The Swedes were outnumbered because they could only deploy at half-strength; the rest of their men were still at home trying to assemble their 18th century IKEA-manufactured muskets.
+SuperEddyn Gustaf was a beast, Charles did not know when or how to make peace but he was a great military leader. Its a shame that he had to follow his motto.
Charles XII did the thing that ended Napoleon and Hitler. Invading Russia and an extra mistake in completly being dependent on the will of the Cossacks.
@@ufukcangencoglu2279 Karl XII did a few "wrongs" in his career, I do belive that the biggest one was that he had strong ideals that made him go on when he shouldnt have but also the contrary. Never start an unjust war, but also never quit a just one. Many scholars agree that he got those words from his father and followed them to hard.
I find it interesting how, when numerical inferior, the Swedes responded by being more aggressive. Usually, when one thinks of overmatched armies winning, they think of defensive placement near chokepoints (Romans in Britain, Spartans in Thermopylae). Gunpowder warfare had changed things a bit so the Russians would always win out of attrition. Cannons and muskets certainly give an edge when massed. Great video, btw.
It's the principle behind Defeat in Detail - If your army is well-drilled and mobile and you have competent officers you can trust, then even if your opponent has a larger army you can still concentrate your force on a point where your opponent has only a fraction of his troops, brushing them off the field one by one. That strategy does depend on excellent scouting and an offensive mindset, you'd need to put your opponent on your own timetable, if he's allowed genuine choice on the selection of the battlefield based on good intelligence then you're heading for disaster. Napoleon's Grande Armee was a prime example of this, France's victories against what were superior number on paper become less surprising when you see the advantages they had with things like the Corps System.
Cool vid! It's really cool how the Swedish army used religion to bolster their morale. As in their very aggressive tactics where they were told to move up really close until they saw the white in their enemies eyes, shoot and then charge, they told the Caroleans that it was no idea to crouch and try to avoid incoming fire because if you fell it was the will of God.
One interesting thing to note about the development of Swedish cavalry tactics: Not all cavalry units of the day used cantabrian circles, there was still the classical cavalry charge happening every now and then. In these charges knee-to-knee was actually standard formation. The *real* innovation that the Swedish tactics did was knee-behind-knee, thus forming the slightly wedged formation you mentioned and having the absolute densest cavalry formation possible.
Loved that I could play as sweden in this games, but was very disappointed we got no special units... What the hell CA?! Just could not do anything with the Caroleans? "Thanks to their achievements during this war, they are regarded to have been perhaps the most effective military troops of that day" (from wiki)
+angelowl89 I would like to say yes but since I cried while trying to point my pikemen in right way to receive enemy cavalry, I would say no. Still would recommend the mod it is really god and very atmospheric. Guns sound cool. You have different drum and fife sounds (sadly you have to choose one). Overally better than Empire on many levels
+THFE Productions Props for finding some excellent research. Very few people are interested in Sweden, even fewer Swedish history, and even fewer Swedish history in the 18th century. There is almost no information out here, so great work finding not just accurate but awesome information!
+THFE Productions To bad the pike AI is broken and that you can't give the musketeers some proper swords. With some proper equipment the aggresive tactics make more sense. :/
If anyone was wondering, there is an actual names for the Swedish troops, Oakley is describing. They are called the Caroleans. They used both strict rules and religion to hold the lines and keep morale up while marching forward. Here's a wiki link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroleans
Very nice video and great initiative on the historical highlight! It's great how these games so easily inspire further learning on the side. If we are lucky even the developers might see this and include some of those specific tactics that you mentioned in some further iteration of Total War.
please more videos like this, i loved it. i definitely see you listening to our comments, and i commend you for that! awesome battle and explanation of historical tactics.
When talking about this period of Sweden, people often forget about Finnish contribution to the swedes war effort. Hakkapeliittas were the most renowned Swedish troops during the Great Northern War. The name comes from Finnish troops war cry "Hakkaa Päälle!" Which basically means "Charge" or "Get at them". :) Just being proud of my heritage here... ;_;
Sadly, Charles (or Karl as we call him) XII was a brilliant tactician but a poor long term strategist. Spending five years in Poland trying to impose a puppet government controlled by Sweden backfired, and allowed Russia to rebuild and consolidate their forces. Then Charles XII invaded Russia (technically Ukraine but it was part of Russia back then) aiming for Moscow, but Russia was too bare and too freaking cold, and the Russians burned their own land and crops to halt the Swedish advance. Napoleon and Hitler made more or less the same mistakes in the following centuries.
Yeah i think its quite funny to read how Napoleon looked up to Charles and Gustavus Adolphus but still he makes the same mistake as Charles and then Hitler who liked. Napoleon alot goes and does the same thing, not only these 3 have failed to storm Moscow, actually its a list of about 8 or so nations who have failed to done so.
Sniff The Monkeys Sweden has invaded Moscow successfully before Charles XII's campaign though. During the De La Gardie campaign, we invaded and took Moscow from forces that had rebelled and ousted Tsar Vasili IV, with whom Sweden had made an alliance. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_la_Gardie_Campaign
The Russians although courageous had really cowardly leaders and tactics which involved mainly retreating and burning their own land thus denying the enemies any food or shelter making attrition the main killer. I mean hey if the tactic works it works who cares about honor if you are the victor.
Another reason they were successful was the fact that infantry and cavalry also were trained to use artillery. So when they had taken over an enemy artillery emplacement when would use the cannons on the enemies.
I worked in a place called Wirabruk (now a museum) where they forged and crafted the blades which the Caroleans wielded. They had a coupple on display and they were awesome. It´s not that far away from where I live, kind of cool to imagine they mass produced weapons, cannons and other things for the Swedish Empire. Also there is a park nearby where I live where they planted Oak trees, why? For material to build warships (like Wasa, Mars, other warships). The trees are 300+ years old today and is a great place for celebrations like Midsommar and Valborg and other stuff.
Sounds like what i read about ancient spartans running in formation to get to their enemy faster and push them off the battlefield. pretty cool stuff about Sweden you got there.
haha, I remember that i did send you a link for this a while ago. looks like it caught your interest oakley =D the great Northen war have a special place in the Swedich people'e memory, as we can look through the church records to see if a relative/ancestor participated
+DarkLordOfSweden ja kustjägarna är ASGRYMMA! Men vad jag menar är att man kan först av allt inte tro att man kan få stöd av NATO vid en eventuell attack speciellt inte om man inte är med i NATO. Samtidig så har man tagit bort lumpen vilken leder till färre soldater som kan kallas in vid en eventuellt krig. Och man fortsätter att nedmontera vårt försvar som redan är lite nog. Ska ge dig ett exempel. På Gotland vilket är en väldigt strategiskt ö då den kontrollerar stora delar av Östersjön samt så går det en väldigt viktig gaslinje igenom ön, och det enda vi har är en hemvärnsregemente stationerat på ön. Jag menar hur tänker försvarsmakten? tror dom att ett hemvärnsregemente kan stoppa en rysk invasion? Dom har bara en bas utbildning, Ak4or, Grgs och möljigtvis några bandvagnar.
+DarkLordOfSweden här är vad det skulle ha stått. Ja kustjägarna är ASGRYMMA! Men vad jag menar är att man kan först av allt inte tro att man kan få stöd av NATO vid en eventuell attack speciellt inte om man inte är med i NATO. Samtidig så har man tagit bort lumpen vilken leder till färre soldater som kan kallas in vid en eventuellt krig. Och man fortsätter att nedmontera vårt försvar som redan är lite nog. Ska ge dig ett exempel. På Gotland vilket är en väldigt strategiskt ö då den kontrollerar stora delar av Östersjön samt så går det en väldigt viktig gaslinje igenom ön, och det enda vi har är en hemvärnsregemente stationerat på ön. Jag menar hur tänker försvarsmakten? tror dom att ett hemvärnsregemente kan stoppa en rysk invasion? Dom har bara en bas utbildning, Ak4or, Grgs och möljigtvis några bandvagnar.
The caracole was abandoned by Swedes as early as thirty years war. They were in fact the first to do so, and the first to adapt the cavalry shock tactics of firing a volley then charging, which has proven to be much more effective than the caracole, which was slow and rather deadly for the cavalry doing it. EDIT: Oh you covered this change right afterwards, nevermind! In any case, I love The Great Northern War, interesting "leftover" tactics and equipment from the 17th century, which is my favorite.
It's an old video, but still. First of all, I'm a swede and both love my country and it's history. But the main reason that we won the battle of Narva was thanks to a snowstorm that the russians had in their eyes, and we had in our backs. Which made our tactics even more effiecient. But I learned a couple of new details in our old tactics. Great vid
Karl den tolfte såg alltid till att vädret var med oss, samma sak var det med slaget vid fraustadt. Då hade vi medvind så ryssarnas krut flög upp i deras ansikten efter dom hade skjutit ;) Länge leve carolus rex
Charles had a feel for the battlefield like no other man. His tactical intuition was incredible. But he was not responsible for the victory at Fraustadt. That's entirely due to the amazing cleverness of Rehnskiöld.
Hey Oakley, I love the historical background in your videos! Can you provide the sources you use in your video description? I would love to learn more about the period.
+f3rricf3lix I mostly relied on posts from the AskHistorians subreddit. General overview of Swedish rise to power: www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2ij2e4/how_did_sweden_become_so_powerful_in_the_1600s/ Thread on the Swedish tactics: www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/33bx3d/how_come_the_armies_of_karl_xii_was_able_to_win/
A Total war Empire 2 with a DLC like Hannibal at the gates (Carolus at the gates) focusing on The great northern war with Charles XII's Sweden vs Denmark-Norway, Augustus II the Strongs Poland-Lithuania, Saxony and Peter the Greats Russia would be so awsome.
To be fair, the vaunted cavalry tactics of the swedes were probably inspired by contact with the heavier cavalry of the poles during the wars between the two nations. Though it might just be a case of convergent evolution inmilitary tactics.
Awww. Was hoping for more specialized infantry/cavalry. This is just kinda a mirror match? Swedish infantry (Carolean) was known for heavy marching drills(+10% movement speed), was expecting the swedes to reach the top first :D . Would be cool to see like different bonuses to the different nations.
What really cost the Swedes the Great Northern War was the Battle of Poltava and Charles' bold adventure in Poland. They could probably sustain losses of a couple of thousands every battle for a much longer time because a lot of their soldiers were German mercenaries, and not Swedes themselves. At Poltava though they lost their entire continental army, and the King was even exiled rendering Sweden defenseless. When he returned to Sweden he undertook another bold adventure by invading Norway with the home army. He split it into two, one with him sieging a border fort where he himself was shot and died, and the other which was decimated in a blizzard while retreating back to Sweden. In the end everything Sweden had built up the last 100 years was thrown away in those two adventures.
Don't forget about their innovations in light artillery that was lighter and more mobile than the fixed artillery used by other nations at the time that allowed them more aggressive formations as well.
Wasn't the reload rate of this era about two or three shots a minute? But anyways, fantastic video! You should check out Darthmod Empire, I think you'd really dig the realism it brings into this game!
before the swedish soldiers attacked in meele did the grenadiers first throw their grenades. all regementes had grenadiers . and actually did the swedish forces meet the saxon army during the battle of fraustadt. there where russians helping the saxon army at their right flank (i think) but they turned their coats inside out so the swedish forces wouldnt recognise the green russian coats.
Wait, some soldiers used rapiers at that time? Weren't sabres used by officers or cavalry and that soldiers used bayonets? I no that different units had different types of weapons yet I can't really imagine one musket soldier wielding a fixed bayonet and another wielding a pike. I probably didn't hear correctly so please clarify. :)
ThisNameIsn'tWorking (I know this is a old comment) Well, he is talking early 1700s, where not everyone had bayonets equipped, so they'd have a sword at their hip, with possibly pike men helping the shock.
Ahh, the american way of saying words confuses me so much :'D For some reason ninetyfourhundred in my head equated to 94,000 vs 20,000, I was like no wonder they did so well, it's not a surprise. Obviously I caught up then decided to write this comment.
4:30 During the rule of Carl XII Sweden lost it's greatpower status when we lost Finland to Russia. Sweden had been a greatpower since 1648 because of the victory of the 30 year war
+FireFyfe Napoleon is a much better and more stable game though :/ Wish there was some port with all units from Empire to the Napoleon game. Would be much better.
I have played both and like empire a lot better. The game has a better feel to it and honestly I think it works better. Napoleon is just not fun to play to me. Faction wise it's sucks because only 2-3 are worth using and have any decent units. Empire is a much more balanced game compared to Napoleon. If you play multiplayer on empire it is 10 times better than Napoleon
The Swedish Army during stormaktstiden was probably the greatest military force in the history of mankind. Not even Napoleon could match the kill-to-loss ratio of the Caroleans.
Sabaton explains about the Swedish army in there album called Carolus Rex Caroleans prayer Carolus Rex Killing ground Poltova Long live the king Ruina rublia
Imagine how strong a line of infantry would be if the first line had some kind of shield(like the samurais had) Like a testudo version but with rifles.
+Pinta Dubbs yeah I thought about it too. I wonder why in all the history of musket warfare it has never been tried. I guess that is what field works are, like a shield, just not mobile...
Pinta Dubbs I don't know dude, one thing is being brave and another - not wanting to get shot. In the words of general George Patton," no poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He did it, by making sure the other poor bastard died for his!" If there is a reason for armies not having this kind of thing, maybe it is logistics: not having to carry 3 000 heavy ass pieces of metal over a march of hundreds of miles of through broken terrain. I mean we know that when they had time to set up defensive positions armies would erect field fortifications such as earth works and stakes...
well, I don't think they would make them out of lead, :) but sure, it's a considerable logistical effort for an uncertain effect. I guess the internal combustion engine had to be invented before you could have effective mobile field armor.
+Pinta Dubbs a bullet can easily go through a shield, even back then, artillery was common and would make jam of a testudo, and you can not use one while using a rifle
Actually, a lot of the Saxon forces consisted of German, Dutch and Polish mercenaries. The Saxon left flank was Russian, the center was mostly mercenaries and the right was the elite Saxon guard, who fought like lions that day.
in other words the army and its leadership displayed a phrase from a rather recent movie...Pirates of the caribbean ,as Capten Jack says ''if you dont like the ods or outcome..change the variables all togheter'' the sweds knew attrition was there enemy so..they tryeed to reffuse the russians that situation all togheter ^^ that said..think the comentateing hinders him from actully employing some real aggresion and out manovering neat either way with historic context.
you should look up the Winter War between Russia and Finland. Finland (were I was born) was outmaned and outgunned even with Scandinavian support. They used some wicked tactics like throwing sugar into tank engines and they would be caramelized and jam the pistons, they would have all white jumpsuits and wait unroll they were super close to a tank and then run up, throw Molotov cocktails down the hatch and run. They eventually killed like 200000 Russians and only lost like 40000
In this time of of war, I still think having 1000 Archers (longbowman) who could fire 8 or more arrows per minute.compared to 2 shoots per minute with the musket...horses had no body armour,nor did men...Folk gave up on Arrow fire way to early for bullets...
+Shampoopy the square will force the enemy to surround you while your men still face outwards. Once the enemy is around you, it is a bit easier for nearby friendly units to shoot them off you without hitting your own men
A bit late, but here we go.. Only counter charge if your men are considerably fresher than the enemy charging you, or if your men is of much better quality or quantity. If the enemy charging you is of either better quality, quantity or fresher you should form square so nearby units can pick them off fighting your square. It takes longer time for the enemy to defeat a square than an open line counter charging, also as Invicta mentioned, it's easier for other units to pick them off when fighting your square, terrain also plays a factor here, if you're getting charged from a hill, form square. Also if the enemy has cavalry nearby ready to attack your line, form square rather than counter charge to avoid getting fiercly smacked between infantry and cavalry.
There is one thing to mention with Swedish army composition. At beginning of Thirty Year War they and most of the nations still used pike and shoot formations. Also armies of Sweden were mostly composed not out of Swedish soldiers (there were not that many of them), but mostly out regiments made by military contractors. These military contractors assembled regiments from their own money and sold out to different countries. What Sweden did differently is that they tied them to place by givng them place to rest during winter (battles were not fought in winter due to logistics issues) and giving them ranks and other favors. This in the end proved more cost effective for Sweden. There was also thing at which Swedes sucked horribly= siege. That is why they campaigned in middle of Europe, which had obsolete siege experience and was easy to capture. Other thing to mention is that nothing would have happened if France did not give them huge money injections to fight their enemies and if they did not strike good deal with Danish king to toll the Skagerak due to lucrative trade routes going from there. So no... tactics may win battles, but they are useless if you do not have army to use those tactics with. It is finance, logistics, system of contributions, burecraucy and rich society to tax was needed to sufficiently wage war. As almost no country did fully have control of these things (except Netherlands), Thirty Years War was one of the most tragic conflicts in Europe. I am kinda talking about Thirty Years War, but some of these things could be applied even here.
+Darksmrad But you have to acknowledge the Swedish monarchy for how centralised it was. After the Swedish nobility was decimated following the Stockholm Bloodbath at the hands of the Dane, the newly crowned king and liberator Gustav Vasa was able to create one of the most centralised states in Europe. It was on par with the Dutch Republic and Spanish monarchy.
+Darksmrad You are off by almost a hundred years. You are thinking of the 30' years war. Not the Great northern war. In the Great Northern war there was not a single mercenary in the Swedish forces.
The Swedes were outnumbered because they could only deploy at half-strength; the rest of their men were still at home trying to assemble their 18th century IKEA-manufactured muskets.
Haha, that was a good one!
Alsace Thriene but we won against 3 countries attacking at the same time and we won against the romans... we swedes are pretty fucking badass.
Zythum Animates facts, the swedes was mad valid
Gustav II Adolf earned the title "father of modern warfare" during the 30 years war. Even had infantry named after him due to the tactics he used.
+xaero xiii And so has Charles XII
+SuperEddyn Gustaf was a beast, Charles did not know when or how to make peace but he was a great military leader. Its a shame that he had to follow his motto.
Charles XII did the thing that ended Napoleon and Hitler. Invading Russia and an extra mistake in completly being dependent on the will of the Cossacks.
+Ufukcan Gencoglu if Carl XII invaded Russia instead of messing around in Poland,
He could've had the chance to destroy Russia
@@ufukcangencoglu2279 Karl XII did a few "wrongs" in his career, I do belive that the biggest one was that he had strong ideals that made him go on when he shouldnt have but also the contrary. Never start an unjust war, but also never quit a just one. Many scholars agree that he got those words from his father and followed them to hard.
I find it interesting how, when numerical inferior, the Swedes responded by being more aggressive.
Usually, when one thinks of overmatched armies winning, they think of defensive placement near chokepoints (Romans in Britain, Spartans in Thermopylae). Gunpowder warfare had changed things a bit so the Russians would always win out of attrition. Cannons and muskets certainly give an edge when massed. Great video, btw.
+SlyBiffrons the principle is basically that if you can knock out your opponent with one punch, he can not hit you Back
It's the principle behind Defeat in Detail - If your army is well-drilled and mobile and you have competent officers you can trust, then even if your opponent has a larger army you can still concentrate your force on a point where your opponent has only a fraction of his troops, brushing them off the field one by one. That strategy does depend on excellent scouting and an offensive mindset, you'd need to put your opponent on your own timetable, if he's allowed genuine choice on the selection of the battlefield based on good intelligence then you're heading for disaster. Napoleon's Grande Armee was a prime example of this, France's victories against what were superior number on paper become less surprising when you see the advantages they had with things like the Corps System.
* Sabatons internally *
Framåt Karoliner, fiendens dom är här.
Låt oss krossa dom, och Kasta in dom genom helvetets portar.
Tills han vitögat ser karolinen marscherar fram
Lade sitt liv i Guds han för sin konung och fosterland
Tills han vitögat ser karolinen marscherar fram
Cool vid!
It's really cool how the Swedish army used religion to bolster their morale. As in their very aggressive tactics where they were told to move up really close until they saw the white in their enemies eyes, shoot and then charge, they told the Caroleans that it was no idea to crouch and try to avoid incoming fire because if you fell it was the will of God.
I know I am kind of off topic but do anyone know of a good site to watch newly released movies online ?
@Colton Hugh flixportal :D
@Cayson Fletcher thanks, I went there and it seems like they got a lot of movies there :) I appreciate it!
@Colton Hugh no problem :D
I like the history lesson on the Swedish tactics.
One interesting thing to note about the development of Swedish cavalry tactics: Not all cavalry units of the day used cantabrian circles, there was still the classical cavalry charge happening every now and then. In these charges knee-to-knee was actually standard formation. The *real* innovation that the Swedish tactics did was knee-behind-knee, thus forming the slightly wedged formation you mentioned and having the absolute densest cavalry formation possible.
Loved that I could play as sweden in this games, but was very disappointed we got no special units...
What the hell CA?! Just could not do anything with the Caroleans?
"Thanks to their achievements during this war, they are regarded to have been perhaps the most effective military troops of that day" (from wiki)
+Noobfist just play Darthmod and get all the stuff. Its better than base game anyway.
+Darksmrad yeah, darthmod Sweden is amazing!
I had class in college on Thirty Years War and I just had to start playing it XD.
+Darksmrad Did they fix the bloody pikemen?
+angelowl89 I would like to say yes but since I cried while trying to point my pikemen in right way to receive enemy cavalry, I would say no.
Still would recommend the mod it is really god and very atmospheric. Guns sound cool. You have different drum and fife sounds (sadly you have to choose one). Overally better than Empire on many levels
"see the white in their eyes, caroleans are marching on!"
Lade sitt liv i Guds han för sin konung och fosterland
The swedish tactics info was glorious Oakley!
+Nick Fraser I found it really interesting when I did some research and wanted to share
+THFE Productions Props for finding some excellent research. Very few people are interested in Sweden, even fewer Swedish history, and even fewer Swedish history in the 18th century. There is almost no information out here, so great work finding not just accurate but awesome information!
+THFE Productions To bad the pike AI is broken and that you can't give the musketeers some proper swords. With some proper equipment the aggresive tactics make more sense. :/
It is required by law to play the song Carolus Rex by Sabaton whenever watching this video.
Hey mate, you clearly are not doing all to well at the moment, if you ever need help getting your life back on track just send a message.
Teun he was clearly joking. BTW Sabaton is awesome
sofullofpiss it's a joke
Hey Oakley I really love these tactics discussion videos including the line shift formation video. Can't wait to see more of them
+Kevin Le I'll have to do more of those for sure
If anyone was wondering, there is an actual names for the Swedish troops, Oakley is describing. They are called the Caroleans. They used both strict rules and religion to hold the lines and keep morale up while marching forward.
Here's a wiki link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroleans
Karoliner
Gott mit uns, as we all stand united. All-together, Gott mit uns.
From the old worlds demise, see an empire rise. From the north reaching far here we are!
Very nice video and great initiative on the historical highlight! It's great how these games so easily inspire further learning on the side. If we are lucky even the developers might see this and include some of those specific tactics that you mentioned in some further iteration of Total War.
please more videos like this, i loved it. i definitely see you listening to our comments, and i commend you for that! awesome battle and explanation of historical tactics.
When talking about this period of Sweden, people often forget about Finnish contribution to the swedes war effort. Hakkapeliittas were the most renowned Swedish troops during the Great Northern War. The name comes from Finnish troops war cry "Hakkaa Päälle!" Which basically means "Charge" or "Get at them". :) Just being proud of my heritage here... ;_;
+OsKuukkeli No. The Hakkapeliittas were disbanded more than 80 years before the Great Northern war started.
I have been corrected, thank you sir/madam. But my point still stands. Finns never get enough credit from wars before 1939. Maybe a good thing though.
OsKuukkeli Possibly. The Finns were invaluable to the Swedish cavalry forces however, only a moron would claim otherwise.
+OsKuukkeli But at least the Hakkapeliittas is one of Swedens unique units in Civ V. :)
+jonasvalfridsson To bad they suck in Civ :(
TO THE SKIEEEEEES SEE CAROLUS RISE!
YOU HAVE TO DO MORE OF THIS OAKLEY!!!!!!!! these are awesome m8 continue on doing this you have my support :)
Sadly, Charles (or Karl as we call him) XII was a brilliant tactician but a poor long term strategist. Spending five years in Poland trying to impose a puppet government controlled by Sweden backfired, and allowed Russia to rebuild and consolidate their forces. Then Charles XII invaded Russia (technically Ukraine but it was part of Russia back then) aiming for Moscow, but Russia was too bare and too freaking cold, and the Russians burned their own land and crops to halt the Swedish advance. Napoleon and Hitler made more or less the same mistakes in the following centuries.
Yeah i think its quite funny to read how Napoleon looked up to Charles and Gustavus Adolphus but still he makes the same mistake as Charles and then Hitler who liked. Napoleon alot goes and does the same thing, not only these 3 have failed to storm Moscow, actually its a list of about 8 or so nations who have failed to done so.
Sniff The Monkeys
Sweden has invaded Moscow successfully before Charles XII's campaign though. During the De La Gardie campaign, we invaded and took Moscow from forces that had rebelled and ousted Tsar Vasili IV, with whom Sweden had made an alliance.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_la_Gardie_Campaign
They burned their own villages down? lol causing more damage than the enemy.
The Russians although courageous had really cowardly leaders and tactics which involved mainly retreating and burning their own land thus denying the enemies any food or shelter making attrition the main killer. I mean hey if the tactic works it works who cares about honor if you are the victor.
This is great. Greetings from Sweden. ^^
+Gustav Vasa haha seems like all the Swedes are coming out of the woodwork this video : )
+THFE Productions Aye!
*Swedish patriotism intensifies*
+Huckler Puckler XD
Gull-Olle bästa namnet
Please do more of these, using real tactics in multiplayer battles
This video is fascinating, great commentary and gameplay!
great vid man, love Etw.
Another reason they were successful was the fact that infantry and cavalry also were trained to use artillery. So when they had taken over an enemy artillery emplacement when would use the cannons on the enemies.
This video was great, I learned more history during 5 minutes on this channel than during the entiry history lesson
I only just found your channel and am i glad i did :)
Very interesting learning about this kind of stuff! never heard about these tactics before:)
I worked in a place called Wirabruk (now a museum) where they forged and crafted the blades which the Caroleans wielded. They had a coupple on display and they were awesome. It´s not that far away from where I live, kind of cool to imagine they mass produced weapons, cannons and other things for the Swedish Empire. Also there is a park nearby where I live where they planted Oak trees, why? For material to build warships (like Wasa, Mars, other warships). The trees are 300+ years old today and is a great place for celebrations like Midsommar and Valborg and other stuff.
I enjoy watching this stuff :D
Great video, very informative and fun
Not only the tactics, but just as important the high morale and training of the swedish troops
Sounds like what i read about ancient spartans running in formation to get to their enemy faster and push them off the battlefield. pretty cool stuff about Sweden you got there.
haha, I remember that i did send you a link for this a while ago. looks like it caught your interest oakley =D
the great Northen war have a special place in the Swedich people'e memory, as we can look through the church records to see if a relative/ancestor participated
+DarkLordOfSweden ja det är inte ofta man får vara stolt att vara svensk speciellt inte idag när vår militär är som den är
+DarkLordOfSweden ja kustjägarna är ASGRYMMA! Men vad jag menar är att man kan först av allt inte tro att man kan få stöd av NATO vid en eventuell attack speciellt inte om man inte är med i NATO. Samtidig så har man tagit bort lumpen vilken leder till färre soldater som kan kallas in vid en eventuellt krig. Och man fortsätter att nedmontera vårt försvar som redan är lite nog. Ska ge dig ett exempel. På Gotland vilket är en väldigt strategiskt ö då den kontrollerar stora delar av Östersjön samt så går det en väldigt viktig gaslinje igenom ön, och det enda vi har är en hemvärnsregemente stationerat på ön. Jag menar hur tänker försvarsmakten? tror dom att ett hemvärnsregemente kan stoppa en rysk invasion? Dom har bara en bas utbildning, Ak4or, Grgs och möljigtvis några bandvagnar.
Carrolix
äh, jag vet inte om om du märker det, men jag kan inte läsa vad du har skrivit, allt jag ser är ''På'' och så vidare
DarkLordOfSweden omfg =D jag skrev via telefonen
+DarkLordOfSweden här är vad det skulle ha stått. Ja kustjägarna är ASGRYMMA! Men vad jag menar är att man kan först av allt inte tro att man kan få stöd av NATO vid en eventuell attack speciellt inte om man inte är med i NATO. Samtidig så har man tagit bort lumpen vilken leder till färre soldater som kan kallas in vid en eventuellt krig. Och man fortsätter att nedmontera vårt försvar som redan är lite nog. Ska ge dig ett exempel. På Gotland vilket är en väldigt strategiskt ö då den kontrollerar stora delar av Östersjön samt så går det en väldigt viktig gaslinje igenom ön, och det enda vi har är en hemvärnsregemente stationerat på ön. Jag menar hur tänker försvarsmakten? tror dom att ett hemvärnsregemente kan stoppa en rysk invasion? Dom har bara en bas utbildning, Ak4or, Grgs och möljigtvis några bandvagnar.
Nice man! Could you do more historical tactics videos in the future?
Gilla om du är svensk!!🇸🇪😄🇸🇪🇸🇪
@Mr Dinky Tredjedels same också 😁
@@Emeralds11 desamma
This video made my start a campaign in darthmod as sweden and just only melee fight with my units
Great vid THFE!
If we (Sweden) would have had equal numbers to Russia, Russia would be eastern Sweden right now.
If there ever would be a such beutiful thing in the world
I dont support nationalism but every country would be better with sweden lol.
A Russian army compared to an equally sized Swedish one is just a bad joke
That would be the fucking dream!
This is true. If the cossacks hadn't betrayed us, I would have marched into Moscow.
i really enjoyed this !!!! :D
The caracole was abandoned by Swedes as early as thirty years war. They were in fact the first to do so, and the first to adapt the cavalry shock tactics of firing a volley then charging, which has proven to be much more effective than the caracole, which was slow and rather deadly for the cavalry doing it.
EDIT: Oh you covered this change right afterwards, nevermind!
In any case, I love The Great Northern War, interesting "leftover" tactics and equipment from the 17th century, which is my favorite.
interestingly sabaton made a song about these tactics 'carolean's prayer'
Really good battle!!!
Greetings from sweden. Skååål för fan
It's an old video, but still. First of all, I'm a swede and both love my country and it's history. But the main reason that we won the battle of Narva was thanks to a snowstorm that the russians had in their eyes, and we had in our backs. Which made our tactics even more effiecient. But I learned a couple of new details in our old tactics. Great vid
Karl den tolfte såg alltid till att vädret var med oss, samma sak var det med slaget vid fraustadt. Då hade vi medvind så ryssarnas krut flög upp i deras ansikten efter dom hade skjutit ;) Länge leve carolus rex
Kalle var ju inte ens med vid Fraustadt..
Charles had a feel for the battlefield like no other man. His tactical intuition was incredible. But he was not responsible for the victory at Fraustadt. That's entirely due to the amazing cleverness of Rehnskiöld.
Hey Oakley, I love the historical background in your videos! Can you provide the sources you use in your video description? I would love to learn more about the period.
+f3rricf3lix I mostly relied on posts from the AskHistorians subreddit.
General overview of Swedish rise to power: www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2ij2e4/how_did_sweden_become_so_powerful_in_the_1600s/
Thread on the Swedish tactics:
www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/33bx3d/how_come_the_armies_of_karl_xii_was_able_to_win/
Do this kind of video more often!
The darthmod Swedish army has some cool unique units for the time if anyone was interested.
great video
Carolus Rex RISE!
A little late, but yet nice description of the era bro :D
Awesome! Worthy of King Gustav, the Lion of the North!
A Total war Empire 2 with a DLC like Hannibal at the gates (Carolus at the gates) focusing on The great northern war with Charles XII's Sweden vs Denmark-Norway, Augustus II the Strongs Poland-Lithuania, Saxony and Peter the Greats Russia would be so awsome.
To be fair, the vaunted cavalry tactics of the swedes were probably inspired by contact with the heavier cavalry of the poles during the wars between the two nations. Though it might just be a case of convergent evolution inmilitary tactics.
Awww. Was hoping for more specialized infantry/cavalry. This is just kinda a mirror match? Swedish infantry (Carolean) was known for heavy marching drills(+10% movement speed), was expecting the swedes to reach the top first :D . Would be cool to see like different bonuses to the different nations.
What really cost the Swedes the Great Northern War was the Battle of Poltava and Charles' bold adventure in Poland. They could probably sustain losses of a couple of thousands every battle for a much longer time because a lot of their soldiers were German mercenaries, and not Swedes themselves. At Poltava though they lost their entire continental army, and the King was even exiled rendering Sweden defenseless.
When he returned to Sweden he undertook another bold adventure by invading Norway with the home army. He split it into two, one with him sieging a border fort where he himself was shot and died, and the other which was decimated in a blizzard while retreating back to Sweden. In the end everything Sweden had built up the last 100 years was thrown away in those two adventures.
Smaller they are the more vicious they fight. Some things never change.
Don't forget about their innovations in light artillery that was lighter and more mobile than the fixed artillery used by other nations at the time that allowed them more aggressive formations as well.
Those tactics not only kill lots of Russians, but they've also got to be absolutely terrifying for those on the receiving end.
Fire when you see the white part in the eyes of the enemy
I would add that the caracole tactic was not in use during the Great Northern War, it was however used before and during the Thirty Years' War.
Wasn't the reload rate of this era about two or three shots a minute? But anyways, fantastic video! You should check out Darthmod Empire, I think you'd really dig the realism it brings into this game!
I find it amusing how it turned out to be a defeat.
Please , one gameplay for de spanish military tactics !
Very interesting
Hey Oakley can you do like a video on like what you would do to total war so historical tactics and like actual realistic strategies would be viable?
before the swedish soldiers attacked in meele did the grenadiers first throw their grenades. all regementes had grenadiers
.
and actually did the swedish forces meet the saxon army during the battle of fraustadt. there where russians helping the saxon army at their right flank (i think) but they turned their coats inside out so the swedish forces wouldnt recognise the green russian coats.
Wait, some soldiers used rapiers at that time? Weren't sabres used by officers or cavalry and that soldiers used bayonets? I no that different units had different types of weapons yet I can't really imagine one musket soldier wielding a fixed bayonet and another wielding a pike. I probably didn't hear correctly so please clarify. :)
ThisNameIsn'tWorking (I know this is a old comment) Well, he is talking early 1700s, where not everyone had bayonets equipped, so they'd have a sword at their hip, with possibly pike men helping the shock.
if im correct the reload rates of infantry ant that time were 2-4 rounds per minute. i know the rifles of the time were 1 to 2 minute reloads.
Awesome
I rember playing this xdddd gg my friend
Which game is better?
Napoleon total war or empire total war?
Because both games are reduced now and I don't know which one I should buy
Ahh, the american way of saying words confuses me so much :'D For some reason ninetyfourhundred in my head equated to 94,000 vs 20,000, I was like no wonder they did so well, it's not a surprise.
Obviously I caught up then decided to write this comment.
Does he play these on vanilla or with darthmod? Does range matter on vanilla for accuracy?
CZcams war vet having flashbacks
4:30 During the rule of Carl XII Sweden lost it's greatpower status when we lost Finland to Russia. Sweden had been a greatpower since 1648 because of the victory of the 30 year war
I wouldnt mind this content on National Geographic channel.
It's me or in the second half of the video it doesn't Match with the audio?
I was watching a men of war video mod of swede vs Austria from diplexheat
they would advance until they could see the white in the enemies eyes, then fire and charge
Any reason for playing Empire over Napoleon? (Apart from Native American factions)
I imagine you're talking about MP but Empire actually has a really cool campaign if you install Darthmod for it
Yeah I was on about the MP, but the SP is also good
+FireFyfe Napoleon is a much better and more stable game though :/ Wish there was some port with all units from Empire to the Napoleon game. Would be much better.
I have played both and like empire a lot better. The game has a better feel to it and honestly I think it works better. Napoleon is just not fun to play to me. Faction wise it's sucks because only 2-3 are worth using and have any decent units. Empire is a much more balanced game compared to Napoleon. If you play multiplayer on empire it is 10 times better than Napoleon
you should really try the imperial splendor mod. It changes rosters and units so that factions play more historically.
The Swedish Army during stormaktstiden was probably the greatest military force in the history of mankind. Not even Napoleon could match the kill-to-loss ratio of the Caroleans.
Sabaton explains about the Swedish army in there album called Carolus Rex
Caroleans prayer
Carolus Rex
Killing ground
Poltova
Long live the king
Ruina rublia
Cadet Zuromski Ruina Imperii*
do more with tactics
Imagine how strong a line of infantry would be if the first line had some kind of shield(like the samurais had) Like a testudo version but with rifles.
+Pinta Dubbs yeah I thought about it too. I wonder why in all the history of musket warfare it has never been tried. I guess that is what field works are, like a shield, just not mobile...
I guess they thought hiding behind a shield was cowardly. They did not really care about safety back then.KlumsyK
Pinta Dubbs I don't know dude, one thing is being brave and another - not wanting to get shot. In the words of general George Patton," no poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He did it, by making sure the other poor bastard died for his!" If there is a reason for armies not having this kind of thing, maybe it is logistics: not having to carry 3 000 heavy ass pieces of metal over a march of hundreds of miles of through broken terrain. I mean we know that when they had time to set up defensive positions armies would erect field fortifications such as earth works and stakes...
well, I don't think they would make them out of lead, :) but sure, it's a considerable logistical effort for an uncertain effect. I guess the internal combustion engine had to be invented before you could have effective mobile field armor.
+Pinta Dubbs a bullet can easily go through a shield, even back then, artillery was common and would make jam of a testudo, and you can not use one while using a rifle
Nice
have you tried other Napoleon mods?
fraustadt was in 1706 and it was a mixed army of saxons and russians who stod against the swedish army under rehnsköld
Actually, a lot of the Saxon forces consisted of German, Dutch and Polish mercenaries.
The Saxon left flank was Russian, the center was mostly mercenaries and the right was the elite Saxon guard, who fought like lions that day.
What about the pike and shot?
in other words the army and its leadership displayed a phrase from a rather recent movie...Pirates of the caribbean ,as Capten Jack says ''if you dont like the ods or outcome..change the variables all togheter'' the sweds knew attrition was there enemy so..they tryeed to reffuse the russians that situation all togheter ^^
that said..think the comentateing hinders him from actully employing some real aggresion and out manovering neat either way with historic context.
i would always get complemented for playing as the dutch
you should look up the Winter War between Russia and Finland. Finland (were I was born) was outmaned and outgunned even with Scandinavian support. They used some wicked tactics like throwing sugar into tank engines and they would be caramelized and jam the pistons, they would have all white jumpsuits and wait unroll they were super close to a tank and then run up, throw Molotov cocktails down the hatch and run. They eventually killed like 200000 Russians and only lost like 40000
Yes, Finland like Sweden has always had a lack of nampower so to make up for that lack both Nations came up with some amazing tactics.
Lesson learned. FUCK RUSSIA.
In this time of of war, I still think having 1000 Archers (longbowman) who could fire 8 or more arrows per minute.compared to 2 shoots per minute with the musket...horses had no body armour,nor did men...Folk gave up on Arrow fire way to early for bullets...
Hey, im swedish and i didnt know much about this, thank you mate!
*Uses square to break an infantry charge that is used for cavalry.*
*Doesn't use Square for a cavalry charge*
Really?
+Shampoopy the square will force the enemy to surround you while your men still face outwards. Once the enemy is around you, it is a bit easier for nearby friendly units to shoot them off you without hitting your own men
+THFE Productions yes, but a counter charge the is the best of way of defending your self.
+Shampoopy Or shoot as fast as you can 😊
A bit late, but here we go.. Only counter charge if your men are considerably fresher than the enemy charging you, or if your men is of much better quality or quantity. If the enemy charging you is of either better quality, quantity or fresher you should form square so nearby units can pick them off fighting your square. It takes longer time for the enemy to defeat a square than an open line counter charging, also as Invicta mentioned, it's easier for other units to pick them off when fighting your square, terrain also plays a factor here, if you're getting charged from a hill, form square. Also if the enemy has cavalry nearby ready to attack your line, form square rather than counter charge to avoid getting fiercly smacked between infantry and cavalry.
Can we hope to see you upload napoleon total war battles_
+Anders VP I tried playing some games the other day but they weren't very good for an exciting replay, I'll try and get some when I can
Sounds like they fought similarly to Roman infantry with their pilae
There is one thing to mention with Swedish army composition. At beginning of Thirty Year War they and most of the nations still used pike and shoot formations. Also armies of Sweden were mostly composed not out of Swedish soldiers (there were not that many of them), but mostly out regiments made by military contractors. These military contractors assembled regiments from their own money and sold out to different countries. What Sweden did differently is that they tied them to place by givng them place to rest during winter (battles were not fought in winter due to logistics issues) and giving them ranks and other favors. This in the end proved more cost effective for Sweden. There was also thing at which Swedes sucked horribly= siege. That is why they campaigned in middle of Europe, which had obsolete siege experience and was easy to capture.
Other thing to mention is that nothing would have happened if France did not give them huge money injections to fight their enemies and if they did not strike good deal with Danish king to toll the Skagerak due to lucrative trade routes going from there.
So no... tactics may win battles, but they are useless if you do not have army to use those tactics with. It is finance, logistics, system of contributions, burecraucy and rich society to tax was needed to sufficiently wage war. As almost no country did fully have control of these things (except Netherlands), Thirty Years War was one of the most tragic conflicts in Europe.
I am kinda talking about Thirty Years War, but some of these things could be applied even here.
+Darksmrad
But you have to acknowledge the Swedish monarchy for how centralised it was. After the Swedish nobility was decimated following the Stockholm Bloodbath at the hands of the Dane, the newly crowned king and liberator Gustav Vasa was able to create one of the most centralised states in Europe. It was on par with the Dutch Republic and Spanish monarchy.
+Darksmrad You are off by almost a hundred years.
You are thinking of the 30' years war. Not the Great northern war.
In the Great Northern war there was not a single mercenary in the Swedish forces.
+eckabacken9 Well yes, at the end of my comment, I do say that I am mostly talking about Thirty Years War
Darksmrad Oh, sorry, i missed that.
But yeah, the Swedish army had went through enormous reforms by the time of the great northern war.
i do wonder if u say karl or charls the 12th....