Beginning Black Powder Napoleonics

by Troy A. Hill

The Covid-19 pandemic is having both deleterious and beneficial effects on the Table Top Miniatures hobby. From missed conventions and abrupt halts, then sputtering starts to in-person gaming at Friendly Local Gaming Stores (FLGSs), the pandemic has really rocked the table-top gaming industry back on its heels.

But, I’m seeing a trend on many of the social media platforms: either new gamers are entering the hobby, or existing gamers are picking up new armies, or new games to try. One area is in the Napoleonic gaming world. I’ve seen several “New to the hobby, where do I begin?” posts just in the forums and pages with Warlord Games.

I’m in that same boat, and I’m happy to share my trials and tribulations, so any gamers jumping into the great unknown of Napoleonics can learn from my mistakes.

In this piece, I’ll share what I learned about researching, and the models I’ve begun with. I’ll also include images of the Warlord British Line Infantry models, and the process I went through assembling and painting them. You might want to read the image captions separately from the text of the main piece.

I made the decision to begin my foray into Napoleonics by picking up . I had my eye on the Grand Armee of France as my main force. But, having a starter kit for two armies from the era (British and French) appealed to me. We gamers know that we need an opponent to play. Even in solo play as we learn the rules of a new system – or when we’re in quarantine due to a pandemic. The Waterloo set solved that need.

The British Line Infantry. Good detail in plastics, three pieces per man (body, pack, and head).

I decided I’d begin by assembling and painting the British contingent from the set first.

The Waterloo Boxed Set

If you’re considering diving into either the British or the French in 28mm, I can recommend the set. Most of the set is Warlord’s plastic figures, with a metal 6-pounder artillery piece and crew for the Brits, as well as a single metal force commander for each side.

All infantry assembled and glued to sticks for fast painting.

The British have two units of line infantry in standard British kit for late war, as well as two line infantry units from the Hanoverian allies of Britain. (King George III of Britain, was also the Elector Count of Hanover, and could call forces upon need from the Germanic state.)

The French forces consist of several units of two units of line infantry, and two units (six models each) of the mounted Chasseurs à Cheval (hunters on horses). The set also includes a softback miniature (A5 size) of the Black Powder 2nd Ed rulebook.

Sprayed with Rustoleum Camo Desert Sand primer

Research and Colours

One of the joys of historical wargames, as opposed to fantasy/sci-fi miniatures, is the recreation of actual units, complete with uniform style and colors, ensigns, etc.

In Napoleonics, just as in re-enacting, the participants range from “looks good enough, mate…” to the typical “button-police” style of commenter. I definitely fall into the former. Are the colors close enough? Are we at least of the right period in uniform selections? Let us try not to mix late war headgear with early 1800s uniforms when there was a known change.

Since I use Vallejo paints normally, I went looking for the most often recommended colour for British jackets. Flat Red. Too many of you gamers must be starting Napoleonic British, since all my local stores were out of it, as well as my usual online stores. I had to get creative and mix these two into a semblance of something “close enough.”

Ok, in addition to boots and other equipment (which should be fairly standard colors), for Brits I’ll need Flat Red for the coats, tan/brown, and/or grey for the trousers and white for the straps. Right?

Not so fast. There are colors and cuffs, along with turnbacks.

What’s the turnback?

Look at the rear of the British Line Infantry. See where the coat splits at the tails. Where the fabric is folded open, that’s the Turn Back. Fortunately, for line infantry, those are usually white.

Yes. White. If you’re getting into Napoleonics. Get used to painting white. As for colors on the collars and cuffs, those carried by unit.

Remember when I said it was all assembled? Bad idea for me. I’m not steady enough to get my brush between the collar and the bedroll on top of the pack. I had to prize off the pack from one unit. I had progressed too far on the first unit to want to damage the paint already down. So the “blue cuffs” unit has sloppy backs of collars. While the “green cuffs” has nice collars and front of bedrolls.

Where should I go to find out what units used which colours?

There are several good books on the British Uniforms of the period. Most Osprey books have color plates in them. As well as or (Available on Amazon). I picked up Smith’s book, since it was about half the price of the Franklin book. However, others on NDNG staff swear by Franklin’s book.

I also found sticky tack, and bottle caps far easier to use than craft sticks.

You can also find a ton of info online. Google a search of “Napoleonic Wargaming” or history and your favourite social media platform to find many groups.

For my first two units, I wanted to have one with blue cuffs, and one with green cuffs. Checking the Orders of Battle for Waterloo, along with the color guides, I settled on the 45th Regiment of Foot (Green) and the 23rd Regiment of Foot. Because I had purchased flags from Scott Roach (another NDNG writer), leftovers from his recent project, those were the units that aligned with both the flags on hand and the colours I wanted to use.

One of the few areas I’d like to see Warlord’s Black Powder books (Albion Triumphant Vols 1 and 2) improve is to include painting guides. As they are now, basic colours are listed in the Armies of… section. An illustration of the soldiers, and what the various parts of the uniform and equipment are, as well as the more standard colours would be a great help.

Base colours applied to packs and gear. I have these sticky tacked onto golf tees (with the heads trimmed off). Wooden skewers would also work. Still need to clean up the slop of painting outside the lines, add filter, then highlight.

Colours for collars and cuffs in the British Army of the time are detailed in many other places. Such as this , or the books mentioned above.

Another great site, though written in French (Google Chrome browser will translate for you) .

Final Thoughts

After assembling and painting two units of Line Infantry, I wish I’d talked only one at a time. In addition, I’d love to see command figures included on the sprues, or a separate sprue with command figures on it (standard-bearers times two, commander and musician). However, these are fairly inexpensive (for metal figures) to pick up from Warlord. Fortunately, with the Black Powder rules, having the standards and unit command in the rank and file isn’t necessary to play.

The finished 45th Regiment of Foot (Nottinghamshire)

But, as a historical gamer, I want to make my forces “pop” on the table as well as I can. My painting is still average, especially when I first begin a new force, and need to learn how to paint the various parts and pieces (and painting white on all those straps… ugh).  A well-painted command stand with ensigns and a musician will help the unit go from standard to eye-grabbing.

Next up, I plan to work either on the command stand for the 45th, or on the artillery piece and crew. Maybe both. I’ll write it up when I finish.

Hmmm… I’m not sure I have enough in my 28mm Napoleonic “to be painted” pile…