"How to start Napoleonics on a shoestring budget?" Topic

Can't be done can it now that you think about it, can it?

Of course it can. Paper stand up figures. Free rules off the Internet. What more do you need?

Here is the Napoleonics section of the Junior General website:

link

Here is the link to the first Napoleonic rules I had, "Fast Play Napoleonic Wargame Rules" by Jon Linney.

link

All this will cost you is paper and toner.

Enjoy,

Dave

I was kidding,.
I have figures but any scenery or things I can do myself helps keep costs down.

One good thing about Napoleonics – lots of stuff out there in different scales, and lots of stuff people sell

Hmm. More or less by length of shoestring
1) As PzGen says, downloads from Junior General. Paper & Toner
2) Two boxes of 1/72 and start with skirmishes. $20 USD?
3) The Helion "Paper Soldier" books. Say $20 USD-25 plus paper & toner.
4) 2mm armies from Irregular. $20 USD-30, depending.

A lot depends on what you think of as "real" Napoleonics. I know people who insist it's the clash of huge armies, and I know people who insist it's the tactics of column, line and square. But starting cheap isn't hard: it's stopping that's tricky. There will be another order to Irregular in April for more 2mm, and there's an unpainted box of 28mm in the next room calling to me as I type this.

If you've got a 3d printer, costs can be negligible (except time costs).

You can always go the DBA route and make a number of forces cheaply.

One economy was started in Empire basing 1 Fig = 60, short time played club rules 1 = 20 so started rebase but went back to 1 = 60.

Although I am uncomfortable endorsing it, Warlord Epic Waterloo is a good entry level group of boxed sets, some of which have terrain. Maybe not "shoestring" cheap, but good value.

The reason I am not all in with Epic scale is that Warlord decided to make a new 13,5mm scale that will neither fit well with 10 or 15/18mm. It creates yet another subdivision in the hobby. In the end, the market will decide if this was a success.

14Bore, maybe Grattan, high representation isn't an economy in itself. All you do in the end is fill the table and say "this represents a LOT more troops than it would at 1:20 or 1:10!" But if you've filled the same table with the same troops, you haven't saved a dime--or ten pence or a tenth of a Euro, come to that.
To actually save money, you need to (a) not fill the table--possible in theory, but wildly unlikely in practice--(b) fill a smaller table, or (c) fill it with troops who cost less per foot of frontage--which is why 15's are not necessarily an economy over 28's.

Speculus, look on the bright side. I'm told those "13.5mm" Epic castings match up very nicely with old Confederettes and Napoleonettes--that is, they are real 15's. They just won't match with Tony Barton's work, which never should have been sold as 15's in the first place. So who created the subdivision in the hobby?

The Epic 13.5mm scale is not a barrier if you have a 3d printer. But I must say that the figures do look good on the table (the ACW version at least).

As you have figures, I suggest paper terrain. There are plenty of options at WargameVault.com and again, all you need is a printer.

But we don't know the scale of figs you have, etc.

The best deal I ever got on a wargame book was One-hour Wargames by Neil Thomas. He also wrote a great book on Napoleonic Wargaming. One of those may be your cup of tea. And there's a Fb group that is very active.

Hope that helps!