6 Tips for Getting Started in Napoleonic Wargaming

As a newcomer to the Napoleonic Wars, how do you start collecting miniatures or playing your first game? It's a question we are asked frequently enough that we felt it warranted a video with some tips and advice! In some sense, Napoleonic wargaming is the grandfather of all tabletop games. After all, the first known tabletop wargame presented to the Prussian king in 1812, in the midst of the Napoleonic Wars! Today, hundreds of years later, hobbyists have a vast array of choices in figure scale and rules to play.

Miles & Greg help cut through all the noise by offering six specific tips for how new players can get started without being overwhelmed by all the colorful uniforms, different armies, and 20+ year span of the era. We want you to give the Napoleonic period a try! And if you'd like to see some fantastic Napoleonic miniature games in progress, try watching our Marengo, Ulm, or Austerlitz games on YouTube!

[TwisstedSage]

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.

[davidbrown]

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

[romanklaeger]

Youngster here, started some 15 years ago at the age of 16. I started with Revell and italeri 1:72 scale, as they are widely available and cheap. I based them individually on washers and 3D printed square 2x2 bases to stick them together so i can play skirmish and army games. I have switched to 28mm a few years ago, experimenting more with smaller conflicts such as the french invasion of Switzerland in 1798, playing Sharp Practice. 28mm has a wider selection and the plastic allows for kitbashing or special kits are available. Sharp Practie is easy to learn and is a bridge to army level games as the figures are in formations. Leaders play a very important role, which is common in SciFi and Fantasy Games. I introduced many Players coming from Warhammer and such to historics and i found this to be the best choice by far. 50-60 Models per side will get a very good game and all the painting techniques and general feel and touch are similar enough to what my age group is familiar with. Highly recommended.

[adamrodaway]

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.

[kimchapman]

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.

[jaeledwards]

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.

[Tur]

I did NOT know this is a hobby. Being interested in fashion of history got me into the 1810s, which got me into uniforms, which got me into Napoleonic wars, which introduced me into hobbies such as this. This is incredibly cool, but it looks rather expensive and I don’t know anything about tabletop games in general if the interest sticks, maybe I’ll look into it a little later.

[Tut_tut_Typ]

I started five years ago with napoleonic wargaming and painted my old RISK miniatures and gave them a wooden base (e.g. 3 rifle miniature at one base). A quick and cheap way to set up many troops and armies if you have a limited budget and don't want to spend hundreds of dollars/euros to raise one army. ...and the best thing for me is that I can also play on my chessboard, basically wargaming to go. :)

[lawrencetrim]

French, Barvarians, Saxons, Danes, Poles, Swiss, Italians, Illyria, Dutch, Confederation of the Rhine, even an Irish regiment plus more. Thats just on Boney's. Favourite gaming period. Colourful, variety, fascinating history. But what a rabbit hole for gamers (especially gaming meglomaniacs). Want to support a therapist. (AND GO BROKE) Collect the 1812 Grande Armee or redo Leipzig 1813.😜🤪🤯 Great video. Great advice. Kudos from Zimbabwe.

[alans]

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.

[PaperSmiles]

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.

[GreyhawkGrognard]

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.

[StormofSteelWargaming]

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

[billmasters]

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

[keithflint]

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.

[redmist]

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.

[mrb]

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!!

[edthilenius]

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.

[frankwaugh]

Outstanding video with great tips on Napoleonic gaming. Personally I like to game out some of the larger battles and use the venerable Napoleon's Battles. 25 was always way too expensive and labor intensive to build up all of the armies of the major powers that was my end goal. I originally did several armies in 6mm but it is hard to tell them apart at a distance. I am very happy to have gone down the 10mm route which gives me some good detail while still keeping the overall scale small enough to game a large battle on 2 typical 30"×72" tables side by side. As a practical matter it is hard to reach over 3 feet to move pieces. The spectacle of 1000s of well painted Napoleonic armies is something incredible to behold and one of the great joys of gaming this Era. Again...Great video!!!

[gregwaugh]

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.