Massive Trafalgar Wargame

This week on Little Wars TV, the guys tackle one of the most famous naval battles in history--Horatio Nelson's smashing victory at Trafalgar. Steve and Miles set sail to discuss some lingering myths about the engagement before setting up a five player wargame with 1/1200 scale ships. Will Nelson ride to victory once again, or will our Franco-Spanish admirals outperform their 1805 debacle?
Our next videos include a full review of the rules used in this wargame, "Fire as She Bears" by Starboard Tack Press, as well as a tutorial on how to make the incredible flashing gun smoke markers seen in the game.
Steve's flashing cannon tutorial: • How to Make Flashing G...
Music attributions in this episode include "Hero in Peril" and "So Dramatic" by Audionautix and "Dangerous" by Kevin MacLeod. All music licensed under KZbin Audio Library Creative Commons.

[@jeremybain3830]

Okay whoever came up with the string of strobing lights in the cotton "gun smoke" is a genius. It looks amazing and yet also so damned adorable with all the little models.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Steve is the resident genius who master-minded the lights!

[@greva2904]

Everyone always forgets that after the battle of Trafalgar, a hurricane hit the two fleets while they were still dangerously close to the shore. Over the next few days, most of the heavily damaged enemy ships captured by the British were wrecked, and the loss of life due to the hurricane was even greater than the death toll of the battle.

[@iratespartan13]

"Come on Steve, stop playing with your undersized dinghy, it's undignified!". I am having an awful day and y'all just turned it on a dime!

[@manuelkong10]

and it's a SABOT

[@slartybartfarst55]

12:28, the Music as Africa appears! Priceless!

[@BigMrFirebird]

Now that's funny!

[@tacul9333]

Love the flashing lights broadside markers!

[@LittleWarsTV]

You can make some for your games: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqW9eGiHe6-kmJo

[@BakaGaijin66]

"Never mind the maneuvers, just go straight at 'em"

[@KHK14]

This really is one of the best channels ive found to date. I'm not into board games at all, however, i can watch your stuff for hours! Keep it up!

[@LittleWarsTV]

Thank you! That's great to hear, because even though we are die-hard wargamers in this club, our goal is to try and entertain/interest viewers like yourself who may not be as into the hobby.

[@thepflare6050]

So I just got some 6mm ACW figures this week. I got them because watching your videos really showed me the fun that miniature wargaming can be. I am excited to learn how to paint and model because I am totally new to this hobby. Again, the reason I am getting into this is because of your channel. Thank you Little Wars TV.

[@MrCaptbear42]

if you haven't done so and you plan on using Altar of Freedom rules head on over to Facebook and check out the Altar of Freedom American Civil War miniatures rules group. There you will find lots of help building your army and preparing it for the table and help setting up your table.

[@thepflare6050]

s/v Surprise thanks man, will do.

[@LittleWarsTV]

That is awesome to hear! We started this channel EXACTLY for this reason--to find people like you! It's very rewarding for all of us here in the club to hear from you and to know that we're doing something to help grow the hobby.

[@thepflare6050]

Little Wars TV thanks guys. I take inspiration for what I want to do from your videos. I love grand army battles. I love the eras you do. I hope to do a blog or KZbin channel all about being completely new and entering this hobby. I hope if I do this, I can help other shy people get the confidents to do this hobby. I am still waiting for my Baccus figures to come in though.

[@rolo8950]

I love how you guys go all over the place and play at the actual locations and stuff. Also, one thing I want to mention as a critic. I wish you guys would show the models more. Like before the match show us each of the units and stuff. Every video I just wish I could see all the models with more detail. Thanks guys love the vids!

[@dnte5921]

I love the added levels of immersion to the simulations you guys run. Having the players forced to communicate through flags is such a genius idea

[@alexG106]

"That can only mean one thing: Invasion." -Boss Nass

[@christophwolf663]

It was Sio Bibble, actually, but my thoughts exactly. :-D

[@philfry9458]

Thanks for using FASB as your "rules of choice" for age of sail. A great historical recap and then replay of Trafalgar. Best regards, Phil Fry (designer FASB)

[@LittleWarsTV]

We are big fans of your game! In fact, could you reach out to us directly via email sometime soon? We'd love to chat with you about the rules and do something more in-depth for FASB!

[@philfry9458]

@@LittleWarsTV Sure. I just reached out to you on the "Contact" tab on your website. Fair winds, Phil Fry

[@gilmer3718]

One can only hope that we get to see and experience whatever this is. :)

[@jamesmartin3431]

Heart of oak are our ships, heart of oak are our men; We always are ready, steady, boys, steady! We'll fight and we'll conquer again and again

[@pbeccas]

When I went to the UK I got to goon the Victory. Fantastic life experience and big thumbs up to the Brits who look after her. Great game guys. Absolutely fantastic.

[@TaisharEnder]

Guys this was epic. Thanks for doing these! The naval battles especially are my favorites. Keep it up

[@natclarke3849]

A went to Portsmouth a few weeks ago and I saw the HMS victory with my family, this ship is massive in person

[@jauntyangle5667]

Yes, unless you are taller than 6'.

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

@@jauntyangle5667 I grew up in the Portsmouth area so visited HMS Victory many times. You learn to duck :-)

[@holdenmesserschmitt160]

I love the story about how Nelson would buy his men better food than they had on their ships.

[@midweekcentaur1050]

There is a reason the Navy gets the biggest food budget in the american military. Gotta feed these men well to keep spirits up. (As well as keep sea based illness at bay easier)

[@enginetruck20]

This was a great video men!! I don’t often find myself interested in massive naval battles, but this peaked my interest for sure. As always, thank you to you all for what you do for the hobby.

[@drewlogsdon1821]

This is the one I've been waiting for since the season 2 trailer. Hold fast!

[@colinedwards3422]

Thanks for posting this battle. I have close to 50 vessels, some British, French, Spanish, American and East India merchantmen. Just no enough for Trafalgar.

[@LittleWarsTV]

With 50 ships you're getting close!

[@colmhain]

Dig the fire-in-smoke markers! Good game, fellas!

[@m3lv1n19]

I think Dieter looks more like Black Beard with his hat 😂 Great video as usual guys 👍🏽

[@davidhorkoff902]

Yet another great video! Thanks so much for creating these.

[@renanmacapagal8736]

Man... you guys and your war games is one of the only things i look forward to.

[@erichvereen1988]

I love the Age of Sail, and since seeing this one on the preview of the second season, I’ve been on pins and needles to see it played.

[@thomaspaine3394]

Another great video from Little Wars T.V. Thanks

[@esr243]

This is very enjoyable ..! Thanks for a gripping game and video production. The historical intro was fine too. Again great job well done.

[@tigermuppetcut]

Those lights in the smoke are AMAZING! Great battle report!

[@carolinespinelli8521]

We have been thoroughly enjoying every episode! My sons have been inspired to play and create wargame scenarios of their own, and I think this will be a hobby they continue as they get older! Many thanks for sharing this with us!

[@niceguysi394]

Toto-ly got a laugh from me at 12:20 Great work as usual guys!

[@flyingfish5054]

There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do to sink that ship

[@norseman_5334]

Thank you for doing what you do!!! Fantastic video!

[@JH-ty3ic]

Absolutely brilliant well done guy's. Well worth watching thankyou.

[@terrycrick3600]

thrilling and superbly presented battle,well done lads," aye carumba"

[@HerooftheTable]

Great stuff as usual. Looks like an interesting rule set. Thanks for sharing!

[@jonathanchambers4657]

Also pumped to see some naval wargaming.

[@philRminiatures]

Great vid...even for a French wargamer, beautiful fleets!

[@LittleWarsTV]

Hah, the French gave it their best in this one!

[@AllMiniaturesGreatandSmall]

That was amazing! Thanks for sharing guys

[@MrObsidian23]

Awesome battle, the firing markers look superb! Really makes the game come to life. Please share how they are made. Look forward to more of the same.

[@emilioleon6412]

I miss a reference to Dumanoir refusing to turn back and help the rest of the combined fleet while the spanish ships and some french did on their own, and also the fact the combined fleet was caught while triying to sail back to Cadiz or even sailing into the mediterranean. Villeuneuve was the main actor in this historical defeat. Only the historical intro here could be 1 hour video!!!. Great video, great game!!! Thankyou very much.

[@izrador2264]

Excited to see the rules review for this one!

[@JimBeam69er]

Been hooked on your channel, am a wargamer myself, watched the first season over 3 times and all the extras. I mainly game ww2 its so nice to see how easy it is to go between era of warfare and you guys make it engaging and fun immersive and are all about historical experience and discussion which i cant get enough of your lectures and debates as i myself have a wealth of knowledge but have learned much about pre gunpowder era combat thank you for capturing me as a fan i fully surrender to who you guys do you're wargames its just fantastic. Please keep it up.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Wonderful to hear, James! We will do our best to keep it going!

[@martinoppermann9868]

Very beautiful seabattle .... I love the clouds with the canon fire!

[@bobbycvsixfour5258]

Everything you guys do is great. Lot's of fun too :-) What caught my eye was the number of CANNONS, about 2000 in this battle, that's a lot.

[@jorgeigualbonilla9998]

8:12 As a spanish, please don't, don't that 🤣

[@jahvyn]

"Take it! Take it right in the rigging!" Pa ha ha ha ha. Comedy gold. I'm new to historical wargaming and this channel is excellent. Thanks for the hard work you guys obviously put in!

[@averypayne9520]

Ahh, the French navy. AKA: the English Reserve Fleet (thanks Drachinifel for that one!)

[@jamesturton3577]

Amazing video battle. The system looks very similar to Sails Of Glory. Thanks guys.

[@heikoabeyer]

I love this so much. Thank you!

[@ke8623]

Don't give up the ship, or the dinghy. Nice game guys.

[@haroldmorgan7381]

We recently did "Battle of the Capes" just off Yorktown with the French fleet formed up in-line blocking the British ships in-line from getting inside to Yorktown to rescue the British army there cut off by Washington and the French army ! By turning the British fleet back out to sea the "winds force and direction" (changed by a die-roll each turn) made the battle go further out to sea with most all ships (both fleets) taking damage to hulls, guns, and sails about equally as both fleets played-it-safe staying at "longer-range gunnery" where there would be fewer hits and no boarding melee fights because of the ranges ! The Ville-de-Paris was the largest ship at 140 guns and the British stayed distant to avoid heavy damage from her !! This battle was from an earlier time so neither fleet tried to break-thru the opponits line ( like Nelson did at Trafalgar) ! We used the MB Broadsides game red/blue ships & sails mounted with name/gunnery labels .

[@welshwargamer2066]

Awesome video fair plays guys, those fire markers are brilliant

[@dickiedontnuts9470]

God I love these videos. I look forward to everyone you release. Great game!

[@LittleWarsTV]

Appreciate that. Luckily, we have plenty more to come this season!

[@peabody2884]

This is the best show yet.

[@HethwillWargames]

Oh yeah, The one i wanted to see from the moment i saw the snippet in the season teaser. Lemme grab a pint of grog and enjoy this.

[@katrinapaton5283]

Two things Ive always loved about this battle. Admiral Gravina mentions the lack of crew quality and I am reminded that the Spanish were forced to conscript sailors immediately before the battle to the point that one of them was still dressed in his clown outfit. And was it the little 64 gun Agamemnon that pulled alongside the mighty Santassima Trinidad and had an officer climb up to enquire whether they would like to surrender? Either way the Spanish declined the offer and the British officer climbed back down and fighting continued. At a time when prize rules could set a sailor up for life the fact that so many captured ships were lost in the ensuing storm, the Santassima Trinidad amongst them, it is possible to wonder just how much God was with the British.

[@MiniatureAdventuresTV]

Wonderful looking game (love the fire markers btw).

[@paulgoldstone789]

This great - a gripping game. Beautiful miniatures.

[@LittleWarsTV]

Thanks, Paul! The Langton ships are really sharp on the table.

[@michaelsmart1577]

i think most of the reason why the british were so good when it comes to sailing and shooting in that era was due to the fact that they were able to keep to the sea at mostly all times where as the french, dutch and spanish hardly able to leave port in order to get the proper skills of gunnery and sailing in all conditions at sea.

[@BigMrFirebird]

Plus the experienced French officers' class had been gutted during the Revolution.

[@markmatzeder6208]

The videos of the gaming sessions are my favorites.

[@Spacklatard]

Please please tell me that Napolean actually called it "Le Plan".

[@jeffhess4650]

Looking forward to the rules review. We re-fought Trafalgar a number of time using Avalon Hill's "Wooden Ships and Iron Men" back in the '70s and the French won--thanks to bad British die rolls--about a third of the time. We also enjoyed playing "Trireme" by Balttleline Games, "Ironclads" by Yaquinto Publications, "Task Force" by SPI and "Harpoon" by GDW.

[@Ben1159a]

Great game, loved it.

[@jusztinnemeti6380]

Cool looking game. Well done battle report.

[@aussieartist5233]

*See’s a new video about a wargame* *also me: spams mouse

[@debbiramsey4603]

This has a terrific flash pun of genius.

[@denysbeecher5629]

My memory of Nelson's signal was a three stage change. "Nelson confides" was Nelson's original wording, changed to "England confides" on advice of an officer, to "England expects" based on the code book

[@jeremypnet]

Yep. They would have had to have spelled out "Nelson" and "confides"

[@deepyamandas1192]

First, I thought that the French and Spanish were going to win but I just remembered one thing'Brittania rules the waves.' Also happy to see Dieter again.

[@GuyInnagorillasuit]

Thanks! I never thought we were going to lose but it is really hard to produce a historical result for Trafalgar without a huge table that allows the allied fleet to be more spread out. It does make a better game for the allied players though.

[@reglavcor]

@@GuyInnagorillasuit Was that a pinned back sambrero that you were wearing? Too funny!

[@GuyInnagorillasuit]

@@reglavcor It was a replica hat from one of the Pirates Of The Carribean movies. :P

[@michaelbrandt5416]

@@GuyInnagorillasuit I read somewhere that a portion of the French fleet chose to flee when they learned Nelson was in the vicinity, leaving their Spanish allies to the mercy of the British, supported only by a fraction of the remaining French fleet. Had they remained with their original force, the outcome of the battle could have turned out differently. As for the famed British seamanship at the time, a superior naval British fleet was nearly beat at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, where they sought to force Denmark to give up their neutral position and hand over their fleet in order to avoid it falling into the hands of the French. The commander of the English fleet, having seen that the Danes put up a fierce resistance, feared that they might lose in the end due to rumors of an advancing Russian fleet, signaled to Nelson to retreat. Nelson turned a blind eye, ignored the order and resorted to foul play, writing a letter to the danish king, telling him that unless he stopped all fighting and surrendered the Danish fleet, he would have no option but to kill all danish prisoners taken. The king fell for this ruse, and thus the British gained a great number of ships.So much for English gentlemanship and galantry.

[@billburnside4364]

Stunning Gents, as if I don't have enough to do, I not want some naval ships, but which WW I / II for GQ or these lovely little things

[@brent1975]

Great looking game. Like your channel a lot

[@gameram6382]

Great show. Bit of history for all my army regiment 29th 45th of foot history is linked to the battle how being army, well at the time the Royal marines was very short so my regiment got split up on all the ship's and as a battle honour we received the navy crown only army regiment to have it. Drives the royal marines mad lol. Also my regiment history gose back to the Boston tea party and many more other famous battles, 1 bn Worcester and sherwood foresters regiment to this present day they deployed in Afghanistan 7 times and fought the biggest contact over there. Great regiment

[@haroldmorgan7381]

I liked your Movement System with the clear plastic hex pieces on a CLEAR BLUE TABLE Cover ( we use a "Hexed Blue Table Cover" with 3-inch hexes - easier to show ship moves & gun range etc.) , I thought that the cotton-covered FLASHING smoke covered up a lot of the detail of the battle (we use smaller cotton smoke for gun-fires and to mark Crippled dead-in-water ships - prizes!)

[@davefielder4411]

21st October 2020 is a good day to re-watch this LWTV event ;-)

[@stevep5408]

Why is the battle of Cape Saint Vincent which made the command of Captain Nelson possible. By ignoring orders and breaking formation which his admiral praised him for, he made his admiralty possible. The strategy was basically the same as the later battle of Trafalgar. Break through the French and Spanish line and defeat the ships singularly.

[@Tupinamba77]

Glorious!

[@mtbtx9304]

Amazing video

[@crusaderknight379]

As a British man i approve of your tacticss for both sides 👍 Well done gentlemen

[@particle7246]

That is an impressive amount of timber used in all those sailing ships...😱

[@simmybear31]

You guys crack me up! I'd love to find a club like your's near me in the UK!

[@BodyGuardOfLies1]

Go ahead and found one

[@felixgarcia3745]

¡Ay, caramba!

[@gozza7199]

No me jodes

[@slartybartfarst55]

So geeky, so Good!

[@wileydutkiewicz3569]

Sad to see Alan Lewrie wasn't included! Great battle as always!!!!

[@MrCaptbear42]

And the great videos keep on coming! This was a great one. Love the inclusion of the sailboat, might this have been a members boat? Either way it was great. I have been lucky enough to play an age of sail battle on board my boat. Great fun rolling dice as you boat rocks at the dock.

[@milesreidy2277]

We did film part of the episode on my sailboat on the Chesapeake. It was a fun day

[@MrCaptbear42]

Miles Reidy that’s fantastic, nice looking boat! I find it interesting that you named your boat after a historical ship as I did. Bucentaure! For you, Surprise for mine... fair winds and following seas...

[@DG-ky2cu]

Great work again guys. Really entertaining stuff. (and only Little Wars TV would get away with playing Toto during the Battle of Trafalgar LOL)

[@gwtpictgwtpict4214]

Hey, HMS Africa deserved that, as a 64 gun third rate she was one of the smaller ships at the battle. She was separated from the rest of the British fleet and her orders were to rejoin her squadron and engage. She was approaching the battle from the North could have legitimately veered away and come in behind the rest of her squadron. Instead Captain Henry Digby took her down the Western side of the Northern portion of the Franco-Spanish fleet engaging every ship he passed. She did lose 18 dead and 44 wounded and required a tow after the battle as she was dismasted, but as Nelson said, 'no Captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy'.

[@user-kz1vx8ni1q]

I noticed HMS Africa had a stars and stripes at her stern at 17.17. Hehe, love ur vids.

[@baliusd]

Great Stuff. I expected Steve to be in uniform.

[@Anvilarm07]

One of your best battle videos yet. The combination of the maps and actual images from the game made what was happening very clear. The 'smoke' and the 'gunfire' was amazing and really added to the overall feel. The quick glimpse we had of the rules reminded me of the Avalon Hill board game Wooden Ships and iron men which I love. The clear plastic hexagons are brilliant for movement. I look forward to the rules review. But I didn't hear anything about boarding actions. Are there any?

[@GuyInnagorillasuit]

Nearly. I knew the Victory was nearly spent and wanted her crew to board the lead ship in the division it was engaged with. Sadly, she was forced to strike her colors instead. I think I would have had a chance of success, that lead ship wasn't in pristine shape itself and the modifier for having Nelson on board would have made up of how roughed up the Victory's crew was.

[@MegaGamer-lg7sp]

Gonna try and get my recommendation in for another simulation, but I recommend the Battle of Grunwald, 1410.

[@henrik2518]

A most excellent hat

[@MisterNizz]

Man, I only loved that!

[@haroldmorgan7381]

We did Trafalgar a while back with 27 Red/ 33 Blue SOL's on a blue covered ping-pong table with the old "MB Broadsides" game ships still available on Ebay ( takes 4 games-worth of "sails" )

[@davidtoth8975]

12:20 A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one

[@bikes02]

6:25 "and while this battle may not have been the battle that saved England"....This battle ensured that we would not be invaded, so I think ya statement is wrong!!

[@jackneverquit1879]

Out Standing! I really enjoy naval gaming, but never got the hang of "AOS' maneuvering. A friend and I use a version of GQ. Mostly its WW I, but also WW II DD. / CL's. My favorite, Predred. BB's and/or cruisers. Have you ever done any WW I / Predred naval games?

[@haydenggallen]

Haha that was fantastic!

[@Mexterinfinite]

Despite watching this 2 years later, I wanted to recommend trying a smaller scale naval battle to try more near LittleWarsTV like the Battle of Lake Erie. You don't even need to massacre your bank account to visit the lake/Brig Niagara in Erie, just your sanity of sitting in a car for a while.

[@finlayfraser9952]

What fun!

[@thilistine]

Love the LED cannon fire you guys made. Do you have a video on how you made those or can you make one?

[@LittleWarsTV]

Yes, forthcoming tutorial on that topic this month.

[@jackk4027]

Brilliant video guys!!! Where to you acquire the ships from?

[@robbikebob]

Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves! I am now going into my garden, saluting randomly and dwell on being British and our past glories. (Until our lass comes home and slaps me to my senses 😣)

[@abidingdude13]

We may not know the exact quote, but I'm thinking that Farragut's "Damn the torpedoes, go ahead," has Nelson beat.