[May 25, 2024] Historical Total War Battles is a YouTube channel providing cinema graphics which depict known battles of the past. One of the great values of YouTube – despite its censoring views they don’t like – is folks with knowledge and skill can create interesting and educational videos. This channel’s owner says he “enjoys making Total War cinematic battles off historical events.”
The channel has only been around since early 2023 and has already garnered more than 27 thousand subscribers, a good number. The visuals are good, although there are some restrictions on the gaming software used and it shows when uniforms and equipment is wrong, as readers are quick to point out. But what I most like is that these videos do well showing how formations are laid out and possible ways they were defeated.
There is some clear history here, although by its nature, overly simplified. However, that is a small price to pay to gain basic knowledge of how land battles were fought so long ago. I’m sure at some point, the owner of the channel will begin giving us more ship against ship battles, and aircraft, but that may be a while. This just might be why so many of the battlefields are pictured on land.
There is considerable concentration on British and American battles, probably because of the available written history in English. Nonetheless, this is a minor complaint and does not detract from the overall quality.
If I had been exposed to videos like this during military history class, I would have paid more attention. And I would have learned more, as long as the teacher was knowledgeable. And that is an important point. Acceptable animations and narration, I found these videos entertaining and educational.
There are others who recreate battles with animation tools, as well, with similar quality. Bellum et Historia, HistoryBattles3D, and Aditu Laudis are some of the more popular sits that use animation. There are complaints such as improper pronunciation of names and places, incorrect uniforms and equipment, inaccurate or made-up military formations and tactics, and software glitches. I believe these problems will improve with time.
I highly recommend these channels to the novice who wants to study military history. Surely, it will take additional study to learn more about any of these battles, but this is a brilliant start.
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Wow, very nice. A great learning tool that surely will improve over time. Yes, I also agree with Gen. Satterfield that YouTube censors things they do not like which is often very political and they are Marxists at heart. We need to take that into consideration when we are watching anything on their site.
Good point Randy but i don’t think YouTube will censor these. However, I do understand they don’t like blood and when it comes to animating battles, blood is going to be shown. How that plays out is anyone’s guess.
Since the “blood” is fake, I don’t think YouTube will censor it but who knows. The creator should note that when it happens.
Gen. Satterfield, thanks for noting that there are several website on YouTube that are producing these animations of battles. I too would like to see more that involve naval battles. And while these are restricted to the victors side of the battle because they write the historical record, it is crucial we get some idea thru visualizations what happened and the lessons we can gain from them.
Gen. Satterfield, as usual, you are keying us in on the development of leadership tools. In fact, I am a big fan of your “leader toolbox” series. It would be great for you to resurrect it for us.
I’m not convinced yet that these “animations of battles” are worth the time. I will admit that they are enticing to watch and have an entertainment value (good for kids and those new to the idea) but for anyone with any knowledge at all, I think these can be persuasive to inaccuracies that persist often in historical revisionists. Consider this for a moment before we jump head first into watching these. Now, can we get a better way to look at older battles? Maybe. I’ll wait for now and not watch these.
Watson, no one is forcing anyone to watch them. Gen. Satterfield tells us straight up that there are valid criticisms of the animations and accuracy is one of them. But they are a beginning and will surely improve over time. I will add here that the reason they will improve is that the criticisms are right there in the comments section for the creator of those animations to read. They can be pretty brutal with complaints but many offer suggestions on how to make them better. With improved animation software and a better focus of accuracy, in time these will be really good and as Gen. S noted “brilliant.” 👀👀👀👀👀👀
Well said The Toad. IMHO, these are very good, not excellent yet, but very good.
Good discussion. Thanks Watson and Toad. ✔ We have to start somewhere and these sites are a good start.
Excellent. Makes me want to watch them.
Well done by those who are creating these battle animations. Let us hope that they are as accurate as possible.
Gen. Satterfield, we appreciate you bringing to us these visualizations and other ways to help us understand how battles and people act under, well let’s just say unusual circumstances.
Jerome and others have pointed this out about these animations and the advantage they give us, especially over top-down cartoonish views that are less accurate but have their place. With new animation software, we are getting better at providing a way for the novice or even the expert at getting a faster view of what is happening and why.
Very useful for visualizing battles of older battles.