This list of formation types is designed to help beginning Republique players to relate real life Napoleonic formations with those used for game play. The list indicates only very basic averages, and players should remember that real life units varied enormously in both quality and size. In some armies, green troops were fully trained and could perform very impressively. In other cases, regular troops who had been allowed to become demoralized in the field put in very poor performances. Unit descriptions include type, average size (number of bases) and average troop grade. The infantry lists also include skirmisher availability and quality. The cavalry lists include a classification of cavalry types. At the beginning of each section is a short description of each army, along with an average ratio of artillery batteries to infantry/cavalry bases. These recommended artillery ratios are purely for reference to help players develop a fair sense of usage.

The Skirmish column describes the number and type of skirmish markers which a unit type is allowed to deploy. A "One" indicates that the entire unit may deploy only one skirmish marker at any one time. "All" indicates that unit type may deploy one skirmish marker per active combat base present. The British Army was a relatively small but efficient force with a high proportion of crack formations such as foot guards, highlanders and rifles. British Army light infantry brigades may be broken up and assigned as independent bases to line infantry divisions. List includes Portuguese and KGL troops, who will tend to be green or average.

During the early revolutionary campaigns in Holland, the British army was still using the Regimental Pool system (and very little light infantry). During the Peninsular war, the Division Column system was used, with Moore or Wellington as the C-in-C. Only at Waterloo was the corps system used, and then only loosely. The system actually employed greatly resembled the divisional system used during the Peninsula. British troops employed the Prussian system of maneuver throughout the wars, proof that use of that system did not summarily condemn an army to failure. The artillery is average or veteran morale grade. Recommended artillery ratios for the Peninsula: 1 battery per 14 bases.