"Wargaming ACW in the H.S. classroom" Topic

Hi all,

I am teaching a high school American Civil War class next year. I've not been told yet if it will be all year 50 minutes, or semester 90 minutes. None the less I wanted to get any feedback you all might think of regarding a limited use of wargaming in the classroom. My friend and former colleague, John M. Priest, used to do this in his classes.

Here are my main teaching objectives for the incorporation of wargaming:
1. To introduce students to the general progression in battlefield tactics at a brigade or regimental level.
2. The main focus is to explore how commanders used certain types of tactics to win battles.
3. Explore the evolution of tactics from 1861 to 1864-65. Since my students live in Maryland, I planned to focus on Eastern battles.
a. 1st Manassas
b. Part of the Seven Days battles (not sure yet)
c. Antietam (we are down the road from this battlefield)
d. Gettysburg (iconic and close)
e. Wilderness
f. Spotsylvania Court House

My wargaming system would be Carnage and Glory. I enjoy the system, how it tracks casualties and weather, and it is easy to end the game and pick it up quickly.

Now, in order to do this with limited time to set up and accomplish the "battle" I planned for a 50 minute class to run a battle once a week, near the end of the week. Figured 4 days more or less. For a 90 minute class, 2 days total, run them on a Friday, take two weeks.

To keep it simple, I figured I'd use 10mm Old Glory figures. Since they come in groups of 5 on a base I'd use one base to represent a regiment. I'd put on the C&G number on one side, and the name of the regiment on the other.

Each students get 3 regiments. (I have a total of 26 students signed up so far). A few students would have to play the role of the artillery commanders. Figure 13 Confederate, 13 Federal more or less. (on another side note, as a side project students would follow the history of specific regiments through the war….probably the ones I would assign them to command by the Seven Days battles. They'd have to track the historical make up of regimental organization, campaigns, battles, honors, casualties, etc. then do a paper or ppt presentation or prezi presentation)

For the battlefields I'd use two of those fold out poster boards used for presentations. Either I'd have the students create the battlefield after researching it, or I'd set it up here over the summer. Nothing too detailed, maybe use the stuff from paper terrain.com to give some scenery. Use other poster board glued down to generate hills. Cover it with green and brown paper.

The battlefields have to be something that I could set up and take down quickly. To mark where units finish the battle for that day I'd have students put down some kind of paper marker so they could put their unit in this last place when we picked up later.

Thoughts on where / how to improve this. Keep in mind I'm teaching 15 to 17 year olds, most who want to be in the class, some who will not and are just put in there by our administration.

We will also look at campaigns, but that's a separate component. They will be learning how to fight the war from a campaign setting using AGEOD's Civil War computer game as we apply the concepts we are learning in the curriculum. The wargame battles are only to demonstrate battlefield tactics in use at that time, and how they evolve.

These are my thoughts at the moment. I'd appreciate any feedback or additional perspective.

Adam

I like this! I think keeping rules real simple is important – and the small(ish)class size is good

Is this a military high school? Surely battles can't be the whole focus of the course; what about:

Industrial North vs Agrarian South
The evolution into Sherman's "Total War"
Abolition and Slavery
Larger strategic issues: Northern Generalship, West vs East. blackades, rivers, etc.

As for the battles, something like Battle Cry seems best.

DBN works well and is simple to learn and understand. I know that Carnage and Glory does all the calculating, etc. but I think it makes it a bit more sterile because of this…

You probably weren't asking this as a question since you already picked out rules….

I would probably pick a battle that was multi-day so that logistics and troop arrival come into play. You could also talk about political ramifications (especially on the Union side), effects on the locals, communication problems, scouting, etc. Might be fun if you don't let them know which battle it is and see if they can figure it out in the end. Also compare what happens in the game vs. actual history.

Mr Elmo,

No, just a public high school. Battles are not the whole course. I cover all the other areas you mention, I just wanted specific focus on this end of it. To explain all of what I do would take too long.

ancientsgamer,

Thanks for the thoughts. I was contemplating the concept of troop arrival too. My only concern is down time for students. Can't / don't want to have too much of it. Have to keep them engaged and moving.

My other thought was to chunk the battle into parts and have the students broken into groups where they fight different parts of the battle area. Ex. Culps hill and Devils Den/Little Round Top.

CaptainKGL:

Do you have other classes during the day in the classroom? That could make it difficult.

I would suggest, from my experience as a high school and college teacher using wargames, both miniatures and board games as well as modifications, the following:

1. Have as much of the student preparation before hand as assignments and background reading so on the day of the game, they can start immediately.
2. IF you are going to have other classes in your room, it might be better to go with a wall representation and cutout units that can be pinned into position. It can be a powerful display when it covers the entire wall, even though it isn't as cool as the miniatures.
3. Focusing on one battle will help. If you are near Antietam [Love that battlefield], it would be a perfect connection to a field trip. [More on that below] The battle lends itself to separate engagements as you note with Gettysburg, where each section of the battle could be fought separately by the students in a more controlled [restricted battle area and such]
4. It's important to have a "So what?" to the 'lessons'. What are the takeaways from the experience and how do students demonstrate this. This is vital for justifying to others the use of classroom time.
5. I would also plan 'training times' in the curriculum for acclimatizing students to simulations in the classroom, starting small [any topic] and working up to what is a big and complicated activity. This will add in how smoothly things go. Many students won't know the 'norms' for such activities and consider them 'only fun and games' without the preparation.

There are two books, and I will get the title, where the author takes period photos of the battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg and locates where and at what direction the photos were taken on the battlefield. Being there to see where the photos were taken is powerful… and both books have photos of soldiers buried in the battlefield cemeteries, which is also amazing to hunt up the grave stones.

Students could be given one or two pictures and the book 'maps' and on a field trip locate those different spots.

Having done it for a 'staff ride' type class at Antietam, it was a big hit.

Just some thoughts,
Bill H.

I'm not familiar with the rules you mention, but having a set of "fast play" rules is the way to go for highschoolers.

My suggestion would be Black Powder.

Sounds fascinating. Please let us know the results! (And post pics!).

Bill,

Thanks for the thoughts. That was a help.

I do have other classes (government and AP Government). I've developed a whole program that incorporates a living STEM lab that utilized CIV4 which I have modified code to work as a teaching tool. Been doing it for 11 years now. There are 24 classes involved in it now across Maryland.

I like your idea about wall representation. Our issue in our school district is we have been limited to where we can hang stuff in our room, and my room design makes it difficult. Have to kick this around more though. I might also be sharing a room next year with a floating teacher, so "safety of the equipment" is always a concern.

The "So What" component I think I've got nailed down along with the other lessons. Need to see how it all flows the first year through.

Training time is a good thought. My original plan would be 1st Manassas, more or less. On designated Fridays we'd apply the concepts in our "lab" format.

I've always been the kind of teacher where lecture is nice and useful, but hands on application after notes is fun to teach and I get better participation out of our "less motivated" students.

I like the Staff Ride of concept. Since we are close to Antietam, Gettysburg, and even Manassas it could be a plan. Depends on if my school district will allow for more than one field trip. My friend John M. Priest who I taught with wrote a book on Antietam and does battlefield tours at Antietam and Gettysburg.

Thanks again.

Adam

I teach a class called American Conflict and Diplomacy where we refight a single battle of a conflict. For example, this year we did Cowpens for the AWI. We also did Gettysburg for the ACW. I usually use a set of homebrew rules to make it simple and fast to play. I set aside two 50 minute periods and students write an after action review comparing the historical outcome VS the outcome they arrive at. You would be amazed at what the kids pick up from these simple hands-on activities. I started doing this small scale when I first started teaching 11 years ago. It was so useful I expanded it to one battle per conflict instead of two or three per course. Kids love it too…they don't realize they are actually learning history…to them it's just a game.

Volley and Bayonet or Fire and Fury would be my choices of rules. I have taught 4th and 5th Graders Fire and Fury with no problems (the Girls tend to get it faster)

One option would be to run it on a projected map to ease setup/takedown issues. PM me for a couple of Ideas

I've always been the kind of teacher where lecture is nice and useful, but hands on application after notes is fun to teach and I get better participation out of our "less motivated" students.

Adam:
I'm with you there. It's the only way to go. For something as traditionally 'lecture heavy' as history, it is a must. Labs for history and government? Unheard of. ;-7

Man-o-man, I envy your resources, all those battlefields nearby and Mr. Priest to conduct the tour.

The books I mentioned are by William A. Frassanito, and the two, titled Gettysburg and Antietam are spectacular resources for touring the sites.

If you are interested in what other games/simulations/ lessons I have used in the past, email me via TMP. I haven't taught high school History and Government in 20 years, so it may be old hat but I'm glad to share.

Now it is teaching teachers and colleges cources… still teaching hands-on and thematic approaches. [Second hand for you, from the sounds of it.]

Bill

Bill

Sounds good. I'll shoot you an email. Thanks again for the help.

Adam

Therriosk

Nice idea. I'll kick that around too and see what I can put together.

Thanks

A Magnetic board with rectangular magnets which were used in the dark ages in the offices to map out and assign t courses to time slots might work. I'll checj around and see if I have any of those supplies. If I do, I will get them to you. Mike

Your an idiot. 95% of your cirriculum will require you deal with the events leading up to the war, and the effects of slavery. Also, Lincoln. The actual war will be a footnote.

Wow moonhippie3, that was harsh.

Good luck CaptainKGL, I hope it goes well.

moonhippie3:

Hmmm. Tell us how you really feel. If you look at many history textbooks of say, 50 chapters, the Civil War itself will be given two to four chapters, which is actually 10-20%

Actually, regarding the curriculum, it all depends on what is being taught during a particular unit/topic that counts. As for the actual war, it is hardly a footnote when that is the only time Lincoln was President and a huge number of constitutional issues were challenged and 'resolved'.

And college curriculums will have several whole courses on Wars, the Revolution, WWI, WII, Vietnam, as well as the Civil War. So, it isn't all that strange.

And of course, Adam isn't talking about lessons for before and after the war, let alone his entire curriculum. Just one part. TMP isn't the venue for discussing how to teach the Dred Scott decision or James Buchanan's administration.

And as he stated, the entire course is on the Civil War…

So chill.

@Moon hippie, dude…

I found that wargaming in the classroom was a tremendous motivator, particularly for the students who would not have normally been involved in the class.

One of my former students is now in the wargaming group which meets at my place once a month.

It is an excellent springboard for discussions related to other aspects of the war: medicine, leadership, tactical analysis.

If you want to explore the evolution of tactics in the VA theater, you should not leave out the Petersburg battles! Include at least 1.

It is a great motivator, and there are some things, particularly relationships between concepts, events and issues that can't be taught well except with a 'hands-on' approach. Often the problem is how school time is organized. How long does it take to teach math? English? Calculus? P.E., and History? All take 185 hours a year, 50 minutes a day. Imagine if they ran surgical operations or court cases that way.

In any case, it is important to link the 'fun' with real learning or it becomes difficult to justify the amount of time such games and simulations require, even the shortest.

There are several tricks:
1. Spend the last ten minutes of a period with an on-going game, so that it isn't taking up one, two or more periods in a week.
2. Create shortened versions of the games, or break them up into linked 'mini-games'.
3. I have had the SMSs "Six Minute Simulations" in class as either a reward or teaching moment during a class. As therrisok says, they don't know they're learning.
4. Or devolve the simulation into a quick 'demonstration' with the teacher and a few students rather than a whole class, sort of like the science teacher having the sulfur blow up instead of having all the students blow it up.

The challenge of shorter simulations/games does help focus on the essentials, the 'so what?' of the exercise or activity, to where you get all the bang for less of the buck.

Seen the recent 'card games', a counter/map game on a postcard size area? They have one of the enter Civil War which isn't bad for demonstrating some strategic lessons. Less than 25 counters.

And variety is the spice of life--in the classroom, so mixing up the simulation/game experience isn't bad either.

Bill

Bill

I'm right with you on this last post. Especially number 4. Shorter would work better too.

No worries on Mr Moonhippie3. Hes certainly never taught and as a veteran educator I take a person like that with a grain of salt. Its easy to bash something you've never done nor have any knowledge on how the curriculum is designed.

Thanks everyone for the help and support. Gave me some good food for thought and areas to focus on.