TV Series on in the UK called Battleground featuring Edward Woodward with Peter Gilders figures and Terrain. Peter and Edward first met on the movie Callan which featured a wargame setup by Peter for the movie.
Gotta love how the British are so harsh and sarcastic to each other while being polite at the same time lol 😂. They say “ oh dear” when we would say “ DAMMIT!!”
@Patrick Ancona I was basically getting at that middle aged people still play table top miniature wargames as a hobby. Than you had the emotional outburst on me about stuff I already know because I may be from the south but I'm not dumb. I know history seeing I passed it throughout school and was one of my favorite subjects before, during, and after I graduated from high school. So I don't know what flipped your leftist switch but take it somewhere else.
A few decades later there would be Time Commanders that would use Total War pc games engine to do similar more polished version of this concept. Fun fact in the Callan film Woodward plays Gettysburg table game with his assassination target near end of film.
I saw some of the episodes back in the day but can't remember which ones. Wonderful memories of my first miniature purchases from Hinchliffe in the early 70s. Thanks for posting this.
I was involved with this series way back then and all where setups,not real games,meant to create an interest in wargaming and at that time period damn all was available for us so put your comments into perspective and enjoy the great terrain PG created as well as mastering via Hinchliffe most if not all of the figures in the series,he would have painted many himself and as a painter/designer of high quality 25mm figures he towers above most,even by todays standards
I never saw the original series when it was broadcast, and was really pleased that I managed to watch this programme now. Thanks very much for making it available again.
Interesting remarks (seriously.) I think I'll add hear what Lee said to Davis during the debate of how to handle the current military situation: "The war could be lost in the west, but it can only be won in the east." I.e., by May-June 1863, Lee realized that the war could only be won by a political victory, which could only be won in the east. The mirage of foreign intervention still shimmered on the horizon, but by July 4 it had dissolved into sand.
I never had the room or the money for miniatures, but I still love playing the boardgames. Three Days of Gettysburg at regimental level, Thunder at the Crossroads at brigade level, The Civil War at the strategic level. Much fun.
just when things seemed lost for General Meade, he decided to call in a squadron of P-51 Mustangs which proceeded to strafe the Confederate lines. Most historians now believe this was the crucial point in the battle when Gen. Lee lost hope and decided to call off the attack.
union bought in emperor Palpatine and his four star destroyer to help hold cemetery hill while Darth Vader and his at-at walkers division where moved to the north
Man, I feel so lucking to be living in an age where "history" programs involved pawn shops and ice road truckers. I'm SO DAMN lucky I missed out on awesome shit like this...#sarcasm
Did anyone notice that Paddy didn't test for morale when the infantry routed off the ridge and through his Iron Brigade? The breech loaders also gave me a start.
Wonderful to see two Bits wargaming the Battle of Gettysburg - July 1863. Personally, I would enjoy watching another video from them: Gettysburg analyzed as to how General Lee followed Napoleonic strategy and tactics and where it did not. I've heard that Pickett's Charge was in line with a Napoleonic tactic.
The amount of times I've watched this one would think I would have picked up the rules of the game. But I still have absolutely no clue. Still love this stuff tho.
Was Peter your father? Stayed at his holiday centre twice in early 80's. Lovely guy. Was meant to pick me up from to station,but was delayed taking his son motocrossing, was that you? Thanks for uploading.
Lee was not 'ordered North''. Going North was always Lee's strategic desire. And in spring 1863 the war was not 'going badly for the South'. Up to that point it had gone about as well as the South could have hoped for and spirits were very high among the South and the AONV. It was the opposite in the north as they had experienced an almost unbroken string of losses.
I have to disagree!!!! The war in the West was going about as bad as it could of for the South. The Trans Mississippi was in danger of being cut off. The blockade noose was also tightening, reducing supplies. Key production locations had fallen like New Orleans and Nashville just to name a couple. I think it was clear to Lee and others involved that although things were going great in the Eastern theater, in the long term the war of attrition was not winnable. Decisive action in the East was needed. Overall in 1863 I think the tides had turned, and the War was overall going badly for the South.
Lee actually argued against sending Pickett's Division to reinforce the besieged Vicksburg, saying there was no guarantee they'd arrive in time to relieve the garrison. Even President Davis, who believed Vicksburg had to be held at all cost, agreed. That should tell you just how dire the situation was, to require an all-or-nothing invasion knockout blow. In truth, there was no good option for Lee in this situation. True, he could have sent a division west, but it would only be a matter of time before the North sent another army to invade the East. France and Britain had shown themselves disinclined to intervene by now with the South achieving only defensive victories, and it'd only be a matter of time before the North walked over their works through sheer attrition. Invading the North, though it was sure to draw out a powerful Union Army to oppose him, was probably Lee's best strategic choice. Sacrificing Vicksburg to get formal recognition from Britain and France just might have salvaged the situation for the Confederacy.
Do you know what the Union's number one fear was in those months of the siege? You guessed it, Lee heading out West to relive Vicksburg. The north even devised schemes to try to keep Lee in the East. Obviously with hindsight we can see that Lee never seriously considered going West to attempt to relive the siege, but the north didn't know that at the time.
Joshua Davis. Lee's commitment was to defend Virginia, and even his efforts to thrust north were made to relieve suffering in his native state. Davis handicapped Lee greatly by refusing to allow Lee's request that Beauregard join his force heading north...Davis was too concerned about Richmond. Lee's goal was to inflict an embarassing defeat on the Union army by drawing them out into the field in a manner which would compel them to protect Washington as they also tried to follow Lee......causing Federal forces to be stretched out covering both concerns. This brilliant plan worked....Lee's forces sprung like a trap from 3 sides onto the advancing Union corps arriving in Gettysburg. Lee had the opportunity to destroy each arriving Union corp in detail, as they arrived, one by one. This was the only way that Lee could hope to defeat the Federals, who outnumbered and out gunned him. Detailed study of the accounts given by Lee's officers on the field show that repeated disobeying of Lee's orders allowed the Union army to successfully reinforce and to assemble their whole army on the field......putting Lee in a no win situation. This was the cost of losing Stonewall Jackson at Chancellorsville, and of Beauregard sitting on his hands around Richmond. The major acts of failure to obey Lee's orders are as follows : 1. Cavalry commander Jeb Stuart was specifically ordered to " feel the right" of the rebel army after he would cross the Potomac at the " Point of Rocks". Instead, Stuart tried to recreate his dramatic " ride around the enemy" and got trapped behind the Union army, leaving Lee lacking in accurate intelligence as to where the enemy corps actually were. Also, Stuart's attack on the rear of federal center, as Pickett's charge took place on day 3 of the battle, was a complete failure as the brash Custer stopped his advance with only 750 troopers, as Stuart emerged on a single lane road from the woods at the Rummel farm. Stuart had THOUSANDS of troopers and could have acted as a " pincer" hitting the back of the Union defense in the Union center. 2. General Ewell failed to take Culp's Hill on the evening of the first day of battle, as ordered by Lee,thus allowing massive federal reinforcements to arrive and defend that hill, which was a point that would have allowed Confederate artillery to enfilade the Union positions. Ewell did NOT live up to the standard of Jackson, who he had replaced. 3. General Longstreet totally disobeyed Lee's order for a prompt attack on the MORNING of the second day.....before the Federals could receive more reinforcements. His deliberate delaying tactics and countermarching led to an attack at 4pm, which allowed the federals to reinforce the point of attack and this cost Lee's army horrible losses and a chance at victory. Again., on day 3 of the battle, Longstreet REFUSED to obey Lee's for a morning attack, which would have occured simultaneous with the fighting at Culp's Hill. The enraged Lee was forced to revise his attack plan which became an artillery barrage on the Union center, followed by a massive infantry frontal assault now known as Pickett's Charge. Even in THIS, Longstreet sulked and failed to order supporting brigades forward just as Armistead pierced the line at the " Angle", causing an inevitable retreat and defeat. Longstreet's supervision of the use of his artillery under Alexander and Pendleton was almost criminal. His secret hope to act on the defensive and to NOT attack the Union army caused him to allow valuable artillery to support the charge NOT to be present, making the poor advancing soldiers defenseless in the face of Union artillery. Longstreets desire to RECEIVE an attack crippled Lee's whole plan of attack. Being the character he was, Lee took the total blame for the defeat, though his staff and many officers knew what REALLY happened. Ironically, winning General Meade was subject to a Congressional investigation and hearings even though he WON !! That was because Lincoln was so disappointed that Lee was not completely destroyed, and the war ended. He now faced a continuing bloody war with an election coming. Longstreet faced NOTHING for his actions,however, Lee sent him west to Tennesee. Lee had not needed Longstreet at Chancellorsville, his greatest victory just before Gettysburg... Longstreet was down in Suffolk, VA guarding PEANUTS !
The map was cute - but outdated considering what is available in "modern times" with video game maps. However my biggest gripe is the inaccuracy, e.g., "Col" Pickett" really, and at the opening on the first day, it was a brigade of Union cavalry (Buford) versus a division of Confederate Infantry (Heth), not the other way around. If you are going to sound like a know it all - you should at least read some of the history - to get it right. Still for historical purposes - it is a nice post.
Jeb Stuart attacking the main line of formed infantry with sabers? He was never that stupid, leaving aside the fact that he did not show until the last day. Shotguns in any significant numbers in the main force on either side? In general, there seems to be a rather loose appreciation of the way things worked. These games were fun to play at one time, but as you can see, this type of wargaming could take longer than the original battle.
The host is Edward Woodward. He played the title role in Breaker Morant, a great film based on true events that took place during the Boer War. As far as the war game above is concerned, I couldn't care less because die rolls will never equate to the horrors of actual combat.
I dont know if any one has asked( quite probably I would think!) any chance of puting the last 2 in the series on UT? Battle of the Nile and Normandy WW2.
3-minutes in, the importance of Buford's stand (at McPherson's Hill, on the first day) is dismissed. This singular action set up the Union victory. If Buford would not have held for Reynold's Corps, Cemetery Ridge (and Gettysburg, itself) would have already been overrun by the Army of Northern Virginia before Union infantry would have got within a few miles. Consequently, if it was not for General John Buford's cavalry, there would be one more nation on the North American Continent.
The fall back plan was already in place, a retreat to Pipe Creek in Maryland. Meade chose it personally, and the CSA could not have flanked or hammered them out of it.
Those were the days when you needed a clipboard for all the rules pages and casualty/morale charts!! No wonder Fire & Fury rules were a huge success! Very inspiring terrain, though.
Skirmishers are NOT regular infantry, so they get a -2, but they are fighting downhill +1 and they are in rugged terrain +1, yet not rested for two turns -4 and charged by cavalry -5, yet they get a surprise advantage +4...etc.
Ikelae, you could pick up a board war game like D-Day, Stalingrad, Waterloo, etc. for around $8-10 in the '60s; that's only the equivalent of 65-80 USD today. Oh, wait... that's not cheap, is it.
Colonel Pickett ?? Colonel ?? In charge of 15,000 men ?? Oh dear. There are other mistakes in the opening "potted history" of the campaign/battle but hey oh shit happens !!
Well, Rome: total war (not Rome II--that's a POS), comes close to the wargame experience. Still, I do get enjoyment out of watching these, or painting figures (usually WW2 figures)--that is, when I have the money (which I often don't: hobby's gotten too expensive for a guy in Graduate school).
"fancy" - I wish there were still something on TV that at least addressed history, as this does. Perhaps, instead of blanketing Lee with "failure" - how about talking about Ewell, and of course, Culps Hill.
The fuses the Confederate cannon used at Gettysburg were different and the Confederates were unaware that their cannon were overshooting all their targets by a significant degree.
Really fun set! I bet this was a lot of fun. I never heard of this and would love to watch more episodes if you are able to upload more at some point. Very cool and thanks for sharing.
Kind of a crazy rule system when players use mounted cav on the table DURING an infantry fight. In the real war, 99% of the time that was suicidal. Not historical at all for Gettysburg. Good thing they had Paddy as 'historical expert'. Lol
I watched a ACW documentary on Netflix a while ago. There were only 17 engagements logged during the conflict, that were deemed cavalry “engagements” that hinged on the horsemen.
Lee didn't have Cavalry at Gettysburg. Stuart was on a long scouting mission and didn't arrive on the scene until the third day. If Lee only had dice, the battle would have been very different.
