6mm Scale Seven Pines Wargame

Рет қаралды 83,283

2 жыл бұрын

In this episode, Little Wars TV and Richmond National Battlefield Park refight the Battle of Seven Pines on the 160th anniversary. Seven Pines, also known as Fair Oaks, caught the Army of the Potomac by surprise on May 31st, 1862 and nearly ended in a rout. But timely Federal reinforcements and poor coordination by the Confederate commanders instead led to a stalemate. In today's 6mm scale wargame, we'll explore those variables and see if our players can rewrite history and learn from past mistakes. Will the Confederates find a way to coordinate their converging columns, and can the Federals hold on long enough for help to arrive? Let's find out!
Today's video is the culmination of our months-long "On to Richmond" series, a real-time look at McClellan's progress from Fort Monroe to the gates of Richmond. Though no one knew it at the time, McClellan's march to Richmond was destined to stop here, at the dirt crossroads of Seven Pines. We'll use this turning point in the Peninsula Campaign as a good place to step away from the American Civil War and turn our attention to wargaming other periods of military history.
But if you enjoyed the series and want to see us return for a future look at the next chapter in the story--Lee's counter-attack, known as the Seven Days--just let us know in the comments below. We read every comment! A huge thank you to our Patreon supporters for making this road trip to Virginia possible, and of course, THANK YOU to the amazing team at Richmond National Battlefield Park. They operate many historical sites in and around Richmond (some of which you saw in this video series!), so if you're looking for a great taste of Civil War history, pay them a visit.
www.nps.gov/rich
To learn more about the game rules on which today's wargame was based, check out our Live Free or Die tutorial video here:
• Learn to Play Live Fre...

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@christopherhunt1957 2 жыл бұрын

"I don't want to launch into a complicated 1862 strategy that has to converge on specific point at a specific time," (paraphrased quote)...Proceeds to set up a complicated, just-so 1862 plan. I'm glad it ultimately paid off. Great video. Great series.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Classic, right?

@NathanThomasHall 2 жыл бұрын

I like to think I did a completely accurate job in my role of portraying General James Longstreet, ha.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

@@NathanThomasHall Except you actually showed up to the battle on time! Unlike the historical Longstreet....

@TheCommunistColin 2 жыл бұрын

Loved seeing Candace's dragon reinforcements, that gave me a good laugh as a Warhammer player. 😂

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Both sides could have really used that dragon to roast the dense road columns arriving!

@anathardayaldar 2 жыл бұрын

I was half expecting someone to plonk down their minecraft portal to retcon the dragon.

@TheCommunistColin 2 жыл бұрын

@@LittleWarsTV If a fiery dragon breath attack came down on the Union columns, could you call that Lannister shot?

@reecedignan8365 2 жыл бұрын

You know what this means gentlemen, you have set a standard for yourselves. I hope the next major campaign you wish to do this with you can also conduct on location and bring just as much history and brightness too. Keep up the work my grand fellows,

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Appreciate that, Reece! We had a great time on this road trip and learned some lessons about how to improve if and when we ever do this kind of thing again. It was neat to try something new and experiment with a different format, blending the real time history with wargaming.

@mrhype1616 2 жыл бұрын

I’m very much looking forward to their Pyrrhus campaign coming up which I think will also raise the bar haha

@aaronsomerville2124 2 жыл бұрын

Really, really well done guys! It is so cool that you included the park rangers in the action. To me, one of the most educational things about wargaming is *using* the terrain... it's one thing to look at a map. It's another thing to have to put the features of that map into practical application.

@armchairwargamerz357 2 жыл бұрын

Really like the scenario, it shows well the chaos of communication and logistic. 6mm is the best to represent the scale of those battle. Starting a 6mm French Napoleonic army myself, I'm impressed with the amount of details you managed to put in those ACW 6mm miniatures. Good job!

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

You can get a lot of detail on 6mm figures--we have some really nice 6mm Napoleonic armies in the club. Much more colorful than the muted ACW armies, that's for sure! You'll have a blast painting the French.

@kyleroop692 2 жыл бұрын

I would love to see a 6mm napoleonic battle.

@davidnemoseck9007 2 жыл бұрын

@@kyleroop692 I believe they have done some 6mm napoleonic battles.

@r_a_t7046 2 жыл бұрын

Next year yall should so something like this for the AWI and document Nathaniel Greene's Race to the Dan and subsequent Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown Campaigns.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Both good contenders! For this year we had initially considered the Saratoga campaign as a possibility. Following Greene's escapades would be fun, though it does play out over a fairly large geographic area when you consider his area of operations in the Carolinas.

@WargamesTonight 2 жыл бұрын

Loved the command friction, and the rangers did a great job! Looking forward to Stuart's Ride!

@totalburnout5424 2 жыл бұрын

What a great final. Involving the National Park, Nathan and Candace made things particularly interesting. Great stuft and worth a 'Cesar'.

@etwargamer5431 2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely loved this scenario! So glad to keep up with this and see history recreated in bits day by day! Can’t wait to see the LFoD supplement hopefully coming out for ACW! 🙏

@pyrosianheir 2 жыл бұрын

Candace: Mentions she plays Warhammer and runs a DnD table. Me: Well, I know which side I'm pulling for. :D More seriously, this was a fun series! Hopefully you can do something like it again.

@ericturner7173 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic as always. You guys have just raised the bar for those of us who play wargames, study history, and try to help the public understand what happened. Outstanding job, gents!

@WayOutGaming 2 жыл бұрын

I would definitely love to see you guys continue the campaign next year! ACW is one of my favorite time periods to study, and watching y'all change the outcome is always a fun time.

@Stiglr 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks SO MUCH for this!!! I am currently working on a set of hex-and-counter wargames on Seven Pines (and the other major tilts of the Peninsula Campaign), and have been mentally wrestling with how to present exactly the type of command confusion you're describing here in your miniatures game!!! Thanks for these additional ideas and fog-of-war concepts!!!! That said, I am chagrinned to hear that your Richmond series is ending here at Seven Pines/Fair Oaks. I had hoped you'd be continuing on to chronicle (as much as possible) Oak Grove, Beaver Dam Creek, Gaines' Mill (!!), Savage Station, Glendale and the penultimate set-to at Malvern Hill!!!! 😟 But even if that is "out of scope" for your planned video project, know that it has been enjoyed very much, and should live on as an historical document for years to come!!! Three cheers and a dozen "Huzzah!"

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Glad we could provide some fog of war ideas to ponder! I answered in greater detail to a previous commenter about why we chose to stop the On to Richmond series here, but suffice it to say there's a HUGE amount of history and wargaming untapped in the Seven Days. It's a busy June on the Peninsula and maybe in the future we'll be able to revisit it....

@Stiglr 2 жыл бұрын

@@LittleWarsTV Fair enough!!! My project won't be a refereed game experience, so I wouldn't be able to "steal" your wonderful OoB idea if I wanted to!! But, I think I will at least have to have multiple "scenarios" for Seven Pines/Fair Oaks: a historical "what DID happen" scenario, a "Lee's plan actually works" scenario, and then following that, a design mechanic that allows the players to plot what they want to do, and then some system that will be able to greatly vary "planned" arrival times and create a satisfying "narrative". The battle will also have to have a **highly variable** number of game turns, since on paper it was supposed to kick off around 7AM, but didn't until early afternoon... and then extended into the next day!!!!

@timoseppa9124 2 жыл бұрын

Beginning gamers can have a tendency to be overcautious. I've seen this in different genres of gaming. Overall, I like games that reward calculating the right level of risk to take. Translating to history, there were of course many generals that continued to sit back, strategically or tactically, to their detriment. This campaign of course highlights one of them.

@anathardayaldar 2 жыл бұрын

The next milestone is to have teams from different historic preservation organisations face off on a battle they have in common.

@artbagley1406 3 ай бұрын

Had a friend who lived in Sandston VA on Jackson Avenue, quite "in the way" of the battle. Was unaware of "things" when I visited in early 2000-something. Almost in-line with Richmond Intl Airport main runway. Her backyard COULD have been a mother lode for metal detectors. She lives in Delaware now, so there's no going back; close but no cigar! Great job putting this vital, crucial battle under the microscope with minis; a wonderful job making gaming (to a degree) and history (more so) understandable AND FUN!

@TheEndust 2 жыл бұрын

My Great Great Grandfather was in the 98th NY at the battle, he himself was the Grandson of a Hesse-Hanau Jaeger.

@alienworm1999 2 жыл бұрын

I love these collaborations with park services/the amerocan battlefield trust. This video is a high water mark for the channel, it's a fantastic wargame and general educational piece on the battle itself

@raycarpenter6466 2 жыл бұрын

This has been an inspiring series to follow.. Excellent information, throughout , well done ! Would love to see more !

@andrewdad10 2 жыл бұрын

I loved the comment about pulling out your hair if you had any left. I am sure many in the union felt the same way about McClellan.

@anthonyholton2886 2 жыл бұрын

I've enjoyed watching this entire series very much. Thank you for producing this!

@generalsmite7167 2 жыл бұрын

Another good war game I love that they are doing a full campaign are really showing how the battles start and end

@cartergeorge1545 6 ай бұрын

I love that you guys involve all these site experts who would never get a chance to share their experience otherwise. Believe or not, this will be part of the historical record someday.

@benjaminloyd6056 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for doing this informative series. I hope you guys can return to it next year. I understand most of the difficulty with producing videos is not the recording, but the editing of footage. Be sure to give your editors a cookie!

@andypickard7314 2 жыл бұрын

What a great series! Well done! I am really looking forward to the next one.

@beguiler87 2 жыл бұрын

Phenomenal job, guys! I look forward to more series like this in the future.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Andrew! Definitely thinking about how we could do something similar to this in the future, taking the best elements of what worked here in our first attempt while incorporating some lessons and feedback for how we could make it better.

@sagamer3594 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome series guys, huge thanks to you and the National Park staff!

@Nitroaereus Жыл бұрын

I'd love to see you all continue this campaign! It would be interesting to see you wargame out a Seven Days Battles where the Union commander isn't psychologically battered into retreating. Would either side have had the resources at hand to accomplish their goals?

@bigsarge2085 2 жыл бұрын

Fun and informative!

@KenOfthewest 2 жыл бұрын

Great series and hope you continue it! Thanks for the hard work!

@EricAlainDufresne 2 жыл бұрын

Great series and final video. Please do pick it up again next year. Also, I bought your "Live Free or Die" rules and the additional scenario book. Listened to the podcast on how you developed the rules. I loved it all. If you ever decide to put out a separate module, expansion or rule book covering the ACW or the Napoleonic period, I am in! Sign me up.

@natewatts195 2 жыл бұрын

Very nice wargame. Y’all did not disappoint! Thanks.

@KevinScott76 2 жыл бұрын

Very educational and fun - thanks!

@BDCSam 2 жыл бұрын

Yes please continue the series! Love it!

@davidwasilewski 2 жыл бұрын

A great, classic battle and nicely done. So much depended on the decisions, aggressiveness and skill of brigadiers and divisional commanders. That’s what makes it such a great period to wargame. Any plans to put up your ACW home brew mods to ‘live free or die’? I’ve had similar thoughts myself!

@ddmalarkey Жыл бұрын

Wow this was such a good video to watch. I'm from the UK and learn a lot from these videos, both historically and game...ically..!

@billdavidson3519 2 жыл бұрын

Guys, Excellent series! Love to see you carry it on next season. Excellent battle report. Sincerely

@ftangftang4909 2 жыл бұрын

As always inspiring. Thank you.

@thattassiewargamer 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks folks, I’ve really enjoyed this series and what a great game to finish with. I’ve never played 6mm but Im seriously looking into it now.

@MiniatureAdventuresTV 2 жыл бұрын

An excellent conclusion to a great series. Top marks fellas.

@ryanschwartz2212 2 жыл бұрын

What a culmination! Would be excited to see this series continued into the Seven Days.

@mrhype1616 2 жыл бұрын

Loved this. Well done

@richardprescott6322 2 жыл бұрын

Loved this - please do more , great job

@historymarshal2704 2 жыл бұрын

Oh heck yeah, this is going to be good. Really excited to see this play out. The Civil War is my favorite period to play, so exicted to see you all return to this period

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

It's been a HEAVY dose of ACW history and wargaming here on LWTV for the last two months. One of our favorite periods to play in the club. But now, we're excited to pivot to a new historical era....

@brucefallon4463 2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely awesome, very well done and love all the history. Easy to say should have done this or that and you do very well demonstrating just not how easy things are or seem to be.. Very very well done so looking forward to more.

@TheRendar 2 жыл бұрын

Great episode ! Loved it

@themcchuck8400 2 жыл бұрын

This was great guys. Thanks!

@flyingfish5054 2 жыл бұрын

Such a cool series. Great work!

@EWBTS 2 жыл бұрын

Would be very much interested in more next year, really appreciate all the hard work your team put in.

@brettlynam5048 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting that this video came up on my feed yesterday as we just played this battle on 6/4 using the Volley and Bayonet rules. We played the full battlefield, not just the area around the crossroads, and it resulted in a solid union victory. Great Video! I enjoy seeing the mix of historians or educators and gamers combining their knowledge and styles.

@zaynevanday142 2 жыл бұрын

OMG that Die roll 😂

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

In 20+ years wargaming, I've never seen someone roll a die and have it wind up standing on a corner like that.

@JackSargePainting 2 жыл бұрын

Very well done 👏 Looking forward to you taking us all the way through to Malvern Hill next year 🙂👍

@lok3kobold 2 жыл бұрын

Guys, this series was fantastic, loved the bite sized 'weekly' reports of maneuver and politicing

@jonathanholland8133 2 жыл бұрын

Great video and great series! 100% in favor of you all following up next year with a Seven Days series. Also kudos for coordinating, and including, the NPS. The Rangers added a superb amount of knowledge and historical perspective to the whole series. HUZZAH! HUZZAH! HUZZAH!

@Nangwaya 2 жыл бұрын

Ah, sad to this series come to and end, but a nice way to complete it. Stunning paint work for 6mm figures, and I just love those bird's eye views of the tabletop battlefield. For someone who knows little about the ACW, these videos (and from the RNBP), have been tremendously informative. Thank you!

@daveotoole6065 2 жыл бұрын

Great series. Thanks littlewars and nps

@tankstoke09 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant last battle Seven Pines, loved the series too. Yes definitely resume series next year.

@crumbum2 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic episode, great battle, great what ifs and beautiful paint job on the models!

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

All credit to Tom for the 6mm figures. He painted both armies and they looked great on the table!

@mevl4822 2 жыл бұрын

This was awesome, I love the videos guys.

@lawrencebateman6507 2 жыл бұрын

Really enjoy watching the battle reports. I think that it is really cool when you all get to play at or near as possible sites. Being out here in the Pacific Northwest, it is something we can not take advantage of. Except, the battle of Seven Pines. For us it is not the battlefield connection, but a couple of commanders involved. We replayed this battle with the Regimental Fire & Fury rules, at Fort Steilacoom (Lakewood, WA near Tacoma). We played the game in the Post HQ. Ft. Steilacoom commanded by Col. Silas Casey, and another officer present at the fort was Capt. Keyes (later became Casey's superior). This past weekend at our annual Convention, Enfilade, I thought I was the only one that could roll a cocked die on a flat surface. Great job Candace!!

@davidtuck8584 2 жыл бұрын

A brilliant concept delivered extremely well.

@hamsteronthepaintingtable6465 2 жыл бұрын

Great game and scenario to a great series, well done. 😊👍🏻

@Anvilarm07 2 жыл бұрын

Brilliant battle report and clever scenario design. I really enjoyed it. I am embarrassed to say I knew nothing about this battle.

@doccatface6868 2 жыл бұрын

This is next level, excellent batrap, excellent production.

@Stiglr 2 жыл бұрын

Candace: (@15:00 mark) WOW!!! I, too, have never seen a die balance on a corner in more than 45 years of gaming!! :o (Also, it's great to see women active and interested in historical gaming [or fantasy/D&D/Star Trek, as the case may be!) As a park ranger/docent, the historical part comes with the territory, of course, but it is encouraging nonetheless to hear a female voice in these male-dominated spaces!!!

@militarywargaming7840 2 жыл бұрын

Great to see you testing and exploring a hypothesis. Friction, planning, logistics and umpires make wargames really interesting, educational and challenging. It is why more complexity and authenticity leads to better tactical thinking and learning. Games of war are not the same as a Wargame and this gents you always illustrate very well.

@deanmunnings8434 Жыл бұрын

Great battle really enjoyed

@Eruidraith 2 жыл бұрын

For Sigmar!!! Great to see fantasy players and historical players at the same table

@philRminiatures 2 жыл бұрын

Another "professional quality" video...Informative, with interesting maps and interviews, with a great looking table with awesome armies...Not my favorite period, not my scale, but I enjoyed, a lot!👍👍

@johnwood6750 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this series, I've really enjoyed it although I previously had very little knowledge about the American Civil War - this really made me want to learn more.

@wolftinfilmcartography2620 2 жыл бұрын

Clearly McClellan should have flown in on the Zombie Dragon

@Marcella_Parker 2 жыл бұрын

YES CANDACE!!! This was so awesome to see you play. It is so cool to see someone else into Warhammer 💕 stay awesome and I will definitely visit the park if I am ever nearby ☺️

@jenniferhenderson629 2 жыл бұрын

This is so cool. My great, great, (not sure how many greats) grandfather was wounded at Seven Pines and sent home for the remainder of the war.

@VL1975 2 жыл бұрын

As someone who did tabletop wargaming in high school (30 yrs ago), I love this series.

@lorddraconum Жыл бұрын

I am enjoying the content. Its amazing how many 6mm figures you can get on a tabletop.

@JonSteitzer 2 жыл бұрын

Would love to see another installment next year. Fantastic stuff guys. Fantastic stuff. Very cool collaboration.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Jonathan!

@jeffestabrook3236 2 жыл бұрын

Great looking game! Just fought the same battle at Huzzah Gaming convention in Maine using Fire n Fury, lots of fun

@amtmannb.4627 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video and presentation. I would be glad if we would have such National Parks in Germany (Leipzig 1813 or Großgörschen would come into my mind). Very friendly park rangers. Cheers!

@borhsarchives 2 жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed this and would very much like to see a Seven Days campaign next year. I hope we'll also get a bit more about the courier rules via the podcast or a post on the site. Well done!

@markmatzeder6208 2 жыл бұрын

This was fun. Great job, y’all

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks, Mark!

@michaelclark3261 2 жыл бұрын

This is very well done as always. Am glad to be a patreon

@chriscundiff9011 2 жыл бұрын

Really and informative video guys! (Could we have a Director’s Cut with the zombie dragon on the battlefield next time!?!?)

@SacchieILU 17 күн бұрын

Nathan and Candace were great additions here

@thomasmontgomery4597 2 жыл бұрын

A great series of battles (as always). It would be nice to see such series of battles where the results carry over into the next battle - such as the Tome Stone Series, where lost (Units) armies are lost and a player knows that in the next battle, he'll have to make due with the army that is left from the previous battle (exhausted, depleted, lost or in the wrong place) or else he'll somehow have to figure out where he's going to pull out troops from other theaters to reenforce his army - leading to weaking that unit. These are command choices that make the game even more challanging to play. The element of unknown is always great and I loved the battle where the army commander was not even present and was giving written worders based on understanding the written reports she received - wargaming at it's finest.

@c0nscript275 2 жыл бұрын

Love the players, a great game with interesting history

@bearmare9710 2 жыл бұрын

Now this is how the subject of the ACW should be approached, in a national battlefield park museum, with the facility's history guides present and active in the demonstration and interpretation of the events. At the very least there's no political whitewashing of R E Lee or calling the ACW the 'War of States Rights' as the current climate seems to be obsessed with. Well done.

@gringofett3944 2 жыл бұрын

My ancestor was in Rodes brigade! Go git'em boys!

@davidnemoseck9007 2 жыл бұрын

Really loved this. Though it did kind of drag in the middle of it, IMO. If you do something this long again, put another war game of some kind in it. You did put some in this one, but, it needed at least one more. Can't wait for the next game!

@chriss9397 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this game. I would just add to the statement about educating the young, that one of the first things war games teach is that the morality of your cause has little or no effect on the outcome. Morale, itself, at the soldier level, is a factor to be sure. But moral right and wrong, good and evil, are not factors on the battlefield, not in any battle. That is the most valuable lesson a young person can take from participating in such a battle, although I don't expect everyone to agree. I've not seen a set of rules that factors in "God," for obvious reasons. "Re-roll until you win" doesn't reflect human life.

@yaitz3313 2 жыл бұрын

As of yet, you haven't done any ACW Western Theater battles. Could you play the Battle of Chickamauga? It's the second-bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, and my personal favorite ACW battle. It also has possibly the most decisive command confusion of any ACW battle, on both sides.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Next time we do an ACW battle, we'll aim for one in the West!

@Doc_Tar 2 жыл бұрын

I can't believe you aren't going to build on this battle and keep fighting until either McClellan is driven down the Peninsula and into the sea or Davis is forced to flee Richmond. Good series, I guess you always want to leave your viewers wanting more. In this case, much more.

@RockinL7BuckingBulls 2 жыл бұрын

Huzza Huzza Huzza and a Tiger Grrrrrrrrrr for Little Wars TV ( it’s an AOP re-enacting thing) great great job now I want to really study the peninsula war as well at visit the park. One area I really haven’t been to. Proud to be a sponsor of your channel.

@LittleWarsTV 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

@davidgeister 2 жыл бұрын

Bravo!

@Kevbing9825 Ай бұрын

I talked to ranger Candace recently, and I thought it was crazy that her and Nathan still talk about this war game.

@LittleWarsTV Ай бұрын

Candace and Nathan were awesome. So glad to hear they remember the game fondly!

@Kevbing9825 Ай бұрын

@@LittleWarsTV She was actually hosting a war game at Cold Harbor today! Also, she mentioned that she thought that this war game gave her more knowledge about Seven Pines than a book ever could.

@marcusboughen5048 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Your previous videos have inspired me to start my own 6mm ACW mega project! I was not overly interested in the ACW period being from the UK but after a year or so of research what does amuse me somewhat (and what I think makes ACW perfect for wargames) is the Rank Amateurism of most of the Commanders during the War. On a tactical up to about Divisional level Commanders on both sides seem to know what they are doing but once scaled up to multi-corps battles, the general staff work seems to fall apart. And I'm not entirely sure it was really ever remedied! Both sides seem to have done well considering the circumstances and lack of experience, whilst grappling with new technologies and scale. But there are some really interesting comparisons with any of the "hyponated wars" in Europe around the same time. Once finished with my ACW project I think it will be 6mm Franco-Prussian War next!