The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) involved Napoleon’s French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to the application of modern mass conscription. French power rose quickly, conquering most of Europe, but collapsed rapidly after France’s disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon’s empire ultimately suffered complete military defeat in 1814 (and a failed revival in 1815), resulting in the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France.
Meanwhile the Spanish Empire began to unravel as French occupation of Spain weakened Spain’s hold over its colonies, providing an opening for nationalist revolutions in Latin America (you can read more at wikipedia on the specific details). Meanwhile…
The Napoleonic period is traditionally one of the most popular for wargamers, many a gamer having first started in this period (and/or ACW or WW2) as a child with plastic figures. The period offers fantastic uniforms of unrivalled splendour and colour, the effect of massed troops standing shoulder to shoulder in those uniforms, yet some of the first modern advances in military systems as well (such as organised conscription, establishment of Army Corps and corresponding delegation of command, and the first centralised or concentrated use of artillery), and probably the last campaigns of massed armies where the horse dictated the tactics and communications (later periods see the introduction of breech loading rifles, modern steam railways, telegraphs, and so on). So here is my little contribution to the world of Napoleonic Wargaming…
Building the Armies of Quatre Bras in 28mm
For a long time I had been musing over what to do about Napoleonics. I have gamed it in several scales, starting with the classic 1/76th Airfix figures when I was young, then progressing on to 1/300th scale (6mm) for a while. After that I pretty much ignored the period for many years before dipping my toe into the waters of 28mm Napoleonic gaming. I had also had a brief flirtation with 15mm in the years of little interest but that had simply resulted in a large figure purchase that gathered dust for several years and ultimately resulted in a large second hand figure sale! Read more: Building the Quatre Bras armies in 28mm.