26 episodes

Join us as we explore historical wargames, interview game designers, and occasionally sip a dram of fine Scotch! Little Wars FM is a premium podcast supported by the patrons of Little Wars TV, the largest historical wargaming channel on YouTube. To listen to every episode of the show, join us on Patreon!

Little Wars FM Little Wars TV

    • Leisure
    • 4.9 • 31 Ratings

Join us as we explore historical wargames, interview game designers, and occasionally sip a dram of fine Scotch! Little Wars FM is a premium podcast supported by the patrons of Little Wars TV, the largest historical wargaming channel on YouTube. To listen to every episode of the show, join us on Patreon!

    15 Questions with Frank Chadwick

    15 Questions with Frank Chadwick

    Today on Little Wars FM, we interview a legendary American game designer, Frank Chadwick. Frank's wargaming roots go back decades and include major titles like Volley & Bayonet and Command Decision. He remains very active developing new games, including an operational World War 2 game he's finishing now. Greg talks to Frank about that new project, his design philosophy, and how he writes wargames. Specifically, there is a focus on Volley & Bayonet, which we used for tabletop battle resolution in our 1813 campaign.
     
    Visit Little Wars TV on YouTube to watch our 3-part Napoleonic campaign and see Volley & Bayonet in action! Frank Chadwick and Greg Novak originally released this classic big battle system in 1994. Our club plays Volley & Bayonet for multiple horse and musket conflicts, including Napoleonics and the American Civil War. You can learn more about the game and find free downloads on the official blog:
    https://volleyandbayonet.wordpress.com/introduction/

    • 1 hr 5 min
    1813 Campaign Consequences...Who Won?

    1813 Campaign Consequences...Who Won?

    With the Little Wars TV 1813 campaign concluded, we check in with two expert Napoleonic historians for their reaction. Who won our campaign? Would Napoleon's tactical and operational success change history and keep him on the French throne? Professor Alexander Mikaberidze and Dr. Zack White offer a surprising take on our game, blending historical insight with wargaming for a fascinating chat. They also talk about the historical 1813 campaign and why Napoleon allowed himself to be boxed in at Leipzig. 
    We want to thank both of our guest historians. You can find Professor Mikaberidze's latest book on Field Marshal Kutuzov on Amazon, among other vendors. And you can listen to great historical analysis from Dr. Zack White on his podcast, The Napoleonic Wars Podcast. Check it out at the link below:
    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-napoleonic-wars-podcast-aka-the-napoleonicist/id1503208643
     

    • 1 hr 20 min
    1813 Campaign Summer Negotiation

    1813 Campaign Summer Negotiation

    In the aftermath of our Spring 1813 Napoleonic campaign, Napoleon and Tsar Alexander meet for a heated negotiation. Many issues are on the table as both sides jockey for advantage in the Fall. Will any cities be swapped? Will Napoleon evacuate his stranded fortress garrisons? Can the French tempt Austria into remaining neutral? What about the lesser German states and the Saxons? To mediate our talks, we're joined by two expert Napoleonic historians. Professor Alexander Mikaberidze and Dr. Zack White join the show to lend historical background and take an active role mediating our wargame. 
    Be sure to join us on YouTube in the weeks ahead for the conclusion of the 1813 campaign to see how our version of events unfolds in the Fall season! Napoleon may have suffered a major defeat historically, but our wargame is not destined to follow the same path. Subscribe and join us!
    We also want to thank both of our guest historians. You can find Professor Mikaberidze's latest book on Field Marshal Kutuzov on Amazon, among other vendors. And you can listen to great historical analysis from Dr. Zack White on his podcast, The Napoleonic Wars Podcast. Check it out!
     

    • 1 hr 22 min
    Starting a Channel in 2023: Mark’s Game Room

    Starting a Channel in 2023: Mark’s Game Room

    Little Wars FM is the companion podcast to our YouTube channel, Little Wars TV, which we started over 5 years ago! A lot has changed on YouTube since then. What's it like to start a new wargaming channel now, in 2023? Our friends at Mark's Game Room are finding out! Mark and his crew have appeared on our channel in the past and we're thrilled their club decided to take the plunge and start a historical wargaming channel. Today we talk to Mark and Carl about the process, their strategy, and what they see as the future. If you like what you hear, be sure to pay them a visit and subscribe to YouTube's newest wargaming channel! We wish these guys nothing but success sharing their love for the hobby.
    Today's episode aired on June 6, 2023 as a Patreon exclusive for our supporters. If you want early access to our entire podcast library, visit us at http://www.patreon.com/littlewarstv 

    • 45 min
    How to Design a Great Campaign (Part 2)

    How to Design a Great Campaign (Part 2)

    This week on Little Wars FM, we return to the topic of wargaming campaigns. In Part 1 we talked about linear, or "ladder style" campaign systems. Today we tackle map-based campaigning like you saw in our YouTube Pyrrhic War campaign. Miles, Tony and Greg reminisce over some of the club's most successful map based campaigns...and some of the least successful. What are the pitfalls to avoid? What unique challenges and exciting opportunities do "open sandbox" map campaigns present for miniature wargaming?
     
    In the second half of this podcast, we interview Mark Backhouse from across the Atlantic about some of his campaigning experience. You may know Mark from his prolific articles in Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy magazine or as the author of the recent ancients rules Strength & Honour. 

    • 1 hr 25 min
    Wargaming Campaigns with Henry Hyde

    Wargaming Campaigns with Henry Hyde

    In Part 1 of our series "How to Design Wargaming Campaigns," we talked to Henry Hyde. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more knowledgeable historian of our miniature tabletop hobby than Henry! In Part 1, you heard just a few brief segments of our much-longer and wider-ranging chat with him. As promised in that episode, we're releasing the full version of the conversation between Miles, Greg, and Henry. 
    If you're interested in running a campaign of any sort with your friends, it's a conversation we think you'll find most interesting! The timing of this topic was great for Henry, because he only recently completed a massive book on this exact subject. Several of us own copies here in the club. You'll hear more about the book, what it includes, and how it's organized throughout today's extended podcast.
    We'll be back in the near future with Part 2 of our campaign series to talk in detail about map-based campaigns. We've had a lot of experience running those in our club....sometimes with great success. Other times...not so much. We'll talk about lessons learned and how you can avoid some of our worst campaign pitfalls in that upcoming podcast. Finally, we'd be remiss not to offer one final THANK YOU to Henry Hyde for being such a fantastic guest. You can keep up to date with his latest wargaming adventures at Battlegames.

    • 1 hr 3 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
31 Ratings

31 Ratings

James in Chicago ,

An absolute treat!

One of the most enjoyable podcasts I listen to and I listen to a whole bunch of podcast. These guys are smart fun group of war games that generously share their enthusiasm and experience. Binge listen to this podcast. My only criticism is they need to do more episodes (haha but not at the expense of the videos, wargame rules)!

Eriknpf1 ,

Historical Miniatures & Wargaming at its informative best

I absolutely love this podcast! It is well produce, informative, and concise. Perfect for the ride into work, or just staying informed about the hobby.

Tony's Civil War Museum ,

An Amazing Podcast for Wargamers of All Kind!

This podcast is a must to have in your podcast library! If you haven’t joined them on Patreon for more fascinating episodes. You need to do that ASAP!
I love to listen to them as I work with some wargaming projects!
This is a Must!

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