Setup Guide
This guide helps to explain some basics of setting up a Napoleonic wargame, along with a few suggestions that let players randomly decide background conditions of a typical game scenario.

« Choosing Battlefield & Forces
The choice of forces to be used, including nationalities, numbers, sizes and types of units to be used, along with the battlefield and terrain to be played on, are ultimately up to the participating players. Battlefields can range from open plains to mountainous passes, with or without major rivers and towns. While creation of the battlefield itself is beyond the scope of this setup guide, new players can go with a common Napoleonic terrain like a gently sloped valley with the armies facing each other on opposing ridges. There are other numerous terrain options, ranging from major towns and related river crossings, to hilly or mountainous ridgelines. The combinations of possible forces and terrain are almost endless. Some players have almost as much fun setting up the battlefield as they do playing the game!

All players should be in agreement on what sides of the battlefield they are setting up on - dice can be rolled to decide this. Another good idea is to decide in advance if the battle will feature clearly defined attackers versus defenders or more evenly matched sides who will attack or defend according to terrain and setup. With a clear attacker, it is best to place the defender on defensive terrain of some type and give the attacker some numerical advantage. This presumes that players already have some painted armies organized to one of the many possible orders-of-battle (OOB). The Republique rules page has numerous historical orders of battle from famous battles, that have been adapted for use with the rules.

The above outline describes a typical lineup of armies arrayed for direct battle against each other, with front lines and most of the armies already deployed. Another option is to have the armies meeting each other starting in road columns and steadily broadening their fronts as more troops arrive on the battlefield (called Meeting Engagements). These types of battles need careful consideration for which roads the various players can use to march onto the board. Meeting engagement games can either have players march on-board from the start, or the heads of the road columns can be held to specific setup proximities.

Set-up Proximity - The easiest and most common way to place troops on the playing area is to declare a location for the front line running between armies, and the closest that units are allowed to setup to that line (i.e., unit proximity). This can be done by declaring a specific distance as measured from the rear edge of the board (most common) which forms a single straight line across the battlefield, or by laying pieces of string across the battlefield delineating the battle's front line. The string is interesting because it can be used to create a meandering, uneven front which is more historically common. Each side would then be allowed to setup within a certain distance (proximity) of the front line. The most common and convenient front line proximities place the leading edge of each deployed army approximately within long range artillery fire. How far within range is again up to the players, but common starting values are within one of the two outermost artillery range brackets. Note that players can impose more complicated setup options by (for example) allowing a setup proximity for one side which threatens the other side's flank. This should be done as part of the general scenario/battlefield design and with the understanding of the players.

« Leader Traits
Players should decide if they are going to use historical personalities in their game, or if they will be generating hypothetical game leader values to make for more unpredictable results. There is an extensive Leader List of historical personalities and their estimated traits for players who want to use something like the real life officers. The table below is for those who want to generate automated (hypothetical) traits for leaders of divisions, columns, corps, etc. Note that players may mix both historical and hypothetical; they might for example, use Napoleon and his default Republique ratings as army commander, but with hypothetical corps commander traits. It will be more common to use this table for divisional level officers, because for many continental armies of the period, there is not much information available regarding their division level leadership's command traits such as popularity with the troops, etc.

To use the tables below, follow the instructions for each leader the players wish to generate traits for (traits being the Class and Rating for each). There are two ways this can be done:

1. Basic Roll - Roll two ten-sided die (2D10) and cross index the corresponding box on the Leader Class table's Die Result column against the Class Type column to find the resulting leader class. At the far right is a reference column letting you know what the percentage odds are for rolling each line. Use the same die roll result on the Leader Rating table to establish second of the two traits. As an example of what your final result should be; a die roll result of 5 will give a C0 (Cautious/Zero) Class/Rating for the leader in question.
2. Complex Roll - To gain a more varied set of leaders, roll two ten-sided dice (2D10) twice (instead of once) with first result being for class and the second result being for rating. The results of this can give some very unusual officers. A variation on this is to let the player decide which of the two die results he wants to apply to Class, thereby automatically assigning the other result to the Rating.

« Army Troop Grades
The Units and Formations section of the Republique rules page gives many clues for troop types and their most common unit sizes and troop grades. Some of the orders of battle (OOBs) listed on the main rules page also supply very comprehensive unit size information, along with the occasional troop grade guidance depending on the battle. For new players, the best thing to do is use line combat troops as average troop grade until you can learn more about period combat, and then expand into more exotic troop types as you gain more experience and miniatures.

« Placing Troops
Players may simultaneously place their troops on the board, or they may draw a map and record the starting positions before placing troops accordingly, keeping in mind the gameboard limit on setup proximity as decided previously. Using a map provides for more surprises and a hint of fog-of-war, especially in cases where opposing units can start the game in close proximity. Another option is to take an overhead iPad/tablet photograph of the playing area and then use the Photo Edit function's pen markers to draw formation locations directly on the photo. Either way, once all maps are completely filled out with unit locations, players may then place their troops on the board.

« Pre-Start Division Orders
Before starting with the first turn's movement, the current maneuver actions (orders) that each division is operating under should be set for Hold. Players may mark this either on a map or on a post-it/playing chit placed next to the divisional commander's base (See order Order Chits link below). Any other orders such as Advance or Pull back must be executed during the respective player's maneuver phases.

Order Chits — A sheet of common orders and status indicators used in the game. Print it, cut the sheet along the solid lines to make your order chits, and fold along the dashed lines to form "pull tabs" for easy handling. The chits may be folded to show orders face-up, or face-down.

Once the above setup steps are complete, the game is ready to start. If there is a scenario attacker, that side will be the first to conduct a player turn. Otherwise, players may conduct a competitive die roll, each rolling 1D10 with the high roller being the first to conduct a player turn. After that, the sides alternate player turns for the rest of the game.