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.
@@themidwesternboi9399 Thanks for your comment . . . question. When I got home in 72 the war was mostly over and I think the average person, and particularly vets, just wanted to forget the whole thing. So, initially I'd say no. Even my family with a long military tradition dating back to the Civil War were quite disdainful of my survival & poor military record. Since then, yes I've received occasional words of gratitude for which I am somewhat embarrassed as what I did, in my opinion, was NOT to promote freedom & democracy but rather to impede them in order to protect a grossly corrupt regime & safeguard the expansion of capitalism, by means of the slaughter of tiny brown people, living in conditions of such dire poverty they were sleeping on the floor of bamboo huts, without so much as screens in their windows. True, they had vast urban areas as well, teeming with humanity, hustling their labor & their bodies for the meagerest of living but I could hardly be very proud of preserving that. I served to protect the other men & units with whom I was fighting and I can hope my efforts aided in their survival and so I do not feel cheated by my countries lack of effusive gratitude and I can sleep peacefully at night. Thanks again. Hugs.
Dont be backward in asking at a Model shop if anyone can help you out . I just did 4 months knocking out a Brigade of French Inf and Cavalry for a AIF Vet with PTSD in Adelaide
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.
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.
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.
Oh Yes that highly unfashionable 1/72 scale. I personally have whole armies of them (how many thousand is a lot?). To me it is the ideal compromise scale where they don't look too small (where is my magnifying glass so I can identify this unit?), nor are they so large as to require a huge table to field enough figs to make it look more than a skirmish. They also carry sufficient detail to look damn good when painted well, as well as being relatively cheap & robust (bits don't break off them if dropped). Smaller scales are great for younger gamers with good eyesight, but not so good for us older blokes, & the larger scales are costly & demand a high degree of painting ability because of the detail they carry (but they do look fantastic when painted well), not to mention storage space.
Agreed. I've always wanted to get into historical wargaming but found the cost of Pendragon/Warlord Games scale miniatures prohibitive. But 1/72 models solve that so well: I can buy enough figures to make a whole regiment of troops for the same price as a few bases worth of larger ones! Heck, just the Airfix Waterloo diorama set gives me enough miniatures and scenery to set up a decent sized battle with British, French and Prussian infantry, cavalry and artillery, and I got that set for £30! Only downside I've seen is that a lot of 1/72 companies, especially the more popular ones like Airfix, Revell, Italeri and HaT use fairly soft plastics for their soldiers, which can make them a bit of a bitch to glue together (I still haven't discovered a glue other than straight up superglue that does the job well). Some brands are better, like Zvezda uses a pretty hard plastic that makes for absolutely gorgeously detailed figures that glue together like a dream (and they even have their own wargaming system!). I guess if one was to use them for wargaming systems they'd just need to scale down the movement and range distances.
I started out with 1/72 as a beginner back in the 90's. It's a great scale, reasonably priced. It's even better these days because manufacturers like Hat and Strelets have really filled in many of the gaps.
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.
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.
Sa.e-same As an 80's kid in the midwest there was only 15mm Minifigs Napoleonics, Empire III, Humbrol oils and Floquil sables. How times and choices have changed
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.
skip the button counting and remember that these are also 'game pieces' so I have whole units that are painted like Voltigeurs, just because the same French blue uniform is too confusing to new players.
@@Malinski66- The button counting is half the fun! I really love getting the details right - it gives your little men a kind of personality. And if you know something of the history of each of your regiments it brings a whole new dimension to the game, like bumping it from 2D to 3D. Don’t get me wrong, the idea of ImagiNations, with regiments each in colourful invented uniforms is also hugely appealing! 😊
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.
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.
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.
Napoleons Battles was a ruleset that changed everything for me...24 figure battalions, and card counters to hold over until I got the figures...for a long time it was the go to rules...and now I need a new set?
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.
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.
My friend Luke has that exact outlook. Our club just started Napoleonics since the Waterloo box sets were on fire sale. Now I’ve got a brigade of British and wow there’s a lot of bells and whistles on these things. Cuffs, Collars, buttons the white trim/ birds nest on the coats. Doesn’t have to be perfect.
How sad it is to see figures with wild Marty Feldman eyes! All too common, alas. In real life you rarely see the pupils or whites of people’s eyes, especially in broad daylight. A quick touch of dark brown wash in the eye sockets is all that’s needed!
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!!
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.
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.
I would say the crowding effect only really occurs at 28mm+ in any notable way-- but they mentioned pretty clearly that that scale and bigger stuff should be avoided anyway.
Does the same hold true for 15mm? I'd like to start 15mm but the number of figures is really intimidating. Obviously 24-36 model battalions look amazing but I'd rather get a few brigades together before I make that plunge.
@@dantalorn9864 Good question. Playing larger scale historic games or scenarios requires the use of 15mm (or even smaller scales) to squeeze the engagement onto the available table. My basic 15mm setup for Nappy is four-stand battalions with 3-4 models per stand. The stands are about 3/4" wide by 1" deep with 2 figures behind 2 figures on each each. Having 4 stands is just enough to shift the stands into march column, attack column and line formations. (Also, for smaller engagements you can always combine units to create 6 or 8-stand battalions, if you really want to.) To see what this 4-stand approach looks like watch my own very old video on the hobby - my 15mms appear at 5:02. th-cam.com/video/WHAVuWy6R8w/w-d-xo.html Please write back with any more questions.
@@dantalorn9864 We train raw students to paint 15mm models to a better standard than a lot of 28mm I see for 10-15min per model with consistent success.
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!!!
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.
At the Wargames Club I am a member of the LWA, we use a set of rules by Geoff Wootton: Corps d Armee. They wete published by WRG in the 80's we have played them for 30 years. We use 15mm Figures we have a lot and each player can with a bit of practice with the rules run a corps. We have been trying to get Geoff to publish them again
First: Play with others toys. LOTS! Play in as many possible other people's games, to sample the scales the rules and systems. Better to discover if you like this at the stage where you are only gaming with others and your investment is time at the tabletop. Second: Pick a scale, both of miniatures and of battle that you like best; or alternately, a rules set you like (as this will often set-up the scale issue for you). This scale issue cannot be stressed too much, if you are going with 25/28mm you will find plenty of options, the detail for painting can be a struggle for some, yet a good simple table standard is not hard to reach. The re-sale value of 25/28mm is fairly good, where I have found 15 or smaller minis, unless they are really well painted, does not give a good re-sale value. Storage and tabletop size are also a consideration in scale choice. I ended up with 25/28mm scale because I found I could cast my own with Prince August molds and then branched out to making my own. This permits a big army with less overall cost (as I could sell off excess or as needed - my 1806 Prussian army paid the rent a few months) Third: Start small and DO BOTH SIDES of one battle. Why 'both sides'? I have found that, without a regular club, I must stage the whole game myself and if you cannot do at least one small battle with all the parts, you will not likely find another player to come along. This may be why the one gamer who started in 2009 with 25/28mm has not had them on the table so much ... if he only has one army then anyone playing in his game must bring their own. Fourth: Grow, take your time and expand into that first campaign period, or add on a battle that similar troops took part in, with more troops needed. When painting I recommend starting with a line foot division (like 4-7 battalions) then a cavalry division (3-4 squadrons) then another line foot, then some artillery, then a cadre of officers. Only after this move on to something like a grenadier or guard formation. By following this pattern 4 foot units: 2 horse units : 1 gun : cadre officers (then repeat) you will always have enough foot units to more or less present well on the tabletop. By starting with a guard unit, then going onward - you end up with less well painted guardsmen and wonderfully painted conscripts. Fifth: GO DEEP. By go deep, I mean pick division and do up everything, like down to the camp followers and the mobile forges or ambulances or at least all the draft teams for the artillery limbers. Or you might go deep by doing a battle from every year's campaign. Something I did from 2005-2015, and painted up units for each nation in each theater - Leipzig was run in my back yard using my own home-brew rules. Welcome to the Grand Ole Dame of miniature war-games: Napoleonic.
I go to thank you guys to helping me broadening my horizons, getting the motivation in to painting up some ancients, 1th century bc romans, opening up for Roman civil war and Caesarean history
I heavily endorse concentrating on Line infantry (and dragoon cavalry) for the bulk of what you buy and paint first, then add specialty units. I think that adding showy cavalry units (because you will need some hussars too) every so often helps break up your painting schedule. Want to paint on the quick? Depending on theater, choose a portion of your Line infantry battalions or regiments to be in greatcoats.... much faster to paint. If you don't start with the French, I would suggest looking at Austrians or Russians as you will get quite a bit of service out of either.
Excellent video. The advice that the bigger the battle, the smaller the scale (of models) is very important. For those aiming to fight full battles more easily, Osprey has released rules called Absolute Emperor that are designed to play full large battles with a minimum of miniatures in a single session. That being said, I'd echo the recommendation of General d'Armee as satisfying rules for multi-brigade games - though it does require more miniatures. Finally, I'll also echo your advice to visit Storm of Steel videos to see how Sharp Practice works for engaging skirmish games.
Great idea to help with getting started, wonderful video and appreciate the recomendations. Perhaps this is a little feature you can add with other historical periods. Such as Italain Wars, Seven Years War, French Indian War, American Civil War, etc.
@@LittleWarsTV Thanks for the reply, I think the 6(7) tips is good because you were outlining entry point for a period with such a broad range is easy to get lost in, same as the others. But would be good to see a focus on a smaller scale that could be covered in its entirity, like the Texas War of Independence. (They could even reuse some of the french you've set everyone to painting)!
Fun fact I started out in Napoleonic wargaming with lego's of all things. I had a small group of Lego British soldiers and I just started collecting more and more. I built up a Prussian army and the French army. though haven't used them in years 'cause I got into actual plastic miniatures but still it was a very interesting thing and expensive.
@@stevenhombrados1530 OK since I don't have Twitter or Facebook I can't upload any pictures. but I made a brief video sorry about the very poor lighting. th-cam.com/video/FPpsWW57UFg/w-d-xo.html
@@stevenhombrados1530 What I would do was I would buy flat color torsos like red or blue and then I would print out the uniforms on sticky paper and put them on the front and back. And the faces were painted on with gundum markers and a cheep small paint brush.
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
For beginners I would suggest General d’Armee’ because you can start with an infantry brigade plus artillery support and a cavalry brigade also a general for the infantry who also commands the foot artillery (if present). A general for the cavalry and hors artillery if present.the senior general will be in overall command, usually the infantry general. A light infantry component is also useful. Don’t oversize the battalions, small is good, if you find you need to reinforce these then painting another base or two isn’t a problem. Another reason for these rules is that your army can be increased to a division or even a corps or an army. By this time you will be fully conversant with the rules. There is also a points system, and if you use this for games then the battles will be even from a troops point of view. To speed up the games cut out the die roll to move, fire etc. and just use the test for charges to contact or standing if being charged. Just a thought, but try it as the rules are written. The main thing is to get used to the rules an enjoy them!
I appreciate the tips. I'm not looking into large scale Napoleonic gaming but through Studio Tomahawk (Saga) I got interested in Muskets and Tomahawks and am looking to build out some skirmish bands for Napoleonic (and others) skirmishing.
I'm in NZ and I bought some Russians pre lockdown thanks to you guys and other folks repping blackpowder style wargames.. Working my way through them and having a blast.. As a suggestion if you are doing napoleonics I would suggest batch painting rather than doing them individually.. Oh and Dlya Tsar!!
I have to say y’all are right about 28mm. It’s a lot. My group of 3 friends have been Warhammer gamers and we all decided to get into Napoleonic wargaming last year. We started in August and agreed we would have our first game on Boxing Day. Idk how we did it but we all painted 1 army with 3 brigades each and finished the day before the game. It was a brutal affair and something I would not repeat.
The rewards are worth it though, IMO. It does take a lot of effort, which might not appeal to everyone, but well-painted 25/28mm armies look fantastic on the table.
I would say raise a brigade of French, then a Brigade of their opponents...and now you have a battle, a small battle, but enough to enjoy learning a rule set. Raising both sides means you have to find a "warm body war gamer" which is easier to do than finding one who loves your scale and period. Napoleonic's is a life long passion, so like eating the elephant, do it in small bites.
A Napoleonic wargamer for over 40 years. The build system I use I call "1-for-1". Each of the component parts of your Army (infantry, cavalry, artillery) has a "Normal" or "Standard" type of troop. For the infantry it will be the close order, line infantry regiment/battalion, for the cavalry probably the line light dragoons, for artillery, the line foot artillery. All other types are classed as "Exotics" This includes any unit whose uniform is not "standard" (British kilted Highlanders for example or the British 28th Regiment), any regiment whose modus operandi differs from the "standard" (Light Infantry or Voltigers etc), or whose name indicates that they think of themselves as "special" or "different" (all units whose names include the words "Guard" or "Royal" for example). For every painted and based "Exotic" unit you have in your wargames cupboard awaiting action you must have at least one "Standard" unit of that type. Each "Standard" unit can only be matched against one "Exotic" unit. This ensures that your total Army has an appearance that might be correct and in proportion.
I you are going to play historical I would recommend choosing a particular unit to be one base, so for example you could decide that a company is one base, or a battalion if you want to play larger scale games. This allows you to have armies that are different but also similar as they are slightly different while having the same number of units
Et Sans Resultat Campaign Guides are one of the best places to start once you have picked a campaign to start with.They have unit organizations, painting guides and scenarios that can be used with any system. I prefer ESR myself but the guides themselves are worth the cost alone.
Find this interesting. Started with Napoleons Battles by AH back in the 80's. Still have a few Thousand 15mm figs painted in boxes. Looked at Black powder last year and bought some 28mm stuff but looked at converting to 15mm using same ranges but half movement. Also looking into using the 15mm stands for a Command and Colors game using a larger hex map and 15mm stands of figs for units. Can get a better visual that way and recycle my 15mm stands of figs. Loved Napoleons battles rules but less then pleased with Black Powder (just does not feel big enough). Liking what I am seeing with GMT's C and C board game rules and even like the wood blocks, but prefer minis in the end.
I'm currently working on 15mm Napoleonics but want to get some 6mm. I started out with Napoleon's Battles back in the 90s but havent played in a long time. DBN looks like a quick way to play with a small amount of figs per side.
I would like to put forth an idea for the beginner getting involved in Napoleonic. Start with the Command and Colors Napoleonic board game. With this a gamer can start playing on day one. They would then replace the game's blocks with figures. As time goes by they begin to replace the blocks from one figure per block to one base of figures per block up to a unit per block. The expanding of the game will require and expansion of the board and terrain pieces was well, but all the time you are still able to be playing. With careful planning you'll reach a point where your armies will be useable for other rule sets.
Absolutely Fantastic Videos. I am hoping to start 2 6mm armies so that i can do some solo wargaming or let friends use them to get them into it. I'm so glad you went over basing since, as you mentioned, it is something i have been stressing about. Definitely will look at those army books for historical regiment and uniform accuracy. As for rules im not sure, ive yet to watch the Austerlitz and General d'armee videos but they are on my watch list as this is the rule set im currently looking at. (Or the versions of such as general d'brigade and general d'division) Anyway, i look forward to seeing more Napoleonic videos and other periods aswell, hoping to see a multiple series campaign where previous battles affect the numbers and positioning of the next, i know its not easy to do that. Its always a treat to watch them. Just need to find a group of like minded individuals to do some historical wargaming. Thanks for the videos, very happy to see your channel grow from when i first subscribed!!
A series of great tips, and honestly these are all applicable to any larger historical conflict. The truly hardest ordeal with Napoleonics is having to accept that the human race made a collective mistake in replacing slouch hats, tricornes, bicornes and grenadier caps with the dullest piece of headgear known to man: the shako.
Napoleonics is what got me into wargaming. My advice would be don't let the uniform nitpickers get you down as a new comer. I can't tell you how many older folks got up me for having the wrong shade of blue on the french infantry. It's weird.
Great video guys (like all your others of course!). I'd agree with a couple of the other comments below that this sort of overview of the more popular periods would be welcome. I got my start in Ancients many years ago when it was dominated by WRG rules but it's such a rich and diverse period (even arguing about how to define "the Ancient period" is a challenge) that it can be every bit as overwhelming as Napoleonics so I personally think your take on this would be very well received.
One video that would be great to see is something that explains what exactly is meant by different scales of battle - i.e., what is an army-level game vs a corp or division level game? Why would you pick one over the other, and how do you know if a rules set is meant for a particular scale.
If you're a member of a club, or thinking of joining a club, my advice is to follow their standards. It could be that a particular scale and ruleset are perfect for you. But if everybody else is playing a different scale and rules, you'll be stood on the sidelines. For scale: Two tips. 15mm and larger tend to appear as individual figures when viewed on tabletop. 10mm and smaller tend to appear as formations, and benefit from mass basing to reinforce this image. I find the amount of painting effort is roughly the cube of the size of the figures (Your mileage may vary). 28mm Vs 15mm - about 8 times the effort per 28mm figure. 15mm vs 10mm - 3 or 4 times the effort per 15mm figure. The larger figures simply have so much extra detail that demands careful painting. Finally Manufacturers: Some styles of sculpt will lend themselves to your painting style better than others. Some painters appreciate a lot of raised detail that comes out well with a dip or wash, other prefer a flatter "canvas" to work on. It's worth shopping around a few manufacturers in your chosen scale. Find the ones that suit your painting style, before dropping that order for a thousand figures.
I prefer Volley and Bayonet. I have played numerous games with Frank Chadwick and the rules are simply one of the best I have ever played. Always enjoyed Volley and bayonet.
There is an author Otto Von Pivka he has a very comprehensive book covering most Napoleonic armies. I use it in conjunction with my aging Funken books and of course Osprey. These help for most painting but don't forget the Internet. There is far more out there but just to get started I use these tomes. There also Blandford books if you can find them. A rarity these days but I was able to pick one up covering the Peninsular campaign..
The biggest problem Ive met in my current attempt to get into Napoleonics is actually just: what flags the french used, Whats the difference between a battalion, a Regiment, a corp and a brigade, and how effective light infantry actually should be.
Great choice! It's a colorful period with so many battles and campaigns...just endless options for wargaming. I started painting my Napoleonic collection almost 20 years ago and even today it still sees regular action on the tabletop. And that collection may have grown just a bit....
If you're starting out I recommend looking into 1/72 plastics. Some of the models are pretty good and, perhaps more importantly, much cheaper than 28mm. For example, I bought the Zvezda 1/72 Vikings (for the Little Wars Ravenfeast game) and for £11 ($15) I got 41 figures in 10 different poses. Italeri do a set for the French and Indian War 1754-1763 that gives you 114 figures plus a fort and scatter terrain for just £42 ($58). For Napoleonics a box of 40 miniatures will cost around £11 ($15). 1/72 is bigger than 15mm and smaller than 28mm (I think they are around 20mm) so you get a good size for skirmish games and larger battles. I'm quite a slow, lazy painter but I can do a box in less than a week.
15mm is my favorite. Old glory 15mm. They come in almost all the armies. Not too pricey either. Rules, play shako a lot. Easy to learn. Hate how it shows "kills" to a unit as moral, so you can canister a unit for a good long while and with a cold dice do no effect.
I tend to like big historical battles and have gone with Grande Armee, and thinking of going to Blucher. As for figs I go with 15's. Even though massed units of 6's can look good, I feel you need to many for good effect. And 15's can be realitively cheap if aquired using something like Old Glory 15's bulk discount.
6mm and 15mm also have MUCH more complete lines than any of the others... The stream of people asking for niche units to be done in 28mm, or complaining about how expensive some limited resin or metal run of that niche unit ended up being, is endless.
@@robertmills8640 For sure, my other main comment on this video kind of covers how just going with it makes your project less accessible if you have younger people, who are not going to have the storage or table capacity let alone all the other problems.
I, personally, am building a Samurai 6mm musket based army... just because I like the idea and I want my models to be easily recognizable to myself (so stuff doesnt get mixed up on the table top of whose is whose)
Well, think first of the size of soldiers you want to play your games with ie. 28mm. 20mm. 18/15mm. 13mm. Epic Scale. 10mm or lastly 6mm. What do your friends play now or what they are deciding to change to. What size you like best and for what reason. Rules! What is everybody using and is it your sort of game. Cost! look at what your planned army will cost this is related to rules. Armies of Napoleon , take a look at the set-up for a small division in 28mm a battalion is say 16 figures in 2 ranks on 1” square bases. In 15mm a 20 x 25mm base will do the trick. With 10mm figures a 20mm square base will have 6 figures in 2 ranks so a 4 base battalion will have 24 figures.
Another dimension is the many uniform changes during the Napoleonic period. Austrian, Prussian Russian, and French are entirely different from 1805 compared to 1812.
I had started to do Napoleonics years ago but never really got far. I have 15mm Russians and my brother had some French(Blah!) and we were using the old rules Napoleon's Battles. I've recently been looking at doing Napoleonics again but was looking at the 1809 Austrian Campaign in Central Germany. I've got some of the Osprey books for the Austrians and have been reading 1809 Thunder on the Danube series by John H. Hill. Actually I prefer the other Napoleon... the one the Prussians beat up.... (I've got Prussians for that period and Austrians for 1866). Miniatures wise I would recommend Old Glory for 15mm. They have a large range and give you a lot of minis in a pack
A great video, thanks, guys! I can only echo your comments re: Monaco, though the paparazzi seem to be especially aggressive this year. My guys Gregor and Dimitri had to rough up a few, and then well....enough said. If I may, I might suggest...cue the ominous music...2mm figures? Cheap, easy to start (see Forward March Miniatures or Project Wargaming) and en masse they LOOK like battalions, not four guys taking a flag out for a walk. Lastly, for those looking at ACW, a big thumbs up here for Greg's Altar of Freedom, which are not ideal for solo gamers, but are so inventive and smooth that I am willing to do my multi-personality thing to bid against myself. Helpful hint: Jameson's aids the process. Party on, Garth....Mark
I confess, i have entered into this period via command & colors as played 10mm years ago with at a club and thought i cannot paint all that white against red and blue.
Build your community. Have two forces and know the rules well enough that you can get someone playing with you in short order. Set up an event at your local shop. You can't expect to just have other gamers pop out of thin air.
id like to know more about terrain, i play warhammer for some time and i want to make the switch. i feel like good terrain is the key to immersion and i find it difficult to get nice scenery together without raiding a model train store or two
Hi. Nice vid. Just wondering why you omit 20mm (1/72) as a scale? From the range available and price point for beginners, wouldn't this be right up there?
Idk why this might just be me being silly but risk seems to have good miniatures for starters. I happen to have that game and play it a lot and you get infantry artillery and cavalry (the basis of each army of the industrial era (from 7 years war to American Civil War) that are great to start out with. What i am missing is the rules but i think it could be an easy start for newcomers who want a big army if not a few within a blink of an eye
@@MrX_TV exactly. Blue can be uaed for the french given their dark blue uniforms. Red/Orange for British/Polish troops (both have red in their flag and wore red uniforms) green for portuguese/russian troops/Belgian troops (both wore green and there's a good amount of green in the portuguese flag), yellow for Austrians(yellow in their flag/uniform) and black for Prussians/German allies (black in their flag)and the good think is you can scale them bigger and have loads because of it not to mention they can move around on their own so they dont have to stick to formations necessarilly something ideal for a strategic army level game like the one in the Marengo vid. In a box, for each colour you get 42 infantry, 12 cavalry and 8 artillery. 300 miniatures in all. And the good thing is given what battle you want to play as long as you define what colour represents which nation its fine since there shouldn't be more than 5 types of units on each map except the battle of the nations. (blue and red for french and polish/german allies troops on the french side, yellow for Austria, black for Prussia and green for Russia)
I bought the black powder Waterloo set to begin my journey in historical games, but thanks to your channel and your passion with history I decided to get some 15mm miniatures to represent the history of the Aztecs (Mexicas) from the first conquests, to the battle for Tenochtitlan. T_T sadly it's kind of difficult to find miniatures and rules, but I have faith in my quest. Any suggestions? Greetings from Mexico 😁
Thank you for the video caught me at exactly the right time. It was this channel that has convinced me to take the dive into fantasy from Sci-Fi and Fantasy Wargaming. Just purchased the black powder starter box.
A good presentation and encouragement for newbies. Perhaps for the future I feel that their needs to be a harder edge regarding the worth of the smaller scales. Im a 15mm fan and champion of 15mm older school naps and I know particularly with modernvisual media its no surprise 28mm is an enticing parade. BUT and a big but is that many of the great battles arnd imho the secret for enjoyable wargaming if you battle armies in the period, is of massed troops with an importance allowance for unexpected maneuver to win the day. Smaller,scales give much more allowance for this and when massed together the smaller scales IMHO reign supreme. Even at the uk wargames holiday centre where 28mm games have the different tables to increase the scope of the battle... is a poor relation IMHO visuallyto smaller scales,with complete eg. 12ft by 8ft table with no separate tables unless a strategic game is called for as per your . Marengo where different tables may represent separate corps in the strategic area of the battle/campaign. Thankyou for posting i really am not fussed re what newbies or others want to do anyone getting interested in naps whatever the scale and calling is a good thing and I whole heartedly support....Thankyou for posting but its good to inform the uninformed wargaming generals of the merits to small figure scales....lol
I am very interested in getting into wargaming, and I would very much like to hear your recommendations for manufacturers, which I have not been able to find here. I would probably start with the smaller scales: 6 mm, 10 mm or at most 15 mm. And I would want to find a wargaming club in Denmark to join. Big fan of your channel - have seen a lot of your videos!
6mm-Baccus is top notch. 10mm-Pendraken and the Wargaming Company both make very nice ranges. In 15mm I own thousands of Battle Honors minis from Old Glory. Can’t help with the Denmark club though! That’s a bit outside our orbit!
Most of us will spend more time painting and basing figures than actually gaming. Try painting a few figures from all the different scales to see which size suits your eyes, hands and expectations. In my mind if the finished units don't look good- then what is the point? If you have other gamers around see what scales they use and go from there.
My biggest suggestion is to find someone else that also wants to play the period. Then you cut the work in half and motivate each other to get things done.
Very good video! What are your thoughts on using 3D printed miniatures? Would you every consider doing an analysis on the impact 3D printing has had on war games?
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.
I'm sorry but why has no one thought you for your service being in Vietnam must have not been easy
@@themidwesternboi9399 Thanks for your comment . . . question. When I got home in 72 the war was mostly over and I think the average person, and particularly vets, just wanted to forget the whole thing. So, initially I'd say no. Even my family with a long military tradition dating back to the Civil War were quite disdainful of my survival & poor military record. Since then, yes I've received occasional words of gratitude for which I am somewhat embarrassed as what I did, in my opinion, was NOT to promote freedom & democracy but rather to impede them in order to protect a grossly corrupt regime & safeguard the expansion of capitalism, by means of the slaughter of tiny brown people, living in conditions of such dire poverty they were sleeping on the floor of bamboo huts, without so much as screens in their windows. True, they had vast urban areas as well, teeming with humanity, hustling their labor & their bodies for the meagerest of living but I could hardly be very proud of preserving that. I served to protect the other men & units with whom I was fighting and I can hope my efforts aided in their survival and so I do not feel cheated by my countries lack of effusive gratitude and I can sleep peacefully at night. Thanks again. Hugs.
@@TwisstedSage hugs
Dont be backward in asking at a Model shop if anyone can help you out . I just did 4 months knocking out a Brigade of French Inf and Cavalry for a AIF Vet with PTSD in Adelaide
What is AIF?@@brentoncoppick3922
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.
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.
ABs really are the best mini’s IMO
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.
Oh Yes that highly unfashionable 1/72 scale. I personally have whole armies of them (how many thousand is a lot?). To me it is the ideal compromise scale where they don't look too small (where is my magnifying glass so I can identify this unit?), nor are they so large as to require a huge table to field enough figs to make it look more than a skirmish. They also carry sufficient detail to look damn good when painted well, as well as being relatively cheap & robust (bits don't break off them if dropped). Smaller scales are great for younger gamers with good eyesight, but not so good for us older blokes, & the larger scales are costly & demand a high degree of painting ability because of the detail they carry (but they do look fantastic when painted well), not to mention storage space.
Agreed. I've always wanted to get into historical wargaming but found the cost of Pendragon/Warlord Games scale miniatures prohibitive. But 1/72 models solve that so well: I can buy enough figures to make a whole regiment of troops for the same price as a few bases worth of larger ones! Heck, just the Airfix Waterloo diorama set gives me enough miniatures and scenery to set up a decent sized battle with British, French and Prussian infantry, cavalry and artillery, and I got that set for £30!
Only downside I've seen is that a lot of 1/72 companies, especially the more popular ones like Airfix, Revell, Italeri and HaT use fairly soft plastics for their soldiers, which can make them a bit of a bitch to glue together (I still haven't discovered a glue other than straight up superglue that does the job well). Some brands are better, like Zvezda uses a pretty hard plastic that makes for absolutely gorgeously detailed figures that glue together like a dream (and they even have their own wargaming system!). I guess if one was to use them for wargaming systems they'd just need to scale down the movement and range distances.
Totally agree. I use 1/72 for French and Indian wars and AWI.
I do this. But its hard to find good quality. I have french infantry from Hat but paint keeps flaking off
I started out with 1/72 as a beginner back in the 90's. It's a great scale, reasonably priced. It's even better these days because manufacturers like Hat and Strelets have really filled in many of the gaps.
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.
It also has the benefit of each battalion costing £3, and taking an hour or so to paint.
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.
I would guess that a period like ACW or SYW would be a similar approach. Though ACW can be far more daunting.
Sa.e-same
As an 80's kid in the midwest there was only 15mm Minifigs Napoleonics, Empire III, Humbrol oils and Floquil sables. How times and choices have changed
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.
skip the button counting and remember that these are also 'game pieces' so I have whole units that are painted like Voltigeurs, just because the same French blue uniform is too confusing to new players.
@@Malinski66 As I recall we had a unit called The Halloweeners, because of their distinctive orange and black uniforms. :-)
@@Malinski66- The button counting is half the fun! I really love getting the details right - it gives your little men a kind of personality. And if you know something of the history of each of your regiments it brings a whole new dimension to the game, like bumping it from 2D to 3D.
Don’t get me wrong, the idea of ImagiNations, with regiments each in colourful invented uniforms is also hugely appealing! 😊
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.
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.
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.
Napoleons Battles was a ruleset that changed everything for me...24 figure battalions, and card counters to hold over until I got the figures...for a long time it was the go to rules...and now I need a new set?
You guys are the rock stars of historical gaming. I guess that makes this a somewhat backhanded compliment. :)
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.
Thanks for the shout out! Another excellent intro video for a massive subject.
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.
My friend Luke has that exact outlook. Our club just started Napoleonics since the Waterloo box sets were on fire sale. Now I’ve got a brigade of British and wow there’s a lot of bells and whistles on these things. Cuffs, Collars, buttons the white trim/ birds nest on the coats. Doesn’t have to be perfect.
How sad it is to see figures with wild Marty Feldman eyes! All too common, alas.
In real life you rarely see the pupils or whites of people’s eyes, especially in broad daylight.
A quick touch of dark brown wash in the eye sockets is all that’s needed!
thank you so much for this. Ive been burnt out from warhammer 40k and I'm ready to extend into different wargames and try different tabletops.
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!!
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.
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.
I would say the crowding effect only really occurs at 28mm+ in any notable way-- but they mentioned pretty clearly that that scale and bigger stuff should be avoided anyway.
@@montroyalbynight8107 Quite right. I should have made it clear that I was referencing 28mm. I will fix that.
Does the same hold true for 15mm? I'd like to start 15mm but the number of figures is really intimidating. Obviously 24-36 model battalions look amazing but I'd rather get a few brigades together before I make that plunge.
@@dantalorn9864 Good question. Playing larger scale historic games or scenarios requires the use of 15mm (or even smaller scales) to squeeze the engagement onto the available table. My basic 15mm setup for Nappy is four-stand battalions with 3-4 models per stand. The stands are about 3/4" wide by 1" deep with 2 figures behind 2 figures on each each. Having 4 stands is just enough to shift the stands into march column, attack column and line formations.
(Also, for smaller engagements you can always combine units to create 6 or 8-stand battalions, if you really want to.)
To see what this 4-stand approach looks like watch my own very old video on the hobby - my 15mms appear at 5:02. th-cam.com/video/WHAVuWy6R8w/w-d-xo.html
Please write back with any more questions.
@@dantalorn9864 We train raw students to paint 15mm models to a better standard than a lot of 28mm I see for 10-15min per model with consistent success.
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!!!
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.
At the Wargames Club I am a member of the LWA, we use a set of rules by Geoff Wootton: Corps d Armee. They wete published by WRG in the 80's we have played them for 30 years. We use 15mm Figures we have a lot and each player can with a bit of practice with the rules run a corps. We have been trying to get Geoff to publish them again
First: Play with others toys. LOTS! Play in as many possible other people's games, to sample the scales the rules and systems. Better to discover if you like this at the stage where you are only gaming with others and your investment is time at the tabletop.
Second: Pick a scale, both of miniatures and of battle that you like best; or alternately, a rules set you like (as this will often set-up the scale issue for you). This scale issue cannot be stressed too much, if you are going with 25/28mm you will find plenty of options, the detail for painting can be a struggle for some, yet a good simple table standard is not hard to reach. The re-sale value of 25/28mm is fairly good, where I have found 15 or smaller minis, unless they are really well painted, does not give a good re-sale value. Storage and tabletop size are also a consideration in scale choice. I ended up with 25/28mm scale because I found I could cast my own with Prince August molds and then branched out to making my own. This permits a big army with less overall cost (as I could sell off excess or as needed - my 1806 Prussian army paid the rent a few months)
Third: Start small and DO BOTH SIDES of one battle. Why 'both sides'? I have found that, without a regular club, I must stage the whole game myself and if you cannot do at least one small battle with all the parts, you will not likely find another player to come along. This may be why the one gamer who started in 2009 with 25/28mm has not had them on the table so much ... if he only has one army then anyone playing in his game must bring their own.
Fourth: Grow, take your time and expand into that first campaign period, or add on a battle that similar troops took part in, with more troops needed. When painting I recommend starting with a line foot division (like 4-7 battalions) then a cavalry division (3-4 squadrons) then another line foot, then some artillery, then a cadre of officers. Only after this move on to something like a grenadier or guard formation. By following this pattern 4 foot units: 2 horse units : 1 gun : cadre officers (then repeat) you will always have enough foot units to more or less present well on the tabletop. By starting with a guard unit, then going onward - you end up with less well painted guardsmen and wonderfully painted conscripts.
Fifth: GO DEEP. By go deep, I mean pick division and do up everything, like down to the camp followers and the mobile forges or ambulances or at least all the draft teams for the artillery limbers. Or you might go deep by doing a battle from every year's campaign. Something I did from 2005-2015, and painted up units for each nation in each theater - Leipzig was run in my back yard using my own home-brew rules.
Welcome to the Grand Ole Dame of miniature war-games: Napoleonic.
I go to thank you guys to helping me broadening my horizons, getting the motivation in to painting up some ancients, 1th century bc romans, opening up for Roman civil war and Caesarean history
I heavily endorse concentrating on Line infantry (and dragoon cavalry) for the bulk of what you buy and paint first, then add specialty units. I think that adding showy cavalry units (because you will need some hussars too) every so often helps break up your painting schedule. Want to paint on the quick? Depending on theater, choose a portion of your Line infantry battalions or regiments to be in greatcoats.... much faster to paint. If you don't start with the French, I would suggest looking at Austrians or Russians as you will get quite a bit of service out of either.
There are also Russian figures in great coats for speedy painting.
Excellent video. The advice that the bigger the battle, the smaller the scale (of models) is very important.
For those aiming to fight full battles more easily, Osprey has released rules called Absolute Emperor that are designed to play full large battles with a minimum of miniatures in a single session.
That being said, I'd echo the recommendation of General d'Armee as satisfying rules for multi-brigade games - though it does require more miniatures.
Finally, I'll also echo your advice to visit Storm of Steel videos to see how Sharp Practice works for engaging skirmish games.
A great video introduction to Napoleonic wargaming. Pleased to see a broad introduction covering figure scales and rules.
Also, i would suggest "campaign dress" starting out. dirty, ragged uniforms for the rank and file, leave the spit and polish for the elite units...
Great idea to help with getting started, wonderful video and appreciate the recomendations. Perhaps this is a little feature you can add with other historical periods. Such as Italain Wars, Seven Years War, French Indian War, American Civil War, etc.
Italian Wars would be out of our depth but the others you mentioned are popular for us!
@@LittleWarsTV Thanks for the reply, I think the 6(7) tips is good because you were outlining entry point for a period with such a broad range is easy to get lost in, same as the others. But would be good to see a focus on a smaller scale that could be covered in its entirity, like the Texas War of Independence. (They could even reuse some of the french you've set everyone to painting)!
I make videos about the Italian Wars period
#1) Start with Bavarians! They are pretty, easy to paint, and they can be with or against the French.
Fun fact I started out in Napoleonic wargaming with lego's of all things. I had a small group of Lego British soldiers and I just started collecting more and more. I built up a Prussian army and the French army. though haven't used them in years 'cause I got into actual plastic miniatures but still it was a very interesting thing and expensive.
Any pictures to show it!
@@stevenhombrados1530 OK since I don't have Twitter or Facebook I can't upload any pictures. but I made a brief video sorry about the very poor lighting.
th-cam.com/video/FPpsWW57UFg/w-d-xo.html
@@jadegreen438 WoW!,, that’s amazing! Did you made then custom made!
@@stevenhombrados1530 What I would do was I would buy flat color torsos like red or blue and then I would print out the uniforms on sticky paper and put them on the front and back. And the faces were painted on with gundum markers and a cheep small paint brush.
@@jadegreen438 WoW! A true genius! Well funny thing is I went back into Napoleonics, but using rice! Lol
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
Glad we could lure you in deeper!
Really enjoyed this guys. Great intro, ...and nice to hear Volley & Bayonet being a fave of Greg's. Will we see a V&B review?
For beginners I would suggest General d’Armee’ because you can start with an infantry brigade plus artillery support and a cavalry brigade also a general for the infantry who also commands the foot artillery (if present). A general for the cavalry and hors artillery if present.the senior general will be in overall command, usually the infantry general. A light infantry component is also useful.
Don’t oversize the battalions, small is good, if you find you need to reinforce these then painting another base or two isn’t a problem.
Another reason for these rules is that your army can be increased to a division or even a corps or an army.
By this time you will be fully conversant with the rules.
There is also a points system, and if you use this for games then the battles will be even from a troops point of view.
To speed up the games cut out the die roll to move, fire etc. and just use the test for charges to contact or standing if being charged.
Just a thought, but try it as the rules are written. The main thing is to get used to the rules an enjoy them!
I appreciate the tips. I'm not looking into large scale Napoleonic gaming but through Studio Tomahawk (Saga) I got interested in Muskets and Tomahawks and am looking to build out some skirmish bands for Napoleonic (and others) skirmishing.
I'm in NZ and I bought some Russians pre lockdown thanks to you guys and other folks repping blackpowder style wargames..
Working my way through them and having a blast..
As a suggestion if you are doing napoleonics I would suggest batch painting rather than doing them individually..
Oh and
Dlya Tsar!!
I have to say y’all are right about 28mm. It’s a lot. My group of 3 friends have been Warhammer gamers and we all decided to get into Napoleonic wargaming last year. We started in August and agreed we would have our first game on Boxing Day. Idk how we did it but we all painted 1 army with 3 brigades each and finished the day before the game. It was a brutal affair and something I would not repeat.
The rewards are worth it though, IMO. It does take a lot of effort, which might not appeal to everyone, but well-painted 25/28mm armies look fantastic on the table.
@@BittermanAndy Absolutely was worth it. I just wouldn’t try painting a whole army of it again in only 4 months. It’d have to be really spread out.
I would say raise a brigade of French, then a Brigade of their opponents...and now you have a battle, a small battle, but enough to enjoy learning a rule set. Raising both sides means you have to find a "warm body war gamer" which is easier to do than finding one who loves your scale and period. Napoleonic's is a life long passion, so like eating the elephant, do it in small bites.
A Napoleonic wargamer for over 40 years. The build system I use I call "1-for-1". Each of the component parts of your Army (infantry, cavalry, artillery) has a "Normal" or "Standard" type of troop. For the infantry it will be the close order, line infantry regiment/battalion, for the cavalry probably the line light dragoons, for artillery, the line foot artillery. All other types are classed as "Exotics" This includes any unit whose uniform is not "standard" (British kilted Highlanders for example or the British 28th Regiment), any regiment whose modus operandi differs from the "standard" (Light Infantry or Voltigers etc), or whose name indicates that they think of themselves as "special" or "different" (all units whose names include the words "Guard" or "Royal" for example).
For every painted and based "Exotic" unit you have in your wargames cupboard awaiting action you must have at least one "Standard" unit of that type. Each "Standard" unit can only be matched against one "Exotic" unit.
This ensures that your total Army has an appearance that might be correct and in proportion.
I you are going to play historical I would recommend choosing a particular unit to be one base, so for example you could decide that a company is one base, or a battalion if you want to play larger scale games. This allows you to have armies that are different but also similar as they are slightly different while having the same number of units
Et Sans Resultat Campaign Guides are one of the best places to start once you have picked a campaign to start with.They have unit organizations, painting guides and scenarios that can be used with any system. I prefer ESR myself but the guides themselves are worth the cost alone.
The ESR campaign guides are really the best source for beginning and veteran gamers
Find this interesting. Started with Napoleons Battles by AH back in the 80's. Still have a few Thousand 15mm figs painted in boxes. Looked at Black powder last year and bought some 28mm stuff but looked at converting to 15mm using same ranges but half movement. Also looking into using the 15mm stands for a Command and Colors game using a larger hex map and 15mm stands of figs for units. Can get a better visual that way and recycle my 15mm stands of figs. Loved Napoleons battles rules but less then pleased with Black Powder (just does not feel big enough). Liking what I am seeing with GMT's C and C board game rules and even like the wood blocks, but prefer minis in the end.
1:32 What’s the name of the supposedly baroque piece playing in the background? I’ve been searching for weeks… Bach? Vivaldi??
I'm currently working on 15mm Napoleonics but want to get some 6mm. I started out with Napoleon's Battles back in the 90s but havent played in a long time. DBN looks like a quick way to play with a small amount of figs per side.
Great and sound advice, I’ve bought a load of 28mm and now thinking i should have gone to 15mm or not got rid of my 10mm 😂
I would like to put forth an idea for the beginner getting involved in Napoleonic. Start with the Command and Colors Napoleonic board game. With this a gamer can start playing on day one. They would then replace the game's blocks with figures. As time goes by they begin to replace the blocks from one figure per block to one base of figures per block up to a unit per block. The expanding of the game will require and expansion of the board and terrain pieces was well, but all the time you are still able to be playing. With careful planning you'll reach a point where your armies will be useable for other rule sets.
We will second this suggestion! Command & Colors is an excellent gateway game into the tabletop hobby.
What a great and informative video. Thank you.
Absolutely Fantastic Videos. I am hoping to start 2 6mm armies so that i can do some solo wargaming or let friends use them to get them into it. I'm so glad you went over basing since, as you mentioned, it is something i have been stressing about. Definitely will look at those army books for historical regiment and uniform accuracy. As for rules im not sure, ive yet to watch the Austerlitz and General d'armee videos but they are on my watch list as this is the rule set im currently looking at. (Or the versions of such as general d'brigade and general d'division)
Anyway, i look forward to seeing more Napoleonic videos and other periods aswell, hoping to see a multiple series campaign where previous battles affect the numbers and positioning of the next, i know its not easy to do that. Its always a treat to watch them. Just need to find a group of like minded individuals to do some historical wargaming.
Thanks for the videos, very happy to see your channel grow from when i first subscribed!!
That Peninsular War Atlas book is great, I highly recommend it.
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
A series of great tips, and honestly these are all applicable to any larger historical conflict. The truly hardest ordeal with Napoleonics is having to accept that the human race made a collective mistake in replacing slouch hats, tricornes, bicornes and grenadier caps with the dullest piece of headgear known to man: the shako.
Hear hear! WELL SAID. Bring back the good hats!
The shako is more dull than the US M1 helmet?
Napoleonics is what got me into wargaming. My advice would be don't let the uniform nitpickers get you down as a new comer. I can't tell you how many older folks got up me for having the wrong shade of blue on the french infantry. It's weird.
Great video. Would be good to see similar guides with other historical periods. And yeah, small scase is phantastic.
Great video guys (like all your others of course!). I'd agree with a couple of the other comments below that this sort of overview of the more popular periods would be welcome. I got my start in Ancients many years ago when it was dominated by WRG rules but it's such a rich and diverse period (even arguing about how to define "the Ancient period" is a challenge) that it can be every bit as overwhelming as Napoleonics so I personally think your take on this would be very well received.
One video that would be great to see is something that explains what exactly is meant by different scales of battle - i.e., what is an army-level game vs a corp or division level game? Why would you pick one over the other, and how do you know if a rules set is meant for a particular scale.
Thanks for this suggestion!
If you're a member of a club, or thinking of joining a club, my advice is to follow their standards.
It could be that a particular scale and ruleset are perfect for you.
But if everybody else is playing a different scale and rules, you'll be stood on the sidelines.
For scale: Two tips.
15mm and larger tend to appear as individual figures when viewed on tabletop.
10mm and smaller tend to appear as formations, and benefit from mass basing to reinforce this image.
I find the amount of painting effort is roughly the cube of the size of the figures (Your mileage may vary).
28mm Vs 15mm - about 8 times the effort per 28mm figure.
15mm vs 10mm - 3 or 4 times the effort per 15mm figure.
The larger figures simply have so much extra detail that demands careful painting.
Finally Manufacturers:
Some styles of sculpt will lend themselves to your painting style better than others.
Some painters appreciate a lot of raised detail that comes out well with a dip or wash, other prefer a flatter "canvas" to work on.
It's worth shopping around a few manufacturers in your chosen scale.
Find the ones that suit your painting style, before dropping that order for a thousand figures.
We generally see people taking 10-20 minutes per 15mm figure when taught properly.
Thank you for the video I just bought Chosen Men by Osprey Games last week. Excited to get started in Napoleonic's.
As ever great short video, something for gamers old and new. Keep it up lads.
“That way lies madness”
That comment saved my day 😂
I am gonna use that frase a lot from now on 😄
Great video. Love the comedy over which rules are the best. It can be a sore spot.
I prefer Volley and Bayonet. I have played numerous games with Frank Chadwick and the rules are simply one of the best I have ever played. Always enjoyed Volley and bayonet.
There is an author Otto Von Pivka he has a very comprehensive book covering most Napoleonic armies. I use it in conjunction with my aging Funken books and of course Osprey. These help for most painting but don't forget the Internet. There is far more out there but just to get started I use these tomes. There also Blandford books if you can find them. A rarity these days but I was able to pick one up covering the Peninsular campaign..
The biggest problem Ive met in my current attempt to get into Napoleonics is actually just: what flags the french used, Whats the difference between a battalion, a Regiment, a corp and a brigade, and how effective light infantry actually should be.
Great video. I think I want to get into 6mm ACW first then dip the toes into Napoleonics after
Another favorite around this club! Can't go wrong with 6mm ACW!!
This is amazing timing. I have been eyeing Napoleonic for a while but just yesterday decided I should invest. Looking forward to this!
Great choice! It's a colorful period with so many battles and campaigns...just endless options for wargaming. I started painting my Napoleonic collection almost 20 years ago and even today it still sees regular action on the tabletop. And that collection may have grown just a bit....
If you're starting out I recommend looking into 1/72 plastics. Some of the models are pretty good and, perhaps more importantly, much cheaper than 28mm. For example, I bought the Zvezda 1/72 Vikings (for the Little Wars Ravenfeast game) and for £11 ($15) I got 41 figures in 10 different poses. Italeri do a set for the French and Indian War 1754-1763 that gives you 114 figures plus a fort and scatter terrain for just £42 ($58). For Napoleonics a box of 40 miniatures will cost around £11 ($15). 1/72 is bigger than 15mm and smaller than 28mm (I think they are around 20mm) so you get a good size for skirmish games and larger battles. I'm quite a slow, lazy painter but I can do a box in less than a week.
Well basing wise there is the option of clear bases, won't need to do anything to the bases and they always fit with the terrain they are on :)
15mm is my favorite. Old glory 15mm. They come in almost all the armies. Not too pricey either. Rules, play shako a lot. Easy to learn. Hate how it shows "kills" to a unit as moral, so you can canister a unit for a good long while and with a cold dice do no effect.
I tend to like big historical battles and have gone with Grande Armee, and thinking of going to Blucher. As for figs I go with 15's. Even though massed units of 6's can look good, I feel you need to many for good effect. And 15's can be realitively cheap if aquired using something like Old Glory 15's bulk discount.
6mm and 15mm also have MUCH more complete lines than any of the others... The stream of people asking for niche units to be done in 28mm, or complaining about how expensive some limited resin or metal run of that niche unit ended up being, is endless.
@@montroyalbynight8107 Plus not everyone has the money, time or space for big battles in 28mm, lol.
@@robertmills8640 For sure, my other main comment on this video kind of covers how just going with it makes your project less accessible if you have younger people, who are not going to have the storage or table capacity let alone all the other problems.
I did Aspen Essling in 15mm using AB figs, spent two years building the amy's.
Used to use 'To the Sound of the Guns' for divisional battles in 6mm. Now it's Blucher on bigger bases and more figures!
I, personally, am building a Samurai 6mm musket based army... just because I like the idea and I want my models to be easily recognizable to myself (so stuff doesnt get mixed up on the table top of whose is whose)
Thanks, very useful.
Best Wargaming channel ever
Well, think first of the size of soldiers you want to play your games with ie. 28mm. 20mm. 18/15mm. 13mm. Epic Scale. 10mm or lastly 6mm.
What do your friends play now or what they are deciding to change to.
What size you like best and for what reason.
Rules! What is everybody using and is it your sort of game.
Cost! look at what your planned army will cost this is related to rules.
Armies of Napoleon , take a look at the set-up for a small division in 28mm a battalion is say 16 figures in 2 ranks on 1” square bases. In 15mm a 20 x 25mm base will do the trick. With 10mm figures a 20mm square base will have 6 figures in 2 ranks so a 4 base battalion will have 24 figures.
I absolutely love the panache you guys put in these videos. Thank you
Our pleasure! We aim for maximum panache.
Another dimension is the many uniform changes during the Napoleonic period. Austrian, Prussian Russian, and French are entirely different from 1805 compared to 1812.
I had started to do Napoleonics years ago but never really got far. I have 15mm Russians and my brother had some French(Blah!) and we were using the old rules Napoleon's Battles. I've recently been looking at doing Napoleonics again but was looking at the 1809 Austrian Campaign in Central Germany. I've got some of the Osprey books for the Austrians and have been reading 1809 Thunder on the Danube series by John H. Hill. Actually I prefer the other Napoleon... the one the Prussians beat up.... (I've got Prussians for that period and Austrians for 1866). Miniatures wise I would recommend Old Glory for 15mm. They have a large range and give you a lot of minis in a pack
Excellent overview and guidance. Great job.
A great video, thanks, guys! I can only echo your comments re: Monaco, though the paparazzi seem to be especially aggressive this year. My guys Gregor and Dimitri had to rough up a few, and then well....enough said. If I may, I might suggest...cue the ominous music...2mm figures? Cheap, easy to start (see Forward March Miniatures or Project Wargaming) and en masse they LOOK like battalions, not four guys taking a flag out for a walk.
Lastly, for those looking at ACW, a big thumbs up here for Greg's Altar of Freedom, which are not ideal for solo gamers, but are so inventive and smooth that I am willing to do my multi-personality thing to bid against myself. Helpful hint: Jameson's aids the process.
Party on, Garth....Mark
15mm Piquet Les Grongardes is my go to. Easily scalable from battalion to army level.
I confess, i have entered into this period via command & colors as played 10mm years ago with at a club and thought i cannot paint all that white against red and blue.
I love historicals, I just wish there was a community for it where I live.
Where are you based?
Build your community. Have two forces and know the rules well enough that you can get someone playing with you in short order. Set up an event at your local shop. You can't expect to just have other gamers pop out of thin air.
@@nickhindley4295 based in upstate NY. We had a good bolt action community for a while, but that died out.
@@shawnallen8467 I am no help there then I am in the UK, hope you find some players in your area.
@@shawnallen8467 I used to run a wargame club as an extension of a youth group, maybe that's an option?
Nice video and have really noticed a huge improvement on the video production! Nice job Little Wars TV!
Napoleonic uniforms are so much more interesting to paint than the drab colours of WWII that everyone seems to love
id like to know more about terrain, i play warhammer for some time and i want to make the switch. i feel like good terrain is the key to immersion and i find it difficult to get nice scenery together without raiding a model train store or two
Also, you cannot beat the price of risk pieces.
Hi. Nice vid. Just wondering why you omit 20mm (1/72) as a scale? From the range available and price point for beginners, wouldn't this be right up there?
Can you guys do another Black powder video cause 2nd edition is out and last video you did was first edition
Just wondering where the recommendations for supplies would be?
Idk why this might just be me being silly but risk seems to have good miniatures for starters. I happen to have that game and play it a lot and you get infantry artillery and cavalry (the basis of each army of the industrial era (from 7 years war to American Civil War) that are great to start out with. What i am missing is the rules but i think it could be an easy start for newcomers who want a big army if not a few within a blink of an eye
And they are in different colours so you won't have grey or bare metal on the table.
@@MrX_TV exactly. Blue can be uaed for the french given their dark blue uniforms. Red/Orange for British/Polish troops (both have red in their flag and wore red uniforms) green for portuguese/russian troops/Belgian troops (both wore green and there's a good amount of green in the portuguese flag), yellow for Austrians(yellow in their flag/uniform) and black for Prussians/German allies (black in their flag)and the good think is you can scale them bigger and have loads because of it not to mention they can move around on their own so they dont have to stick to formations necessarilly something ideal for a strategic army level game like the one in the Marengo vid. In a box, for each colour you get 42 infantry, 12 cavalry and 8 artillery. 300 miniatures in all. And the good thing is given what battle you want to play as long as you define what colour represents which nation its fine since there shouldn't be more than 5 types of units on each map except the battle of the nations. (blue and red for french and polish/german allies troops on the french side, yellow for Austria, black for Prussia and green for Russia)
I bought the black powder Waterloo set to begin my journey in historical games, but thanks to your channel and your passion with history I decided to get some 15mm miniatures to represent the history of the Aztecs (Mexicas) from the first conquests, to the battle for Tenochtitlan. T_T sadly it's kind of difficult to find miniatures and rules, but I have faith in my quest. Any suggestions?
Greetings from Mexico 😁
Thank you for the video caught me at exactly the right time. It was this channel that has convinced me to take the dive into fantasy from Sci-Fi and Fantasy Wargaming. Just purchased the black powder starter box.
A good presentation and encouragement for newbies. Perhaps for the future I feel that their needs to be a harder edge regarding the worth of the smaller scales. Im a 15mm fan and champion of 15mm older school naps and I know particularly with modernvisual media its no surprise 28mm is an enticing parade. BUT and a big but is that many of the great battles arnd imho the secret for enjoyable wargaming if you battle armies in the period, is of massed troops with an importance allowance for unexpected maneuver to win the day. Smaller,scales give much more allowance for this and when massed together the smaller scales IMHO reign supreme. Even at the uk wargames holiday centre where 28mm games have the different tables to increase the scope of the battle... is a poor relation IMHO visuallyto smaller scales,with complete eg. 12ft by 8ft table with no separate tables unless a strategic game is called for as per your . Marengo where different tables may represent separate corps in the strategic area of the battle/campaign. Thankyou for posting i really am not fussed re what newbies or others want to do anyone getting interested in naps whatever the scale and calling is a good thing and I whole heartedly support....Thankyou for posting but its good to inform the uninformed wargaming generals of the merits to small figure scales....lol
I am very interested in getting into wargaming, and I would very much like to hear your recommendations for manufacturers, which I have not been able to find here.
I would probably start with the smaller scales: 6 mm, 10 mm or at most 15 mm.
And I would want to find a wargaming club in Denmark to join.
Big fan of your channel - have seen a lot of your videos!
6mm-Baccus is top notch. 10mm-Pendraken and the Wargaming Company both make very nice ranges. In 15mm I own thousands of Battle Honors minis from Old Glory.
Can’t help with the Denmark club though! That’s a bit outside our orbit!
Most of us will spend more time painting and basing figures than actually gaming. Try painting a few figures from all the different scales to see which size suits your eyes, hands and expectations. In my mind if the finished units don't look good- then what is the point? If you have other gamers around see what scales they use and go from there.
My biggest suggestion is to find someone else that also wants to play the period. Then you cut the work in half and motivate each other to get things done.
ALWAYS a great idea for any period of history!
I would love to play Napoleonics, I've just found it impossible to find any other gaming groups in the Pittsburg area willing to do so too.
Really sorry to hear that! I would have thought in a city as big as Pittsburgh there might be a gaming group (or three!)
What companies do you suggest for 15mm ?
Very good video! What are your thoughts on using 3D printed miniatures? Would you every consider doing an analysis on the impact 3D printing has had on war games?