The March issue of GAME NEWS reviewed South Mountain, West End Games' simulation of the Civil War battle. The reviewer praised the game but lamented the few player notes. True enough: after a long historical article, glossary, summary of numerical information, designer notes, and the actual rules, there was room for only a couple of paragraphs of guidance on strategy. Now, fortunately, we have a chance to fill that gap by presenting the ideas of six persons who have played the game many times. Each person has contributed his answers to a number of questions, and these answers have been combined in the form of a roundtable discussion. This round-table format was especially appropriate to South Mountain, because the most important fact about the game's strategy is that there are many good strategies. Everybody has his own ideas of how to approach those mountain passes, and all the ideas have merit. Each game develops in several stages with each side's choices at any stage influencing future plans. But first an overview of the position on that morning of September 14, 1862 in the Maryland hills. The Confederates have three strengths: terrain, time, and a small number of good units. Much of the map is high or wooded ground, difficult to maneuver over. The Union has to clear a large part of the board in order to win. Thus the situation is excellent for a delaying defense: hold them back just far enough until sundown. The combat rules punish the person who attacks uphill, something the Union will have to do frequently. For much of the game, the Confederates can actually have close to equal strength at critical points. if s only when the full Union force comes up that the Union has superior numbers. Once fully deployed, those superior numbers are truly awesome. And therein lies the main Union advantage. The Union artillery is especially powerful when used in mass. It can often be decisive in the fight between Turner's Gap and Zittlestown. The first important play question is: how should the Confederates set up? The Union has three uninterrupted moves at the start of the game, allowing him to march right up to the Confederate positions, so the Rebel must be very careful with his deployment. One favored strategy puts heavy weight to the right, with one brigade each at Fox's and Turner's Gaps and only one unit guarding the northernmost route. Henry: Using this set- up I try to force the Kanawha Division to fight hard for Fo)es Gap, and deny him the use of another road (hex 3518) towards Turner's Gap, or at least make him fight hard for it. Rob: The weak left flank relies on the length of time a flank move by the Union would take to develop, and on the Confederates' ability to make a strong counterattack there. Mark S.: I am less inclined to attach importance to Fox's Gap, due to its great distance from most of the victory hexes and from the Confederate reinforcements. 11 would place only Rosser here and use the remainder of the Southern force to defend Turner's Gap heavily and prevent a flank move through hex 3917 or hex 3418. Throughout the game the Union has the burden of attack. Most players agree his first move should be towards Fox's Gap, since the Kanawha can usually take that objective and usually can't take and hold the others. Randy: I will attempt the capture of hex 3514 if the approach is held by only one unit or if I feel very lucky. I believe the risk is worthwhile to gain the extra victory point. The battle for Fox's Gap, or possibly a different objective, occupies the first eight turns. How should the Union then plan his approach for the mid-game (turns 9-13)? A typical plan is to send one or two divisions down the Old Sharpsburg Road, then one or two down the National Road, and finally one or two down the Old Hagerstown Road. Henry: Bringing my reinforcements on in this way allows me to start my flanking movement [on the union right] as soon as possible. Rob: I want to keep the Confederates busy defending a wide front, while putting most of my pressure on Turner's Gap and the Confederate right. Another point is that all Union reinforcements should be force marched. Randy: The Union player needs to concentrate along two paths of advance and not be tempted to stray. I know many players who advocate a three-pronged advance but I believe the Kanawha Division and the cavalry are sufficient units to allocate to the left. Mark K.: The Union has so many units that very careful planning is required to get the most from them. Keep command control in mind. Mark S.: Should the Union player take hex 3514 with the Kanawha Division, Turner's Gap becomes immediately untenable and once it falls, Foxes Gap must follow. A thrust toward Monument Hill might then be mounted by the end of the middle game phase. Mark K.: I like to get together a "Grand Battery" of ideally four or five Union artillery units, with a couple of infantry to guard their flanks, and just keep pounding away at some position the Confederate has to hold. When the Confederate is then weakened, send in the infantry reserves. Tom: It is very important for the Confederates to keep units out of the line of sight of Union artillery. Don't sit on the edge of a ridge if Union artillery is out. Henry: The Union player should stack highmorale units together with an artillery unit, ready to strike rapidly at the flank of any fire-trap setup or to exploit any break in the Confederate line. Meanwhile, how should the Confederate player use these turns? The middle game is full of opportunities for him; it is the last time he will have anything like equal strength in action. Randy: The Rebel player needs to counterattack during turns 9-13. He needs to inflict as many casualties as possible before the Union player can effectively place his artillery ... Use hit and run tactics. Whittle a couple of units off a Union division with a quick assault and then retreat to a good defensive position. Other players favor a less aggressive approach. Henry: One has to keep in mind that the defensive position in the Civil War, as long as it was a strong one, was often the best position to occupy ... With the proper placement of both infantry and artillery hexes 2914, 3014, and 3114 can be turned into real killing grounds. The same applies to hexes 3011, 3110, 2617, 2713, and 3713. Rob: A defender usually is dealing with two factors-time and space. The Confederates can't afford to give up space, so they have to gain time ... The best line of defense is the first ridge line. The terrain offers the defenders the best fields of fire, and the attackers must charge uphill in rough terrain. I would defend this line to the last man even if the Union is threatening an encirclement. The Rebels have to hold this position until turn 15, at least, or turn 17, at best. Mark K.: Hold the area near Turner's Gap to the last, because it affords your units lateral movement to reinforce critical sectors. Mark S.: Turner's Gap should be held as long as possible, but not to the last man. Many of the Confederate player's reiriforcing units are not of the same good quality as those he begins the game with. He will need those good units when he is trying to hold his westernmost line. Tom: If the Confederate player can avoid losses, this puts the Union in the position of having to capture three victory point hexes west of Turner's Gap in addition to all those east of the road through Zittlestown. Sacrificing troops not only gives the Union easy victory points, but also means you'll not have enough troops available to defend in the really tough terrain. Rob: As long as there are slightly warm bodies (i.e., 4-or 5-hit pieces) to throw in the way of the Union on turns 17-19, the Confederate has an even chance of winning. Randy: It is crucial for the Confederates to hold the lines along the roads for as long as possible. He needs to force the Union player to waste time climbing the steep hills. I would then retreat to the hex row just behind the ridge that is south of Turner's Gap. Tom: The guiding principle should be to defend as far forward as possible, provided you will not likely be destroyed. For sixstep units this means defend as far forward as you can without being surrounded ... the four-step units should be kept in less vulnerable areas and pulled back as soon as they've taken a loss. It is generally agreed that if the Rebels can hold the line of hexes 3813-3514-3013-2513 as long as turn 14, then they have a good chance of winning. The gray clad units will be much battered but the Union player will be too far away from the western objectives to reach them even after the Rebel line collapses. The Union player, in contrast, should hope to have taken two or three objectives -especially Turner's Gap-or be close to doing so. In the final turns, well... Mark S.: Once those reinforcements arrive, the Northern player must attack and keep it up. Don't hang back for recovery unless you have to. You have the larger army, but not much time. Randy: Whatever the Southern layer defends the most strongly the Union player goes the other way. if the Rebels are strongly defending Monument Hill, then the Union will win by taking hexes 2609 and 2909. Henry: The road and trail network favors hexes 2609-2909 for a Union attack much more than Monument Hill. In the 10+ games I've played, the Union never took Monument Hill. (No, I wasn't playing the Union all of those times.) Mark K.: I've seen the Union win only with Monument Hill. Usually the last few turns decide control of this area and ultimately the game. Rob: I've seen no pattern at all to the Union victories. We are deeply grateful to our five panelists for the time and careful thought they contributed to this article. Jon Southard is co-designer of South Mountain which won the Charles Roberts Award for the best pre-20th century board game. Game box and board photographs are used with permission of West End Games Inc. South Mountain, 1984, is a product of West End Games Inc. Back to Table of Contents -- Game News #7 To Game News List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com