Historian Gets Mad at Call of Duty VANGUARD | Midway 1942 

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calling cod vanguard historical is like calling a politician honest. it doesnt work

Ah yes the battle of midway, where 70+ SBDs attack the Japanese fleet when also taking AA fire from 8+ Kongo class battlecruisers all while having dog fights in a thunderstorm. Just how I remember learning about it.

Being an avid World of Warships player, and being quite fond of the New Orleans class heavy cruiser, seeing it the way it's portrayed in CoD Vanguard physically hurts... It's a warship, how do you *forget* its main battery turrets?!

If you didn't notice, the pilot actually had his cockpit roof (I'll call it that) open the whole time! And he only close it when diving which is absurd.

“Midway, 1942. Cant go wrong with that.” 5 seconds later: “Hold on…”

As a naval historian with a particular focus on the Pacific Theater, the most egregious error is when they CLOSE THEIR CANOPIES prior to diving. American TBD (Edit: SBD) crews dove with their canopies OPEN, not closed, in the event they needed to ditch during the dive. There literally pictures of SBDs diving during the Battle of Midway with their canopies open.

i like how the dauntless is chasing zeros when the only time the dive bombers can get to the speed of the zero is by diving

The pilot in the game was an Ace for sure, an Ace at teamkilling.

5:42 your ship identification is so good you should join a scouting squadron. You were completely spot on with identifying the New Orleans.

surprised you didnt say anything about the pilot having his canopy open the whole time only closing it when he started diving

The crews wore these hats/caps. Tons of pictures of it. And different colours meant different tasks, stations and... specifications? This is still done on modern carriers.

As a massive nerd on military throughout history and present day, it hurts me when I see things like this being portrayed wrongly, and I’m sure it hurts a lot of other people too!

Something that always confuses me is that for games set in the past game companies don't hire historians to make sure game devs don't make mistakes

at 8:10 the SBD has an altimeter in the rear gunner position, because in a dive the gunner turns around to brace, so he actively reads out the altitude level to the pilot to allow the pilot to focus on his angle and bomb release, it is one of the only accurate things I have seen in the game so far.

Old COD games:Enjoyable roller coaster ride Current COD games: Trainwreck best enjoyed at a distance

"Why did he ask his gunner for his Altitude", well in the SBD-3 There was either an extra or the only altimeter and during a dive the pilot would often ask his altitude because he is involved with aiming up with the target.

The crew hats in the flight deck were actually historically accurrate. The color of your hat also determined your job in the aircraft carrier. In fact, this is still the rule in modern aircraft carriers.

I was pretty much like.... "Yeaaaaah... NOPE." from the Briefing it self. Army guy giving a Naval Airmen briefing & the "ArMy AiR fORcEs" poster on a US NAVY carrier really took me out of it. Also made go... "Oh WtF mate!" When the Torpedo bombers were at Dive bomber height with the Dauntless squads. LOL

5:00 I believe the color of shirts were accurate, the red hat in white shirts were for managing ordnances right after leaving the elevator you can see a crew in red hat white shirt towing a bomb, red shirts were for refueling, the yellow shirts were for plane directors which we can see doing hand signals to a plane, the blue shirts were plane pushers, brown shirts were plane captains responsible for making sure that a plane is fit to fly we can see a few next to planes ready to take off, this small detail here is surprisingly correct and nice to see, shame goes for the rest of the mission.

17:06 the gunner would actually call out the altitude so the pilot can focus on aiming the plane you can look that up the gunner was also a navigator.

There's this game called "dogfight 1942" and there's a Midway mission where a squadron actually runs out of fuel like you said

"DDs have one chimney" No, this isn't how this works. Wickes and Clemson class had 4 funnels for example. BTW - where are the guns on the cruisers? You know, the MAIN GUNS? 6:28 Two guys just casually flying towards each other for no reason... I can't believe the USN didn't enforce separation. Right above the damn carrier as well, wtf? Why would a fighter pilot go for a head on pass? Midway is still (relatively) early stage, so there are quite a lot of competent pilots on the Japanese side, who would know and employ fighter tactics and not be suicidal morons trying to ram a dive bomber of all things.

On using modern hand signals, I think it's an ongoing trend to have modern military signaling and methods bleed into WWII and even WWI media. On one hand, it might be stuck habits from military training and visual storytelling, but on the other it removes from the authenticity. Another example is modern gun handling and especially when marching with one's weapon at the ready.

12:47 Yeah…but let’s be honest. The average player playing this mission would empty all of their rounds in the first what? 6-10 seconds of the mission, especially with how often I see gameplay of people not even bothering to lead their shots when defection shooting.

The color of the shirts represent what job that sailor has. Blue mean you move the aircraft around, Yellow is a higher ranking blue and is in charge of making sure your plane will move, Purple is in charge of fueling your plane, Red is in charge of puting the munitions on the plane. There are also Green, Brown, and White shirts but they aren't really seen in the mission

24:51 “Poor engineering” puts it lightly considering Kaga was a nearly finished battlecruiser hull that got converted to an aircraft carrier at the very last minute due to the Washington Naval Treaty taking effect and putting a limit on the size and number of battleships a member nation’s navy could have. Akagi had the same issue but they had an easier time as they decided to change over Akagi sooner in the construction. It’s actually kind of meme worthy though how Japan lost so many aircraft carriers to flawed design or lack of experience and training (Definitely look at the fate of IJN Taihou for a fine example of that).

Cruiser and destroyers can have more than 1 chimney. Clear exemple is the fletcher class, that also has 2 chimney. These are New Orleans cruisers we see, but without turrets… Destroyers main job is to seek subs, scout, and mainly uses torpedoes. Cruisers have gunnery job, to support the battleships, and provide AA cover. What makes me laugh really hard, as a former weapon technician in French Air Force, is that the pilot close his canopy far later then in reality. At first sight of enemy, you close it ! Because it protects you from bullets and shrapnels. Right after bombing, pilot opens it ? WTF !

I totally lost it in the dogfight scene when the zeroes engaged the enterprise divebombers but in REALITY the enterprise divebombers where untouched by the zeroes during morning attack is because the zeroes are flying too low and busy shooting down other torpedo air group.

After this "mission" this failure you should react to the movie midway that came out in 2019 i personally believe that they did a great job portraying the battle itself with the historical details that you mentioned as well!!!

Fun fact about the “all torpedo bombers down” line: The TBs used were TBD Devastators, much slower than the SBD, but just as rugged and tough. Most aircraft had to crash into the sea from having no fuel, and whatever crews not being rescued ended up being captured by (what remained) of the Japanese fleet. Sadly, they were all executed

The aircraft carriers crew is accurate. The board is a weight board, basically reading off the gross weight of the aircraft that is taking off

11:15 if I'm not mistaken, that's actually one of the few historically accurate things here. The reason there aren't any fighter planes from VF-6, is because the launching of the aircraft from the carriers was jumbled and out of order, since the US was still learning to use their carriers effectively, so planes would fly off in different directions, and when the Dauntlesses and Devestators eventually found the Japanese fleet, they didn't have their escorts with them, which is why a large number of the planes were lost to defending Zeroes. The movie Midway did the same thing. Oh and at 17:34 , that's isn't Soryu. That's actually Akagi, the flag ship during the attack.

1:05 "Maybe this mission might change my mind after all." Famous last words.

From what I have seen, the interior of the Enterprise is off in terms of colouring. Everything is white, grey, yellow, red etc. The yellow "Bullseyes" were used in the 80s and are visible on the Iowas, whilst in WW2 everything was held in grey and black, with round Bullseyes in dark colours. Also, there are closed portholes in the walls where in reality quite a bit of ship is left behind them (look at the width of the hangar above). Also the frame which they walk through should be a watertight door, not an open frame. When we are there already, lets talk about the fact that the hatch they climbed up through doesnt exist on the Booklet of General plans, isnt watertight and is near another watertight door which cant lead anywhere since that would be the outer hull. Plus they held their briefind either in a messroom or the Officers Galley. The plans for the Yorktown are open to the public... Overall: 2/10 Looks nice at first glance, but is a mayor headache when looking at it closer.

As a warthunder player I can contest To that, if you are too high up, the enemy anti aircraft guns will get you or an enemy fighter, however timing is crucial because if you drop your bombs too early you have a higher chance at missing your target or for them to evade, drop the bomb too late and you’ll just become a kamikaze pilot and crash, and whilst playing a video is far different than reality, the amount of flack being fired at you is terrifying.

I love seeing your reactions to Vanguard's missions, keep it up! I'm learning alot of new things from the videos too :)

''Look im a foreigner Character, i speak english, however i'll use some words from my country of birth, because it's cool and funny specially for cursing, and because i need desperately to show the audience im a Foreigner!''

The uniform colours refer to the role that person has, its only used for certain flight deck personnel Yellow = Flight Deck Officer, he supervises all operations on the flight deck Red w/Black stripe = Ordnance men, Preparing and loading bombs and ammunition onto planes Red = Firefighters Green/Blue = Plane handlers, Guys who push planes around the hangers and flight deck to get them in position to launch, they will also signal when to launch There are nowhere near enough crews wearing green or blue as this would be majority bulk of the flight deck crew

Dude, I absolutely love your vids. It would be awesome if you did a super long vid on everything you know about WW2, like a break down of the overall time line. Again amazing job.

The rear gunner calling out the altitude during the dive IS realistic. It's so that the pilot doesn't have to focus on the altimeter and can focus on hitting the target

8:08 far has i know, yes its historically accurate he is responsible for the launch of the aircraft and also give the pilot some informations like wind etc *I MIGHT BE WRONG TOO*

I Love the commentary and insight, I know I'm late but please more of these videos.

Man I just love this kind of videos and I always learn something new from it.

10:05 The great SBD migration

If they really wanted Latinos in COD they should have a made a mission dedicated to the aztec eagles

You're becoming my favourite channel on youtube. Keep up the good work.

I liked the usage of pictures for comparison. Good video, hope you keep growing

The board the crewmember flashes has last-minute information such as direction and distance to the target. It would also have the magnetic compass heading that the ship was currently on. Apparently being on a big metal ship would mess with the compasses on board their aircraft setting them ever so slightly off alignment.

1:55 IIRC, the initial spotting reports of the kido butai only said 2 flattops, so I think this would be accurate (even if the US would quickly realize there was 4)

Finally a video, it was about time! :)

You always impress me with the amount of information you have over anything related to world war

Hi! I’m kinda an aviation expert, especially about the sbd as I have flown one a couple times. The SBD crew would not have their canopy closed during a bomb run just in case they need to bail out 16:14. Also the cockpit layout looks very off and some of the modeling on the SBD inside and out have the wrong dimensions like the nose on a couple of them.

Im confuse why the pilot closed his cockpit when his diving and not when his fighting the zeros And if im sure sbd pilots open there cockpit when they dive

7:06 the shirts were to indicate the roles for the flight deck crew, For yellow the role is for navigating aircraft, green catapult crews and cargo handling, for white its landing assistance and medical crews, purple for Fueling and blue for assistants, Red is for Handling and mounting ordnance

Having them not find the main fleet and have to land in the carrier, then have to follow the destroyer secretly (I havent played but watched)

As a realist I like how in-depth you went into it, even went as far to check for Hispanic soldiers during this time it’s crazy

as a warthunder player its never that easy to get a bead on a zero they are to fast with their twin 20 mm cannons you got to make sure they never get behind you, they know this and never stay still. And also I tested with my friend ,is it possible to shoot down the zero with a sbd? And yes it's possible ONLY when the enemy pilot doesn't have training

I literally screamed when I saw you uploaded

7:30 as a former aeronautics student, I can tell you that thing Is called "artificial horizon" or "gyro horizon". And It serves to help orieteering the pilot the position of the plane relative to the Earth horizon. And most of all, THEY WERE NOT PRESENT IN WW2 AIRPLANES!

As far as I know there was a group of Mexican pilots the "Aztec eagles" who participated in the pacific war, being the 4 country in the Americas to send soldiers to participate in the Second World War (the first being US, 2nd Canada and the 3rd Brazil)

New Video !

What ever you do, don't ever stop uploading

Awesome video as always man!!! I know they are older titles, but you should take a look at Vietcong for pc and medal of honor pacific assault. They are so damn fun!!

Really love the facts and corrections he gives but most faults he mentions takes him to an over doing it level so fast I lost interest 😕

One thing when you asked about the gunner with altitude, they also had a set of controls as well as instruments, and they would tell the pilot altitude, as the pilot was focused on keeping the plane straight/aiming. So that part is historically correct. And the dive bombers would sometimes dive in formation.

14:36 That's the pilot KIA right there from that shell burst.

8:10 funfact it was actually the gunners job to monitor the altitude thats why the gunner is also assigned as a radio man

You missed that the U.S. officer sitting at the desk has an infantry sword school patch, us army airborne wings, and a specialist E4 rank patch.

When he was talking about the chalk board at 8:07, the cruiser in the background had its turrets.

I really enjoy watching your videos because I love history In myself I was a little mad at call of duty vanguard

6:00 it’s funnel but also take it not account there superstructure and size. Some destroyers had 2 funnels and some cruisers had more.

The dogfight scene kind reminds me when you bring the A-10 in mission 12 of AC 7

I was waiting for the battle of midway review

I'm pretty sure they got another detail wrong, Wade closes his aircraft canopy and then starts his dive, but it would have been the other way around. They would open the canopy prior to the dive in order to stop the sights from fogging up due to the change of pressure and altitude

The guys on the flight deck that are color coated are air wing personnel. Red deals with weapons and ordinance. Purple deals with fuel. White is safety and medical personnel Yellow are the guys who planes dire action and when it get launched. ( I’m no air wing but I would assume the guy with the board is telling the pilots to perform test before take off.) Brown are your guys in charge on a said plane such as maintenance and trouble shoot Blue are your guys who handle aircraft such bringing said aircraft from let say the flight deck to the hanger bay. Green are your cargo handler.

“Ahh yeah I forgot, this is an American game, you get a free refill for everything” That comment earned my subscription! Love the attention to detail in your videos!

24:07 that is indeed the kaga and the one you said before at 18:06 was actually the zuikaku. hope that clears things up a little!

Those “silly hats” that you mentioned the crew wearing are definitely historically accurate as I have definitely seen photos from the Battle of Midway that show those crew members guiding the planes/tending the runway.

I would like to know if you could tell me how you know so much about WW2, where did you pick up all this knowledge, because im very interested in the topic but im still learning things

will you do any of these style videos for world at war?

Guys, correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, some SBDs were used as a fighter aircraft during the Battle of the Coral Sea, due to lack of available Wildcats on the carriers during the engagement. However, those SBD's weren't loaded with bombs like in the game, so yea, there's no chance an SBD loaded out with bombs is going to suddenly be used as a fighter.

0:08 To be fair, Japan did buy a Tiger, but it was never delivered and ended up being loaned back to the germans

Hey man i really like your videos. i have a couple of movie recommendations if you dont mind. "we were soldiers" "the pacific" (not a movie but still) and "Passchendaele" i think its really cool how you know the accuracy of historic battles and i wanted to see if these were actually accurate. if you cant get to it. i dont mind. i still like your videos❤️

Great video

His reactions is more entertaining than the entire cod vanguard campaign

16:18 I like how u used an image from "heroes of the Pacific", one of the best experience that I had when I was a kid playing ps2. It was kinda arcady but real though at ace difficulty. graphically was really nice at the time and it was a lot more accurate than this game even tho u were just supposed to kill people in your plane. idk why I had to say it but when I saw that image, u triggered something in my mind and unlocked a lot of good memories. man, I miss those days..

In 1942 aircraft carriers did not have 20 mm cannon. But in the first shot you can see that the aircraft carrier has 20 mm cannon.

"but does it count? Does it count?" I am in stitches xD

The big issue here is were is the sights on the plane are ther just ganna use that sniperscope all the way?

@6:26, each hat means something else on a boat. Red: Ordnance or damage control/ crash crew. Purple: Fuel only. White: Safety or an officer, could be medical team if with red cross. Blue: tie down team or aircraft handlers (guys who strap down or move aircraft around the deck). Green: Mechanics and guys who handle general equipment of the flight deck. Yellow: Signals guys who direct launching or recovery (They're the ones in charge of moving aircraft). Brown: Plane captains who prep and ready planes for pilots.

The first thing I noticed about your video is you use the same mic as me 😂

To give you a heads up I think the aircraft is a SBD-2 the cockpit looks right and the loadout looks right but I don't know about the instruments

The colors of the “jerseys” red, blue, yellow etc each denote a specific task for each of the different deck crew members

Actually someone pointed out that there was no fighthers in midway cause of the confusion and in addition to it they where said to go without waiting their escorts

as a guy who loves to research and study ships of multiple classes and nations, Planes arent supposed to take off with an opertional elevator that close to the runway at 5:05, also a good thing to mention that the aircraft was taking off with the comm. lines raised on the left at 18:27, which in reality you can't take off with those things raised.

7:20, that is called an artificial horizon and we should be seeing the yellow lines well in the blue since the plane is angled upward while grounded.

After starting the dive, im pretty sure that the back seat gunner would turn around and look at a repeater of the altimeter and call out altitude so the pilot could focus on aiming the bomb

The main scenario I can think for the gunner to be monitoring altitude rather than the pilot would be if the pilot was busy focusing on the dive sight or anything else at the time that would mean he had to dramatically reduce his field of vision or keep his attention away from the control panel (interestingly, the flight controls were duplicated back there, and at least one pilot insisted on getting his gunner as much experience flying the plane as possible. That way if something went wrong he'd at least have a chance--however slim--of being able to get back to the carrier alive if the pilot was injured or killed). That's just conjecture though, since after a cursory look I couldn''t find anything on whether the gunner regularly monitored the altitude, but to my mind that a situation where it would make sense to ask for a little help. But to hear the pilot shout for altitude while just barely having started the dive and still fully capable of checking it himself--nevermind the fact he should have checked it prior to the dive so he at least had an idea of where he was starting from, it seems like kind of an important thing to know before you decide to fling yourself down toward the planet like a meteor--is bizarre, to say the least. The infinite machine gun ammo seems like something necessitated only by the fact they wanted to let you dogfight in an SBD. Since, sure, 360 rounds of ammo for each of the nose-mounted .50 calls, but that's enough for less than 60 seconds of firing (and assuming they don't jam). But they clearly went into this mission deciding they wanted players to dogfight and figured "eh, fuck it" much like they did when they decided they were going to have them dogfighting in an SBD in the first place. Sure, it COULD engage if it had to--if your choice is to at least try or die, it's not a hard decision to mkae--but it wasn't remotely on equal footing and I suspect even the most aggressive pilots would have laughed themselves silly at the idea of chasing down zeroes or trying to fight them for the sheer hell of it.

"Is this mission gonna change my mind about Vanguard?" Haha, bro, we're just getting started. I remember playing Attack on Pearl Harbor back in the day, it's all about aircraft warfare in the Pacific. It's has excellent gameplay which changes based on which plane you're using.