6 Tips for Getting Started in Napoleonic Wargaming

Just a note for those among us with physical barriers to painting teeny tiny scales in Napoleonics. I’ve got severe trembling left over from my stint in the artillery in Vietnam. Which means I’m old, which means my eyes aren’t up to the task of painting colorful little blobs of lead that I can’t see as more than frighteningly bright buggers from my nose. Even 15mm figures are more like hard work than the relaxing pleasure I experience painting 28mm. In this regard, for those with similar issues, may I recommend painting on the sprue, when painting plastic, as it provides a framework to brace against your desk or whatever, to hold at least one side of the project steady, while the brush hand is focused on relaxing. The 28’s do take longer, true, but at least the results are something I can take reasonable pride in and can find and identify on the gaming table when the opportunity comes round. Hugs to you and all gamers everywhere and thanks for your great videos.

As to scale, I recommend you check out what your local club / players have and use the most, and match that.

An alternative suggestion for the first set of troops (if you have a club or friends who already play napoleonics) is to choose a small German principality. Since several of these fought both against and for Napoleon at different times, these could be slotted in as parts of a larger army in a multiplayer game.

an oft overlooked scale is 1/72, an ideal starting scale with a vast number of figures available, and the cost is very appealing, i can field entire armies for the equivalent price of a Brigade at other scales. The figures also paint up beautifully and are more robust when painted than people expect. Don't get me wrong, my favourite scale is 10mm, using Pendraken miniatures, but for a beginner, 1/72 is the cheapest, quickest and easiest option, allowing for 2 armies to be on the bale top in almost no time, and at a very low cost.

I got started with Napoleonics about a year ago, playing the "Field of Glory: Napoleonic" rules which are a mainstay at our club. With painting, I acquired a bulk lot of 1970s era MiniFigs which were really showing their age in terms of detail, and made painting a bit of a chore, particularly as it was my first time moving from 28mm to 15mm. That changed when I was asked to paint up some of the beautiful AB miniatures figures for the club. What a revelation they are, beautifully detailed and animated.

More seriously, 15mm is a good recommendation. If endless painting isn't your thing, you can pick up decent, ready painted 15mm units online in various places for reasonable prices. Usually second hand, of course.

I recently started building 2mm Napoleonic Black Powder armies, but at 1:1 scale. Each battalion consists of around 800 2mm minis. They look awesome on the field, but DAMN their frontages are crazy.

Great video. I might also suggest that it's not always necessary to cleave exactly to history, even with historical minis. One of the best campaigns I ever played in was in college, where each player ruled a fictional nation with Napoleonic-era-type armies. It really opened things up in terms of scenarios and such, without having to worry about the details of historical battles.

Excellent introductory video and definitely something I'd like to see for other periods. I started out with Napoleonics when I was a teenager (I'm retired now so that was a while ago...) and the difference in choice of figures, rulesets and source material between then and now is just staggering. Nice to see an overview.

There is such a wealth of historical scenarios to play in the Napoleonic period. Michael Hopper has published some excellent scenario books on the 1805 (Rise of Eagles) and 1809 (4 books) campaigns. I understand soon to be published are 2 books on the Peninsula with many smaller and mid sized scenarios which make it easy to get to the table. Around 30 or more scenarios each book I understand - lots of Spanish, French, Portuguese and British combinations. Looking forward to these being ready hopefully by the Autumn... covid willing.

You guys are the rock stars of historical gaming. I guess that makes this a somewhat backhanded compliment. :)

Man, where was this video about 25 years ago? I jumped into Naps head first not knowing what I really wanted. I was fortunate to trade for a 15mm French Army for "Napoleon's Battles" back in the day. I eventually got hung up in the Prussian dilemma with early and late war armies...what a mess. The one army I would recommend to do later would be the Austrians. Man those guys have a lot of troops in their formations. You guys gave out a lot of good advice and completely agree on the tips. I see a lot of Nap gamers wanting to field a corps of Old Guard and Chasseur's a Chavel..Nope! Regular line infantry is the way to go, then add on artillery and cavalry. I hope to re-spark the 15mm nap gaming as I bought La Salle v2. I currently do Peninsula Naps for Sharp Practice in 28s, which is really nice too. Thanks again and take care.

Thank you for this! I’d love to see similar videos for the other various periods as well! As someone who’s never done historicals but wants to, I gotta say it gets pretty overwhelming no matter what era you look into!!

Thanks for the shout out! Another excellent intro video for a massive subject.

Just starting out, I would recommend building units as brigades. For example 3-8 battalions of infantry, plus a battery of artillery and a regiment of cavalry. With a brigadier figure of course. The repeat the process for the opposing side. By the time you have a dividions worth of infantry you will have the correct ratio of supporting arms as well.

One other bit of advise for new "Nappyers". Despite what you see in some pictures and videos, don't worry about needing to build up large units of, say, 24-36 models to represent a battalion. Around here groups play both General d'Armee and Shako rules in 28mm using 12-model units with 4 models to a stand (2 front and 2 back) - and 3 stands to a battalion. The big bonus is using fewer miniatures per unit results in more units on the table for the same number of models. Also, having units comprised of more models creates a bigger "footprint" - having several of these bigger units makes a more crowded table with less room to maneuver. This is far less of a concern in 18mm, 15mm and smaller scales.

Great video guys! For another piece of advice, try the 3 foot rule when painting. Too many times a new gamer will try to paint the pupils of a 28mm miniature., but when standing around the game table and looking down at your army, no one can see the "minutiae" of pupils, belt buckles, even facial hair. It makes it easier to field an army. Plus, the tremendous satisfaction of your yeoman's work on painting a unit of regular infantry as they stand firm against a Grenadier Guards unit painted to museum perfection.

I started watching thinking i would only watch the first minute but ended up watching the whole thing. Awesome editing to keep the viewer engaged. Good stuff. :D

Still a die hard of fan of Napoleon's Battles. Great for 15mm scale and basing is identical for Age of Eagles. It's just personal preference for me. I can't say enough about George Nafziger's books and OOB reference.

I love all of your models. They are really colorful and well done. Props for the detail on the 6mm models, they are so small