two brigades can move with an officer. If the Army of the Mississippi stays concentrated, it should be able to quickly reach the landing in force, certainly quicker than the disorganized Yankees.

Union Strategies:

"Not until our cartridge boxes were emptied and we had borrowed from the wounded and dead was the thought of retreat entertained; then at 2:15 pm the retreat was ordered. The Confederates did not follow."

A great deal of what the Union player can do will be dependent upon Confederate decisions. However, there are some general strategic considerations that will help lend some coherence to the disparate situation. there are sixteen brigades organized into five divisions. The Union can hope to have ten of these available to defend the Sunken Road line. To gain time, Prentiss' division, Stuart's brigade and parts of McClernand's force must be sacrificed as in the original battle. If done intelligently, these units can break up the Confederate concentration of brigades even while 'being destroyed. If placed properly, these units will force the South to take time to correct facings and gather units around leaders before assaulting the Sunken Road further South. If the Rebel forces can be held up before the Sunken Road for three turns, Wallace's division can form on the Road, with the Nonbrigaded infantry to the East and McClernand's division to the West. Sherman's response will depend on the Southern attacks, but the division will have to withdraw to aid the defense of Pittsburg Landing. Hurlbut's 4th division can be delegated to a reserve status behind Wallace's position on the Sunken Road. It sounds easy, but it will very seldom work that well. This also assumes the Confederate attack comes on the Union Left. If Sherman is attacked, it will be relatively easy to form McClernand behind him with Wallace as reserve. Prentiss and the three brigades in the northeast corner of the board should be able to form on the Sunken Road.

The Southern player should be forced to spread out his main attack, looking for the vulnerable flanks of your defensive line. Also the Union player must coerce the Rebels Into moving as much as possible, making him come to the Federal defenses.

Having forced the Confederates into moving and diluting their attack strength, the Yankees can withdraw to another position and start the process all over again. Save all the strength you can for the inevitable showdown at the end of the day near Pittsburg Landing. Be tenacious and don't be afraid to counterattack if it will disorganize the Rebels.

STRATEGIES THE SECOND DAY:

"The sun of Austerlitz had set. It was the sun of Waterloo struggling through the gloomy mist of the morn."

If there is a second day of Shiloh it means the South has failed to take the landing. There will be long lines of brigades strung out at the North end of the board. The strategy for the Union will be to take advantage of their great superiority in strength and numbers of units. Force the Rebels to defend everywhere, then use a reserve to exploit any break in the Rebel line. The Southern player should not attempt to keep a line of units from board edge to board edge. Keep a reserve that offers a threat of counterattacks, thus keeping the Union unbalanced. Fall back when outflanked. if the Union army is forced to make end runs against each defensive line, much Yankee movement will result, but little of it will be forward. The Grey brigades must hold on to the campsites if any sort of victory is to be saved.

Just as it was for every Civil War battle ever fought, the winner in FITW will be the one who keeps the best control of his army and the conditions that eat away at its strength. Unlike the majority of my gaming experience, a player can learn many successful strategies and tactics for Battleline's Fury in the West by studying the successes and failures of the original armies at Shiloh.