Ancient Naval Actium Wargame

This week on Little Wars TV, the guys return to YouTube with colorful fleets of 1/1200 miniature ships to refight the most decisive naval battle of antiquity--the Battle of Actium. It’s 31 BC and the Roman Republic stands at a crossroads with Octavian and Antony waging a civil war for control of the Mediterranean. Antony and Cleopatra have amassed a formidable fleet along the coast of Greece for an invasion of Italy. But Octavian and Agrippa assemble a fleet of their own to contest the crossing and bottle up their opponents in the Ambracian Gulf. Can Antony and Cleopatra break out of the blockade? To play this wargame, we’re fielding 1/1200 Langton miniatures. In an upcoming video we’ll show you how to paint these tiny ships. The rules in today’s game are a modification of Warlord Games’ “Hail Caesar“ system adapted by Mark Backhouse. He calls the naval version “Hail Agrippa“ and you can download Mark’s changes from WSS Magazine at this link for free: If you would like a free quick reference sheet and a copy of our Actium scenario, you can go to the Free Stuff section of Little Wars TV! We have our custom QRS and the scenario available as free PDFs for you and your friends to try at home. You can also listen to our podcast conversation with Mark Backhouse for free on Little Wars FM: Do you want MORE Hail Agrippa action? Then check out the latest issue of WSS Magazine, which features a sprawling 6-part mini campaign for the Philippi Campaign fought between Caesar and Pompey. Mark Backhouse and Greg of Little Wars TV collaborated to assemble this series of linked historical scenarios. Go check it out at Wargames, Soldiers, and Strategy magazine. Finally, a huge “thank you“ to Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy for joining us on Little Wars TV. Read all about the Battle of Actium and the campaign surrounding it in his book, “Antony and Cleopatra!“ We’re leaving a link below and it’s NOT an affiliate link. Just a good book and military history lover will enjoy.