"Brand new Napoleonics player seeks advice" Topic

Hi guys!

I've been a gamer, on and off, for several years. My boyfriend got me involved in Warhammer and I played that with him until we broke up. Then I moved over to Battletech because I enjoy painting big robots, animé style. I didn't play much, but I painted and sold a lot of 'mechs!

My friend recently turned me on to the Richard Sharpe books and the BBC series. I've always loved history (the only historical gaming I ever did were a few games of King Arthur and his knights) and I have become smitten with the romance and fire and thunder of the Napoleonic Age!

So I have started a Napoleonics collection and I am thinking about gaming again! I bought the Black Powder rules because I heard they were written by some guys from Games Workshop and are quite easy to learn, plus I was told that they give a game that sort of feels like Warhammer, which is what I am most comfortable with.

But before gaming, I need an army! I bought the Black Powder Waterloo Starter Set. Expensive, but no more so than my last order from Le Creuset. So now I have all of these plastic figures, some French, some English and some other guys. I am clipping them out and setting them up while reading the Black Powder rules, which don't look so Games Workshopy after all.

Anyhow, I think the best way to go is to do this box set and then expand from there into one army I can use to play with other people.

So which army should I specialize in?

I love the French uniforms because they are so pretty and colorful, plus they have the Guard, who are the best! So they seem to me to be kind of the "Space Marines" of the Napoleonic universe.

The English get Sharpe, though, so that's a bonus. Plus I can give them Spanish and Portuguese allies and nothing is more romantic than guerillas!

I am torn.

There are also some other guys in the box who are wearing these these odd, flat hats. Hannoverans, is what is says on the tin. No idea what to do with these. Apparently they were English allies? Sort of like the Dutch?

I am worried if I choose French that most of my potential gaming opponents might also have them. Can you play French on French without too much fuss? Or is that a no-no in the Napoleonverse?

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I'm also looking around for good books to read. Perhaps I should buy some military history painting guides at the local hobby store? They seem to have a few spinner racks full of them.

Suggestions?

I think you should collect the Danes. They're Great.

Would anyone like to place bets on how long this thread lasts before getting nuked?

Possibly start by reading a condensed history of the Napoleonic wars. That way you would be able to answer some of those questions yourself. Most players feel that some basic background in an historical period is a good idea before starting.

The guys in Red coats are BRITISH and their king was also king of Hanover. Hence the comments above.

Never played Warhammer or Black Powder so can't help you there.

I would say try and meet up with a local group that plays black powder and see if they'll let you in on a game. BP requires a pretty large number of figures per army and he last thing you want is to spend a bunch of time and money on a game and period you potentially might not enjoy. Most groups will be happy to get you started and help answer any questions you might have.

As far as what army to get, if you like the French, think they have cool uniforms, and enjoy painting them. Go with the French! You will be spending a lot of time at the painting table so it might as well be doing uniforms you enjoy. If you end up gaming French vs French the only people it would matter I are you and your opponent.

Always remember. If you're having fun. You're doing it right. Historical accuracy be damned!

Oh yes,anyone expressing ignorance of Napoleonics must be a troll,right?

Or there could be such a thing as a new Napoleonics player.

I'm going to assume the latter until shown otherwise. I'm ignorant about a lot of things. One reason I come here. (Along with the camaraderie and light-hearted banter!).

There are probably enough online resources for uniforms and organization for you to start with.Buy books if you need them to fill in.

Same with history,to an extent. I still think Michael Glover's "The Napoleonic Wars" is a good short introduction,and has lots of plates.

Good luck. I forget who said in MWAN years ago that Napoleonics was the "black hole" of wargaming--Nic Nascati?

OK. All answers which say "study the period" are good, and that's true of any period. But you want to game, not get a degree in military history.

Ultimately, you want at least two armies, because opponents tend to leave town and take their armies with them--or you will. But I'd say get the French ready for combat first, because they have a wider range of potential enemies. Like WWII Germans, you can play Napoleonic French against almost anyone.

Yeah, Hanoverians are British allies, and tended to wear slightly out of date or otherwise surplus British uniforms. You'll always want British allies, and possibly more than one type, because the British army was quite small, and tended to integrate allies into their own formations more than the other powers did.

As for the reading, Get yourself a one-volume history of the Napoleonic Wars to keep track of sides and campaigns and maybe a single volume on Waterloo just to get a feel for tactics, then you can follow up with books on people, units, campaigns or battles which interest you.

And good luck! I started Napoleonics nearly 50 years ago. I've done other things, but I've never come to the end of Napoleonics. There are troops on the table right now, and I'd better get back to them.

Mont St. Jean will give you pretty accurate uniform colors for both English, Hanoverian and French. Navigation can be tricky, click on French the in the white box one of the types, then a unit and then the blue battalion number it will bring up a uniform guide.

link

Black Powder is not my favorite, and as said before takes a lot of figures. We use Shako 2 a tad more complicated but still a lot of fun with good period feel. 12 figures to a battalion and 6 for cavalry, so they go a long way. You can have a decent sized battle with a dozen or so battalions a side. It also has a pick up game section as opposed to finding specific scenarios.

The key point is to have fun!

To be fair you could use those size units for Black Powder -that's what I do.

Don't limit your self-Specialize in both, if you have the time and resources.
Specialize in what you enjoy the most, if you must put a limit to one side!
OR….
Specialize in one, if you have a club and they need more of one or the other, which is what I did and it happen to be French since, they were needed/ in short hand.

MG

I am going to say, instead of having lots of troops to fight with, start with a few and work your way up.

Sharp practice 2 seems a good skirmish set, paint a few figures up and you will be ready to play.

link

I would suggest Sharpe Practice 2 as a skirmish game to give you a taste – albeit a somewhat cinematic taste.

Expensive, but no more so than my last order from Le Creuset.

Nothing like a good order from Le Crueset. An army does march on it's stomach and one needs something good to cook that food in :)

Join me in frowning on Napoleonic French fighting Napoleonic French please.

Absolutely, Flashman.

You've got French, British (and their Hanoverian allies). That's a good start. Paint them up. Next is finding rules that suit you.

Be aware that the Sharpe series might not be the last word in actual tactics used.

A brief side trip: The Kings of England starting with George I were also the Electors of Hanover. Napoleon overran Hanover in 1807 and annexed it to Westphalia. Hanover was back in allied hands in 1813 and in 1814 was declared the Kingdom of Hanover. The Kings of England were also the Kings of Hanover until Victoria ascended the British throne. Hanover is now a province in Germany.

Hanoverian infantry wore red uniforms.

Having been a Napoleonics gamer for three decades, I offer this advice: If you are OCD,or present OCB on occasion, DON"T start with Napoleonics. You'll just go crazy trying to make sure you achieve authenticity in the casted figures and painting the figures. Even if you aren't OCD/OCB think long and hard about it. If you still want to do it, then do Russians, they are the easiest to paint. Brits in second place, they're not easy to paint, but the uniform research is much easier to access. Stay away from secondary powers at first, just try doing one of these: Brits, French, Prussians, Russians, and Austrians. Good Luck.

I dunno,DJ, OCD and Napoleonics sounds like a perfect match to me!

Sure seem to be lots of them on the Nappies boards,anyway.
(Ducks)

Mark Adkins Waterloo Companion – good intro.

French infantry – good choice. No, don't go to the French on French scenario.

Brits – red is a great colour to show up on the table.

Have fun. BP is a great rule set but maybe easier if you play with an experienced person first to steer you through – it is not 40k in style.

Chris, I see that you are new to the hobby and I think back to when I was 12 years old and got my first boxes of 1/72 Airfix Waterloo figures. There wasn't an internet then or cell phones, or personal computers or even cable TV. There was no one to tell us what was right or wrong only the few books we could get from the library and the paintings on the boxes. What I'm trying to say is just do whatever makes you happy.

You can read through the numerous posts on this site and get all the info you need as far as uniforms, rules sets, basing, tactics, history etc. Hopefully you won't feel overwhelmed, then depressed, then quit because you are afraid you won't get it right. Again, do what makes you happy and post the results.

I dunno – what's wrong with blue on blue scenarios? Arguably the longest-running war in human history… More seriously, with three French "restorations" in quick succession during 1814/15, it's not such a leap of the imagination. Maybe not at the national, i.e. army or corps level, but at Black Powder's brigade or division level, mutinies or National Guard vs. regulars seem quite plausible? So if that's what you fancy, Chris, just go for it!

That said, another option might be to paint some of France's German allies from the Confederation of the Rhine. From c. 1810, most of them wore uniforms of the French cut you seem to like, but in their own colour combination, often white coats with various facing colours on collars, cuffs and sometimes chest. They fought as allies of France in Spain and Russia, but then many turned against their French overlords from late 1813 all the way until 1815, when Prussian units from the former Grand-Duchy of Berg, still wearing their old uniforms, were called out by their French opponents…
So, a pretty versatile force if you fall in with some club or other.

I'll give you some advice, stay away from some of the toxic, points-scoring, superior attitude, condescending, punk-trumpets on these threads!

But enjoy, its a great period to game, painted many thousands of Russians, and Frenchmen, plus assorted allies, for many years!

John

It's never a bad idea to start with a pair of opposing armies – you have British/Hanoverian starters. so French are the obvious complement. as you note, you can add Spanish and Portuguese (and "Black" Brunswickers) to the British in the Peninsula, and the French can ad all manner of allies there as well – Swiss, Italians, Neapolitans, Badeners and other minor German states.

I started Napoleonic wargaming circa 1970, and I am still plyting and painting more than 7,000 figures later. Of course, one not go off the deep end like that, LOL!

There are many, many websites and blogs with much information on the Napoleonic wars, uniforms, etc. My own has a lot of such information:

link

Whatever you do, have fun!