FIRE and FURY, a set of historical miniatures rules (or the American Civil War, was released in July, 1990. The scale is grand tactical, with the unit of maneuver being a brigade of infantry or cavalry. Using FIRE and FURY, the largest battles of the war can be fought in a single gaming session. FIRE and FURY also contains five scenarios for recreating the Battle of Gettysburg. For your gaming pleasure we present the following scenario which recreates the First Day Battle of Shiloh. In March 1862, two months after Union victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, the Union theater commander, General Halleck, ordered General Buell's Army of the Ohio to Savannah, TN and General Grant's Army of the Tennessee to Pittsburg Landing, along the Tennessee River about nine miles away. The Two Union forces intended to join and move against Johnston's Confederate Army of the Mississippi in Corinth, MS in mid-April. Johnston, well aware of Federal movements, decided to attack Grant's force before Buell's troops could join him. On the afternoon of 3 April over 40,000 Confederate troops divided into four corps, marched out of Corinth. Two dirt roads led through thick forests to the Shiloh Church, 22 miles away, but heavy rains turned them into bogs. It wasn't until the afternoon of the 5th that the Confederate Army reached a point near the Union lines. Johnston postponed his attack until the next morning. Grant's 33,000 men were camped in line of battle. Two divisions in front held a 2-mile sector, with two more in support ing positions behind, and one in reserve. A sixth division was six miles to the north. It was not a good position. Grant's Army was pocketed, with a river at its back, and deep creeks and swamps on each flank. Since the Army was on an offensive mission, it had not entrenched. There were few outposts in front, and very little cavalry patrolling was carried out. The Federals were unaware that the Confederate Army was spending the night just two miles away. On the 6th of April, Johnston's men moved early. Some federal troops turned out into their company streets from tents to fight. Some regiments fled to the safety of the river, but most fought stubbornly and yielded ground slowly. By the afternoon the Confederates had attained successes all along the line. But the attackers had become badly disorganized. Johnston had deployed his first three corps with divisions in line, so that each corps stretched across the battlefront, one behind the other. His reserve corps was split between both flanks. Such unwieldy formations could not be controlled in the dense terrain around Shiloh. Rebel Corps and Divisions ceased to exist as units, their commanders reduced to leading individual brigades. Johnston himself was mortally wounded after leading a local assault. Meanwhile, Union forces anchored their thin line on an area known as the Hornet's Nest. Its complete destruction took the Confederate Army five hours and bought Grant the time he needed to establish a final defensive line, backed by artillery, behind good terrain. General Beauregard, Johnston's successor, suspended the attack at dusk and attempted to reorganize his badly dispersed command. Although nearly defeated the Union took the initiative on the 7th. Fresh troops from Buell's Army of the Ohio and Grant's sixth division attacked on a broad front regaining the lost ground of the 6th and forcing the Confederates to fall back on Corinth. There was no pursuit. Shiloh was the bloodiest battle fought in North America up to that time. Of 62,000 Federals engaged on both days, 13,000 were casualties. The Confederates lost 11,700 men out of 37,000. Shiloh Scenario The following scenario is provided for refighting the first day battle of Shiloh. The scenario will take approximately 8-10 hours and can accommodate up to 9 players. Terrain Terrain should be laid out as shown on the scenario map. The battlefield will require a 6' by 8' gaming area. A scale of 1" represents approximately 60 yards. The areas on the map enclosed by dotted lines represent clearings. All other terrain areas are wooded and will effect combat, movement and line-of sight. Wooded terrain provides a —1 fire combat modifier for cover, and a + 1 charge combat modifier for defending favorable ground. The Peach Orchard blocks line-of-sight only. It does not effect movement, or provide favorable modifiers for the defender in either fire or charge combat. All streams and ponds are fordable along their entire length. Owl Creek and the Tennessee River are unfordable and the swamp on the south bank of Owl Creek is impassible. The stretch of road running from X to Y is a sunken road. During the actual battle this area of the battlefield saw heavy fighting and was called the "Hornet's Nest." Brigades and batteries deployed in the road receive a —2 cover modifier when fired upon, and a +2 defender modifier in charge combat. Starting positions The map indicates the starting positions of the units as of 0800 April 6th. Order of Battle (OB) A complete listing for each army is provided in the OB. Brigade strengths and effectiveness ratings and exceptional leader ratings are listed. Labels must be prepared for each brigade command stand, leader stand and battery stand before beginning the battle. One stand of infantry or cavalry represents 200 men. One artillery stand equals 8 guns. CONFEDERATE STARTING FORCES I Corps, Polk: Clark's Division, Clark -- Russell, Stuart, 1 battery. Cheatham's Division, Cheatham -— Johnson, Stephens, 2 batteries. II Corps, Bragg: Ruggles' Division, Ruggles -— Gibson, Anderson, 2 batteries. Withers' Division, Withers -— Gladden, Jackson, Chalmers, 2 batteries. III Corps, Hardee: Hindeman's Division, Hindeman -— Shaver, Cleburne, Wood, 3 batteries. UNION STARTING FORCES 5th Division, Sherman -— Hildebrand, Buckland, 2 batteries. 6th Division, Prentiss -— Miller, Peabody, 2 batteries. All other Union brigades are represented on the battlefield by an encampment as indicated on the map. Each encampment is represented by a row of 4 to 9 tents. Tents can be made simply by folding in half a 1" square piece of paper. The following brigade encampments must be represented: 1st Division — Hare, Marsh, Raith 2nd Division — Tuttle, McArthur, Sweeny 4th Division — Williams, Veatch, Lauman 5th Division — Buckland, Hildebrand, Stuart 6th Division — Peabody, Miller McDowell' s Brigade and 1 battery are considered to be encamped just off the map at location F and enter as reinforcements at 0830. Encamped brigade stands can be positioned randomly around their camps or kept off the board. Batteries are placed in a limbered mode where indicated on the map. A headquarters tent is also shown for the location of each division leader. Game Length Play begins with the Confederate 0800 turn and ends after the Union 1830 turn. Confederate Surprise Attack At start four brigades and four batteries of Prentiss' and Sherman's Divisions are deployed in the positions indicated on the map. Sherman is attached to Hildebrand's Brigade and Prentiss is attached to Miller's Brigade. At 0800 all Confederate units may move their full movement rate (minus penalties for terrain) without the required die roll on the Maneuver Table. This free movement applies only during the Confederate 0800 turn. On all subsequent turns each brigade must be rolled for on the Maneuver Table and move according to the effects rolled. Immediately after all Confederate movement is completed the Union brigades of Prentiss' and Sherman's Divisions under attack are rolled for on the Surprise Attack Table. The effects apply to the brigade rolled for and its attached artillery. After all surprise attacks have been rolled the next two phases of the Confederate turn are then completed. SURPRISE ATTACK TABLE 1-2: Surprised: Defenders are disordered/silenced and cannot fire in the next phase. Also defender modifiers are not applied for leaders, favorable ground and support. 3-8: Hasty alarm: Defensive fire is halved in the next phase. 9-11: Alerted: No effects upon the defender. Add a +1 when rolling for Peabody's Brigade On the Union 0800 turn only the leaders and units in Prentiss' and Sherman's Division that were under attack may move according to their die roll on the Maneuver Table. Beginning with the 0830 Union turn encamped leaders and units may form up and move out from their camps according to the following schedule. 0830 5th Division — Stuart 0900 All of 1st Division, McClernand and 4th Division, Hurlbut 0930 All of 2nd Division, W. Wallace and Artillery Reserve When released to move out, units and leaders may move their full movement rate that turn without the required die roll on the Maneuver Table. This free movement applies only on the first turn a unit moves out from its camp. On all subsequent turns each brigade must be rolled for on the Maneuver Table. Reinforcements Additional units and leaders march onto the battlefield during their turn, at the time and location listed. A brigade does not require a die roll on the Maneuver Table on the turn it moves onto the battlefield. All units except McDowell's Union Brigade and Pond's Confederate Brigade must enter in march column formation at the letter location specified on the map. McDowell may enter in any formation within 6" of location F. Pond may enter in any formation below location F. REINFORCEMENTS Time Location Leader/Unit CONFEDERATE 0800 D Reserve Corps — Bowen, 3 batteries 0800 E Reserve Corps, Breckinridge — Trabue, Statham, 2 batteries 0900 below F II Corps — Pond 1130 below F Cavalry — Wharton 1400 C Cavalry — Forrest UNION 0830 F 5th Division — McDowell, 1 battery 1430 River Gunboat Lexington 1730 River Gunboat Tyler 1730 A 3rd Division, L. Wallace — M. Smith, Thayer, Whittlesey, 2 batteries 1730 B Army of Ohio— 1st Division, Nelson - Ammen, Bruce, 1 battery Looting The first non-charging Confederate brigade to pass through or within 2" of each Union Camp must halt and end movement for that turn to "loot". A charging brigade, leaders and batteries do not stop to loot. The charging brigade must make contact with an enemy unit at the end of movement. Once a camp has been looted it is removed from the board. A unit that involuntarily retreats through a camp does not stop to loot. Albert Sidney Johnston Army commanders are normally not represented in the game. At Shiloh however, Confederate army commander Johnston aggressively led individual brigades into battle and was mortally wounded. Johnston should be represented by a leader stand. Johnston may move and attach to any brigade in the army, giving a +3 attached leader modifier on the Maneuver Table as well as a + 1 attached leader modifier in charge combat. Johnston cannot modify units when unattached. If Johnston should become a fallen leader or captured he is not replaced. Gunboats Two Union gunboats, the Lexington and Tyler, may be brought into play. The gunboats do not need to be represented by a model. They are considered to occupy any position along the river that the Union player chooses each time they fire. Each gunboat equals half of a Union battery. A gunboat may fire with canister (5 firepoints) at any Confederate target that moves within a 2" range of the river bank. A gunboat may also fire indirectly with shot and shell at half its firepoint value (1 point) at any unit within 16" without a clear line-of-sight to the target. The Confederates cannot fire at or attack the gunboats. The gunboats may combine fire at one target and may add their fire points to other fire combats. Victory Conditions The Confederate player wins by accomplishing one of the following objectives: 1. Inflict at least 20 casualty points on the Union army and obtain a 3:2 ratio in victory points over the Union. 2. Occupy Pittsburg landing with at least one non-spent infantry brigade and accumulate more victory points than the Union. The Union player wins by preventing the Confederate player from achieving both of these objectives. Shiloh Order of Battle and Tactical Map Back to The Zouave Vol V No. 1 Table of Contents Back to The Zouave List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 The American Civil War Society 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