Napoleonic Basics: Building Better Brigades

In this week's video we look at building the basics of a Black Powder army and how to make them as hard fighting as we can!
make sure you listen right to the end for the bit I forgot to edit into the middle of the video 😂😂😂

[@elegance3533]

Thanks for doing these! Actually getting into miniatures/wargaming from your history videos (just bought my first Portuguese brigade), keep up the great work!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Oooh nice! I'm looking to add a Portuguese brigade to my Brits, led of course by Manly Power!

[@dangregory4217]

@@NapoleonicWargaming what a name 😂

[@Robin-fp6sx]

Knackered from 10 hours painting today, but "odd is good"...I think I can remember that. :)

[@christopherhorner7570]

Wow fantastic!! I'm going to have to watch this one a few times. Keep up the good work.

[@philRminiatures]

A beautiful video...and a wonderful parade, gorgeous brigades!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thanks Phil! Thank you for watching!

[@Drewheed1]

Stunning unit of highlanders!! Also love the back drop you have here. Will certainly be subscribing

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thanks man! I'm always thinking I should get some new ones, in fact you've inspired me to order some more!

[@rfitzy612]

Another great video - good observations on armies and the game play

[@johnwayneeverett6263]

GREAT Glad so glad you are doing all thses vids GREAT JOB....BUDDY

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Tha ks bud, and thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm!

[@Apocraphtica]

Glad to see a video about gameplay, and not about miniatures painting. Nice vid!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Thanks! I dont do that much painting-wise...because I'm not that good a painter! 😂

[@TwisstedSage]

Whew ! That was a lot of information & math to boot. I'll just have to watch it again and over again which is the usual thing for really good, educational videos. Mean time, just now assembling the 32 Cornwall, which is my 4th British Rgt., painting on the sprue has really helped in my output, so you've added a bit of motivation to move on to a 5tn unit. Looking forward to your conversion classes with great anticipation. Wish I could show you my 2 for 1 & 1/2 of Brit. Lt. Dragoons into Early Lt. Dragoons & Spanish Dragoons of Olivencia for the cost of just the horses. Olivencia, I wonder if that translates to the olive province? Thanks as always for the lesson & inspiration.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

If you send pics to my FB page I'll put them up! (Might have to wait a while though, I'm currently in fb jail!) 😂

[@alejandrotabilo1988]

Great video, can you tell me in what page is that rule of the Marauder rule of having to brake all the units to brake the brigade?

[@OW...]

Nice one..

[@pfcsantiago8852]

Nice.

[@geebards]

A very useful guide to best use of the rules for army building. I realised you don't seem to have too many British Napoleonic miniatures photos. I have a reasonable collection of Napoleonics (mainly British early Peninsular) - would you like some photos? I understand if you just wanted to show case your own. I'm not a commercial painter or anything like that but I do have a general wargames blog where my Napoleonics (when I do them) feature. I always insert my Blog 'logo' in my images but it's only a hobby thing for me. Anyway, let me know.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Absolutely! I'd be happy to! Send them to my FB or message me with them and I'll put them in the next suitable video (with a credit if course!)

[@geebards]

@@NapoleonicWargaming I know this will be obvious but I can't seem to find you on FB.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@geebards search for Napoleonic wargaming KZbin channel. Its got ma boi LaSalle as the profile pic

[@neilmoulden5323]

A nice explanation. Any thought on translating an actual formation? For example the Prussian Brigade (division) I'm doing would fit you example.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Erm, depends on period, are we talking 1815?

[@neilmoulden5323]

@@NapoleonicWargaming 1813.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@neilmoulden5323 Prussians are quite lucky in this regard as they come in regiments of 3 battalions, so 1 or 3 regiments would work. If you had to take 2, I'd add maybe a unit of Landwehr. Perhaps even a small unit and just hide it at the back!

[@neilmoulden5323]

@@NapoleonicWargaming luckily the formation I'm building has 3 infantry regiments of 10 total battalions. A mix of Regular, Reserve and Landwehr. It also has the Leib Hussar Regiment as a bonus.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@neilmoulden5323 I must say, having writing thisbfourth Prussian video, I'm very tempted to pick up the prussian army I suggested in the getting started...

[@Rusty_Gold85]

Whats the rule for Light cavalry integrated to a Infantry Brigade ? Especially Chasseur Chevals or Hussars ?Don't they get quickly out of command distance and whats the solution to this ?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

They have the 'marauder' special rule. This rule allows them to ignore the distance from their brigade commander modifiers for orders

[@lamaze2295]

how many models in a battalion?

[@iamsuperroot]

Can you provide number of men in a smaller company based on points? Enjoy your videos.

[@generaltom6850]

Hi I can finally ask you When is the artillery video coming up?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Erm... 😂😂😂

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Tbh, I find artillery quite difficult to really get the most out of. But yes, I should just bite the bullet and get o with it!

[@generaltom6850]

@@NapoleonicWargaming lol

[@hobbywargamer8195]

Another great video on creating Brigades for Black powder, however, I think at the same time, to me, you have proven how point systems don't work for historical wargames.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

That's a shame. I think they are excellent ways to balance games a and allows us to do some really interesting scenarios. But, you do you buddy! The only important thing is that your guys are on the table and rolling some dice!

[@hobbywargamer8195]

@@NapoleonicWargaming true what you say, but I think as historical wargamer I try to recreate battles of the period which had armies fight each other which was seldom balanced, having a point system to balance a historical battle defeats the point if historical wargaming.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I agree to an extent, I tend to use oobs to inform my games rather than slavishly follow them. I think there's a lot to be said for points values, WRG and DBA both use them, so it's certainly not a 'modern' thing, an accusationyou've not made, but I've seen many times. But I guess it's different strokes for different folks!

[@hobbywargamer8195]

@@NapoleonicWargaming I agree that some games do require a point system, especially if they include multiple different units or the same units can have multiple different weapons load-outs. With Historical games, there were only four types of units Line Infantry, Light Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry all four of these units were armed the same way for 95% of all combative nations of the Napoleonic era the only real major difference was Training and Discipline which can be easily written into a set of rules then a point system. Using a point system to reflect the national differences of nations really spoils the actual difference between nations and detracts from them historically. As you said, each to their own, and this conversation doesn't detract from your great video content.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@hobbywargamer8195 yeah, I hope not. Ultimately, whatever method we use to get our boys on the table the only important thing imo is getting them on the table! 😃

[@trevorwoolson3860]

This may be a really stupid question.....WHERE are you finding points for units? I cannot anywhere or even any video talk about points cost for Napoleonic tabletop games!!!

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Not stupid at all! They are in the supplements. They really are essential to getting the flavour of Napoleonics in BP. They're also fantastic books!

[@captainnolan5062]

Wouldn't the army be even harder to destroy if you took your 9 battalions of infantry and made 4 brigades of 2, 2, 2, & 3 battalions (since they have to destroy both units in a brigade of 2 units)? They would then have to destroy 8 units, rather than 6.

[@boomtaylor8297]

Yeah your right but people wont do it because then your one move away from a broken brigade so if you have 3 it means the brigade can take more hits, ultimately it just means the other player has to be more strategic with the 2 battalion system and try to hit multiple brigades rather than focus on one. Example 1: 6 btlns 3 brigades 3 hits to break 6 btlns 2 brigades 4 hits to break Example 2: 8 btlns 4 brigades 4 hits to break 8 btlns 2 brigades 4 hits to break So now you can see why brigade will often be 3 battalions

[@Edward-Plantagenet]

Not sure if something is wrong with thus or not but you mention "as you can see am looking at P120". All I can see is a never ending loop of about 3-4 photos?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Theres more than 3 or 4! 😂 yeah, when i recorded i was planning on putting the page up, but then wasn't sure of the copywrite status of showing the books

[@bonysminiatures3123]

i better get painting some english , nice video

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

The king is always looking for new heroes!

[@konatelassina5301]

“How do they play” videos would be great. Starting now…as Russians.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

I've already got you covered bro! kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3jccotqnpakr68

[@warpaintjj]

This sounds like cynical list building to me! Not why I play Napoleonics. Good effort but not for me, this simply isn't how brigades were put together.

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

That's fair enough. I'm fairly sure brigades were put together to be as effective as possible, with many military theorists writing treatises on it...that's all I'm doing here. But I get it, it's not for everyone. It's not how you get your men on the table that's important, its that you get them on the table!

[@boomtaylor8297]

How would you do it just curious?

[@richardburnett2961]

So wrong! For the French, it is the Regiment,not the Brigade! 50%!? Hardly! Clausewitz says the battalion or regiment was broken became a "cipher",at about 30% Your casually rates are too high! Your figures take up the wrong space! And whatever higher organization you have, it isn't any French division. See Chandler or Elting or Griffith

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

50% isn't my number bro, it's the rules'.

[@richardburnett2961]

So it's in the rules! As you very well know, ALL rules sets are incomplrte,needing corrections, indeed, yet another edition. And houserules abound. So fiX them! And you reference these rules saying that you have your own?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

@@richardburnett2961 as i sat in many of my videos, not least this one, i often change the rules to suit. I even speak, at length, about how to do that in this very video... I'm not 100% sure what you're after dude, but yeah, tweak the rules to suit has always been my motto

[@ratelmike8825]

Hi Tim. As I list build. What level of Brigade commanders would you go for? For each Brigade I mean and then the overall Commander? Im assuming their points cost must be included in the 600 points?

[@NapoleonicWargaming]

Yep, if you want to upgrade them from the minimum SR, you must pay the points. As for what id go for..? I can't tell you all my secrets can I..?! 🤣 I'd look at if you can get any SR buffs through formations etc, and how vital a successful command with that formation will be...

[@ratelmike8825]

@NapoleonicWargaming of course not.....mums the word right!!! LOL. As im painting away and reading the main rule book, im making a lot of notes from your videos and looking at the supplement book for the points so as yet not fully got my head around points for the bosses. Ive alrwady picked up that if you want veteran battalions and or Light infantry upgrades you pay extra points. The SR points is my next read into the devil of that detail.