Getting Started in Black Powder Napoleonics: Part 1 - Deciding on your army

The first in a new series for 2020! We're going to be loking at collecting an army from scratch, in this case Poles! We'll be looking at how to research, plan and collect your army in a way that gets them on the tabletop and defeating your opponents!

[@jamesbarbour327]

I would love to see a paint-along video of the Polish army!

[@davidcollins2648]

It might help to tell everyone you are building a 28mm army as well as how many figures it takes to make a regiment or brigade. Rather surprised you aren't doing artillery as some was directly attached to the infantry. I'm sticking with 1/72 scale myself due to far more variety of units available as well as lower cost.

[@MiniModellingOfficial]

Now that’s what I call a New Years resolution, mate! Great video, still just as good nearly 4 years later!

[@alexdavies8768]

An Austrian army is quite colourful when properly researched and IMO they have the nicest Hussar uniforms when it come to colour combinations. The Perrys intend bringing out plastic cavalry to compliment their plastic Austrian Infantry.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

The Austrian Army’s white uniforms are quite appealing to me tbh.

[@malcolmsleight9334]

I like to use a mixture of metals and plastics. This gives a little weight to the bases so that they are less likely to topple over when carried in a box or storage container.

[@astrochelonian]

As someone considering getting into Napoleonic wargaming, I wanted to thank you for this series. It can be daunting to get started and it seems your videos will be of great use. I'm really looking forward to the next installment!

[@BootsontheTable]

Completely agree about getting an army which excites you and you are interested in

[@iancrew6765]

looking forward to following this pal, best of luck

[@SeamusMcFlurry]

Great to have on in he background while I paint up my Angle-Portuguese and French Peninsular armies 😊

[@marka7759]

after 15 years of experience in table top gaming i have just started with napoleonics and i really like your approach :) I started the french since i allways loved the uniforms of the fusilliers chasseurs I decided to replicate the Division Rouget of the Imperial Guard. They faught in Russia, Spain, Germany, Austria and eastern europe. I can basically field them agains any army - even the british/german regiments at leipzig & dresden. And differentiating from the old guard these men of young and medium guard did acctually see a lot of combat (half division dead while advancing to Moskau). also the division contains 5 regiments with totally different uniform shemes (tiraileurs, voltigeurs, fusilier chasseurs, fusilier grenadiers, flanquers) wich makes them interesting to paint and you find a lot of information about their command, supporting divisions (artillery & cav) and staff. I decided to field the army as 1 man counts for 10 so I can even display the regimental command staffs & company officers, aswell as the regimental fanions carrieng each the battalion fanions as well as the regimental tricolore. only thing left is to find out about battle tactics. I still haven't found any evidence on how the flanquers faught. lose line or tiraileur formation? all in all the division appears to be one of the moast flexible in the whole french army. beeing equipped with the best you can find in artillery, weapons and beeing the best drilled man on peak of their form.

[@maryhinge6334]

Sounds like a great project. I will follow with interest. 🙂

[@neilmoulden5323]

Good video. One thing you can also mention is that Napoleonics can be a life long passion if you want it to be. Your research can be as deep and detailed as you want. One word of warning though, there are still a lot of falsehoods taken as fact about the period. As an example, the Vistula lancers didn't successfully charge a Spanish mountain pass. The squadron sent by Napoleon to take it was shot to pieces. It was only taken when French infantry out flanked the position. These sort of things you have to watch out for. Especially English and French bias.

[@grzegorzbarczewski3853]

If we are talking about Somosierra, it was Imperial Guard (1st Polish Light Cavalry Regiment of the Imperial Guard). Indeed, without new french regiments it would be impossible to hold the guns (less than 20 lanciers reach 4th battery in the pass) but because the front was narrow, after battle it turned out that there were "only" 57 dead and wouned, but many more horses.

[@rickhudson7929]

Great video - just starting in Black Powder myself, so very useful. Looking forward to more videos in this series. :-)

[@hexesandsoldiers6032]

Thanks for doing this it made my weekend!

[@LucaZ283]

Brilliant narrator, as usual!

[@deanburn3400]

Very good indeed sir. I was part of a French Reenactment Group years ago the 21st Regiment de ligne

[@hobbywargamer8195]

For me, I am going with 18mm AB British and French for the battle of Vittoria 1813 and I have collected enough for both armies, just need the time to paint them all. I think 18mm look better on the table en mass than the larger size miniatures.

[@eruditefool4183]

Totally agree, I've gone for the superb AB 18mm though went for the rather predictable Waterloo, just gotta finish the Prussians now.... and perhaps a little more cavalry, and the British are a little light on artillery, and then there's always room for some Brunswick infantry. And of course there's plenty of quality 3D printed scenery available which as someone rediscovering wargaming after years in the wilderness was quite a revelation to me, though I will say that I believe they are true 15mm which gives a model a large footprint on the board and I suspect the 12mm oddly may have answered equally.

[@bjkernowpaintingandmodelli9119]

Nice update mate

[@kimwidol]

Personally 10mm/15mm/18mm is the way to go. 15/18s have enough detail to have fantastic pieces of art and small enough to look realistic on larger scale battles on the same sized tables. 10s are the easiest to paint mass armies and are dirt cheap! Personally not a fan of 6s or the 25/28s for wargaming, though the latter make great dioramas. My club uses them for AWI. Everything else is 15/18 and they look amazing on the table.

[@cronosconflict]

Thanks for this video!!

[@15mmGustavus]

Haha after watching these videos got me 4 boxes of Perry Austrians.. Planning to get Cuirassiers and Archduke Charles from the Perry's. I got into it to learn more about the period

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Awesome! I bought 2 boxes of infantry when I finished this one 😅

[@warpaint9385]

I personally decided to build two armies British and French for the 100 days campaign. My inspiration came from the Waterloo film. It can become very tedious even more so when doing two armies. I’ve had to stop and work on other projects like bolt action and ACW to break it up.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

ARMY STRUCTURE THAT CAME ABOUT THAT TIME ....Napoleon movements on the battlefield ...and all the DIFFERENT PEOPLE Back then they really went thur alot .....We have the civil code ...freedom in the end came to most peoples ...ya GREAT TIME....

[@stevetjames7922]

I’m new to naps, so have found your basics vids super useful and engaging. Thank you. Looking forward to these continuing. Also like the idea of some paint along vids. However, a really useful topic would be how you go about researching and preparing scenarios to play. I’m going to need to do this during 2020 and am after some practical, simple, newbie guidance.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I've done a 3 part series on how to put on games which includes scenarios and such, but yeah , the next video is on research

[@Rusty_Gold85]

what I did was I saw something , a clue , googled it . Looked at the google images though . Then clicked on something interesting and went to the web page or blog page and have a quick read . If it was useful I saved it bookmarks under folders . Say French >Cavalry> Hussars / French > Imperial Guard / Austrian > Infantry etc . Also try Pinterest for prints and pictures And get a membership at the TMP page

[@wannabegeneral]

The 'General de Brigade' rule system has a whole series of scenario books for various historical battles. Highly recommneded.

[@stevetjames7922]

@@NapoleonicWargaming - cool, ill look for that

[@welshwargamer2066]

Great video mate really like your channel keep it up!

[@Rusty_Gold85]

My InLaws are from Northwich . I havnt spoke to them for years sadly . Costs a bucket to post to Adelaide

[@johndalton3787]

I'm just starting to Wurttenburg battalions. Though I use 1/72 so plastics all around at 100 men for £8.00 I always think the smaller German states are so interesting in the napoleonic wars. Alongside this my ultimate plan. Might Sverige! Another interesting little force.

[@FieldMarshalYT]

HaT’s wurttemburgs and Swedes are very nice sets imo

[@johndalton3787]

@@FieldMarshalYT Thank you very much for the recommendation. There's everything one would need in the hat sets isn't there! Svea will soon have her army :-)

[@thomasmontgomery4597]

@@johndalton3787 I bought some Bavarian Infantry and Cav from HÄT, because I live there and was so disappointed with the models. The scale doesn't match anything else I've got and the sculping is so bad that I'm almost ashamed to put them in the field next to my French Italeri's

[@johndalton3787]

@@thomasmontgomery4597 I'm very sorry to hear that, all the models I have from HAT were great. Strelets have improved a lot lately and I got some very nice French and Highlanders from them. They have released some Bavarian infantry, maybe you could try there? I hope you the best with that, I'm working on the Saxon corps of the grand army as I'm living in Sachsen. I hope all is well in Bayern.

[@andrewrobinson9198]

Interesting talk. Thank you. I've started a French Waterloo army. Black powder think there 28mm enjoying making and painting them. Trying to name which company they are. Find all your posts very helpful

[@MrNurgle]

Cool video. Paint along, yes please.

[@seorwulf1049]

Enjoyed this vid - would love to have seen the regular updates on progress of ( or lack of lol) you mentioned you were going to do. You said a vid on planning, costing etc would be next? - as a new Nap gamer I would have found that very interesting. That said love your channel and your other vids!! Cheers.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I did a bit more on my live stream, but yeah, the planning/purchasing thing went a bit out the window. It's something I should definitely go back to though!

[@rcspaintservice]

Would love videos like this for ACW too.

[@Maxyshadow]

Off topic but. I just want to say how much I've enjoyed your videos over this weekend. You have reinvigorated my interest in both Napoleonic's and Black Powder rules, thank you. (Starting with the outstanding Waterloo vids) I lost my wargame room with it most of my collection nearly a year ago but saved my 1809 French and Austrians. Am now rebasing what survived of my 20mm WSS armies for Black powder. Which means more pleasing 6 figure bases and no more singles for casualties removal. :)

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Sorry to hear you lost your gaming room :( something like that can really knock you back. Thank you for the kind words, it's messages like this that makes it all worthwhile.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

My Polish Army has 8 regt...3 horse units front rank but i bought plastics for the first time I AM GOING TO KEEP THE PLASTIC I LIKE HOW ONCE YOU MAKE THEM THEY RELLY ARE ONE OF A KIND I BOUGHT ALAMO FIGURES SOME TO MAKE SPANISH AND THE MEXICANS FIT WILL ALSO ...

[@conradofficial6094]

I agree that plastics are definitely better by being cheaper, but if you can mold soldiers it’s also insanely easy to make them

[@emmetminiatureswargames2424]

I’ll be following along with this, should be a good series. I’m interested in pretty much every Napoleonic army so I’d never run out of things to choose from. I have already started collecting over the past couple of years by watching for sales & bargains. I’ve started Austrians, Russians, French and British - but painted nothing so far! As you say, when it comes to cost, plastic cavalry are a must - I’ve stalled on Austrian and Russian because of the lack of it. I did buy some Front Rank Russian cavalry but at £40 with postage for 12 cavalry it’s just too expensive. Very interested in Polish myself and Warlord do Polish Line Lancers, I bought two boxes of those. Not sure about their Vistula infantry box though, I heard/read a comment somewhere that they weren’t accurate figures but then again I’m no button counter anyway.

[@frizzank]

Hussars are uniformed almost identical. I got plastic French hussars and painted as Austrian or Russian. Old glory is a good option, very good quality and best prices.

[@emmetminiatureswargames2424]

Thanks Frank, didn’t think of that. I’m a fan of Old Glory generally, got a lot of their stuff.

[@Rusty_Gold85]

The Vistula had a bronze sun plate so you have to scratch the front Warlord PV's French plastic INF shako's off . Which is just early French inf . Then I just painted a very small Brass Fan on the shako . For the Grenadiers with 6 metal Czapka's heads you pin the metal to plastic body . . They also had long tail coat and tunic . Look up warlord site then look up murawski site then google the Vistulas . Then it might be seen the difference

[@frizzank]

Modify as desired. At the end of the day it is a toy and get it to as close to what you are replicating as you wish.

[@emmetminiatureswargames2424]

Thanks Rusty. Had a look at those Murwaski figures, look very nice.

[@e-4airman124]

thank you very much

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thanks you for watching!

[@duncanrichardson5306]

Pleased to see more 1/72 players here. Given the points you've made about the shortage of cavalry etc in 28mm Napoleonics, I'm surprised that so many gamers on Ytube seem to use that scale. The HaT and others are so easy to get too, in general hobby shops (in Australia anyway) rather than having to order overseas. 1/300th is worth looking at too, with the obvious benefit of space and lower cost per figure.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I think with Zvezda and HaT in particular there are loads of great 1/72nd scale minis out there now!

[@Nopejams]

I love historical games, but honestly sometimes it is just as fun if not more to just play against who ever with what ever, tbh. Like playing French on French, imagine a civil war broke out.

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

YAAAAAAAAAA ..... VERY WELL I am happy now.....

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thanks dude! That's a crazy amount of shipping!

[@Rusty_Gold85]

The Vistula had a bronze sun plate so you have to scratch the front Warlord PV's French plastic INF shako's off . Which is just early French inf . Then I just painted a very small Brass Fan on the shako . For the Grenadiers with 6 metal Czapka's heads you pin the metal to plastic body . . They also had long tail coat and tunic . Look up warlord site then look up murawski site then google the Vistulas . Then it might be seen the difference

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I'm not going to be using the Warlord minis. I'm starting with the new Perry ones

[@Rusty_Gold85]

@@NapoleonicWargaming YESS ! They are the best to use . Would have saved me the hassle . But Remember to scrape the badge off the Shako

[@warrencann3824]

This was helpful. Thanks. But where is the next video in this series?

[@eog0579]

I would be interested to know why "scale" was never mentioned in this video? Could you maybe cover that choice? Any extra videos on painting, basing etc your new army would be of interest to me. I look forward to the next one! Happy New year

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I'd never really considered scale tbh, it's an excellent point, I'll try and cover it in the next vid!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@Tiny mod In the back of my mind is a 6/10mm project for Blucher, but I can only do so much!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@Tiny mod Ah nice! I don't know mate to be honest. I don't think they have a gaming hall, but I could be wrong! It's the Mecca of wargaming! I'm in Sheffield so head over fairly often to Warlord and/or GW

[@eog0579]

@@NapoleonicWargaming great, thank you

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@Tiny mod Ah sweet! I'm currently stripping and repainting my Assyrians for HC

[@Nobleshield]

I think picking an army that can face against your group isn't as bad as you mention. Since this his historical gaming as opposed to say Warhammer 40k, you have to concern yourself at least in some regard to historical accuracy. If there's 3 French players and 1 British, you probably don't want to pick France or a French ally even if you really like Napoleon, since it'll greatly limit who you can play unless one of the other people have multiple armies to let you borrow or you are content with a-historical French vs. French battles or always having a "training exercise" which also gets old fast. While I do agree that ultimately it should be what you like the most, ease of finding opponents has to be a major concern as well or it will get tiresome, even if it would be good for learning the game. For example, I actually do enjoy the French. But my small group has 2, possibly 3 people who collect French. So even though I like France, picking them wouldn't be a good idea since it's so common. However, as I'm getting into the period for the first time, I'm finding there's a lot of things I like or am interested in so picking something that might be #2 or #3 on my list isn't so bad because while yes, I like France, I'm also interested in Austria and Russia so those become more appealing if they aren't played. So while I don't disagree, for people getting into the period for the first time, be open to learning about various nations, and you might find that you have another option or two if your first choice is common.

[@user-rm9qs4hz1p]

New to the scene, I do really love Waterloo but I’d like to start some French at the height of Napoleons power 1809/11. Not to sure where to start but have a look to see if you have any other videos. Really enjoyed this, thank you for your info

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thank you for watching! Funny you should comment on this video, I was going to resurrect my Vistula project last night, but couldn't find my greenstuff!

[@user-rm9qs4hz1p]

Thank you for the reply and that would be amazing! Hopefully I will catch you live next time as I missed you this morning. But currently watching as I'm building some Macedonians Phalangite for a diorama. 😅@@NapoleonicWargaming

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@user-rm9qs4hz1p ooh nice! I'm torn between my next project to do Vikings or Classical Greeks. I'm choosing to forget about the Macedonian army I have built but unpainted on the shelf... 🤣

[@TwisstedSage]

I have a small French army so far, 3 barrettes of horse artillery, 2 battalions of Swiss, and 2 battalions of Irish Legion (don’t forget the Irish wild Geese who’d cross an ocean to kill Brits) same uniform design as the french just different colors. Proudly, I also have 2 regt’s of French Line Lancers from Warlord. Right now I’m working on a Spanish brgade, and I suggest you check out, using Victrix early Revolution French with minor conversions like a plume here & there and a different paint scheme for Spanish 1808-09. I’ve thrown in a couple of sets of Perry metal,Spanish militia & grenadiers to give some variety & authenticity to the units & Bob’s your bastard father, Spanish Brigade ! I’ve just received my first box of the new Perry mid war French & I intend to get more to have some French, French infantry.I also have a Vistula Legion from Warlord waiting for paint as well. By the way where did you get the excellent pictures of the Polish troops you have on the latest video, they’re super, especially the one of Poiniatowski? Listen, I don’t know how you find the time to do these videos, paint, game and hold down a job but I hope you will continue to do so. They’re always entertaining, often inspiring & frequently educational. If Marshall Ney had shown the obvious tactic you demonstrated for forcing the enemy into square with cavalry AND sending along some horse artillery & infantry support, we’d probably all be speaking french now ! So keep up the good work. We all need a break from Trump & global climate crisis now and again.

[@WanderingCelts]

Hi Nevyn, just curious as to your Irish contingent. Which figures did you use ? I am in the midst of casting and painting 40mm Prince August for display. I was planning on doing 15mm metal Prince August with some conversion. Legion Irlandaise had longer plumes than on the french line infantry in general.

[@LittleLouieLagazza]

Must you really drag politics into this? Really? No one else listens to you, leaving you feeling compelled to interject and spout off here? Get some counseling, find some adult, professional help. You can be okay again. 😊

[@Asienieboje]

Good luck with your Vistula Legion. I do Duchy of Warsaw army for 1812 and right now I have 3 regiments of infantry, 2 cavalry and some guns. For me, the most important thing was historical accuracy and I use FR metal range. During Waterloo game, I talked to Perry brothers about proper plastic Polish lancers(for Duchy, Victrix will only do French service lancers, good for your project), then who knows... I'm very curious about your progress with the subject. I'm wondering about your sources to prepare it. Do you use Karabela books for that? If not, I suggest it as it is so far the best source. For what period are you going to do your legion? Peninsula, Russia, Germany? If you have any questions about the unit I will be happy to help.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

That's the next video ;) A lot of inspiration was taken from Orphan Eagles if I'm honest

[@OtoriKaedeisFuuuuuunny]

Oddly enough victrix austrian grenadiers always made me want to make a austrian grenadiers with 56 for each box could get me 4 standard regiments (i use black powder rules) granted thats without command groups so i dont know yet with command

[@MrVolvobloke]

I have bought a copy of these rules to use with 15mm figures, the 'forgotten' scale these days. This series should be interesting but please, please don't ignore all the other scales and manufactures we have too ( 6mm? 15mm? 20mm? especially if you are concerned about cost and transport) and don't just default to the big plastics companies !

[@hollandmeester347]

How many Polish troops served in Napoleon's army during the Battle of Waterloo 1815???

[@thomasmontgomery4597]

Thanks for the tip, but where do you order them in Germany?

[@jasonhorne4414]

Are there going to be any more instalments in this series ?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I'm going to restart it, as I wasnt really happy with how I'd started it off. I will be doing more on the Poles though!

[@Maks-si3xl]

Is this ,,secret" army will be a Duchy of Warsaw one? :D

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Haha, no there's another one! I've just finished the first artillery piece for it

[@wargamingasp320]

Victrix do early and mid French. All of their non guard sets are pre-Bardin 1812 - unfortunately :-(

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

LONG LIVE POLAND ....

[@clueless4990]

i wish there was a hessians

[@FieldMarshalYT]

Can black powder be done with 1/72 scale?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Absolutely! I play a lot of BP in 1/72 as it's the scale my dad has. We tend halve all the measurements and it works quite well on a 6x4 foot table

[@thomasmontgomery4597]

I'm also building in 1:72 and I have found that almost nothing fits together. Not even if I stay with one manufacturer. For example, Italerei French Infantry look great but have not Grenadiers or "elites" in the box. The separately sold Grendiers from the same company Italeri do not even come close in scale or looks to the infantry, so that I can't use them in the same regiment together. The Bavarian units from Hät do not fit either of the two so I don't know how to field them either. I am really afraid to buy anything else as a waste of money. Does anyone have a tip for me other then changing to 28 mm?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

There's an amazing site called Plastic Soldier Review that's entirely dedicated to 1/72 minis. They have a little comparison scale of 1 to 5 on their reviews. www.plasticsoldierreview.com/PeriodList.aspx?period=22

[@thomasmontgomery4597]

@@NapoleonicWargaming Thanks for the tipp - great channel.

[@gregcarter4745]

Was "buck and ball" ammo used by any of the combatants of the Napoleonic wars?

[@Beltayn7272]

The Austrians had something like it, with a fancy German name I have forgotten, that was three or four pistol balls. But that's the closest I have heard of.

[@universal1014]

I think the danish did

[@Cherokie89]

I’m in the odd position of liking horse and musket warfare and gaming but not giving two shits about the napoleonic wars for some reason. I thought maybe it was just because I’m American but I don’t think that’s it. I’m interested in the seven years war, for example, and Victorian era colonial stuff like the Zulu war. I don’t know why I don’t get excited about the napoleonic wars.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I think that's fair enough. I think there's often an emotional connection with the past, and the battles/wars we're interested in! I'm looking to do a bit more War of 1812 content, so that might tickle you fancy a bit more, or, keep on enjoying the periods you enjoy! Most importantly of all though, thanks for watching! Maybe one day you'll see something that inspires you

[@kimwidol]

@@NapoleonicWargaming I’m American. Here’s a funny thing about emotional connections... Being a big fan of the British in the Napoleonic Wars…but not so of the British in the War of 1812-same army, same time period!

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

MAYBE I SHOULD ASK YOU TO BUY FOR ME LOL FRONT RANK CHARGED ME 78.00 POUNDS .SHIPPING.. BUT YA PERRYS NEW AND SHINNING ...PLASTIC IS BETTER BECAUSE ALSO YOU MAKE THEM ONE OF A KIND..

[@alistairbain6149]

Any recommendations on transporting your army?

[@scouttrooper3123]

I will be honest, you sounded kinda like Mumbo Jumbo in the beginning.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Only in the beginning?! 😂

[@scouttrooper3123]

@@NapoleonicWargaming maybe the entire thing.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@scouttrooper3123 thank goodness! I was worried I was getting the hang of it! 😂

[@LucaZ283]

Brilliant narrator, as usual!