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 put in very poor performances, or you had veterans who had become more careful and generally cagey about the situations they got themselves into. Performance could vary. 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 Russian Army performed very well when defending home territory, as was seen during the 1807 and 1812 campaigns. When fighting outside of its territory, their initially brave and solid recruits tended to suffer greatly from lack of supply, especially food and medical services. The Russians which marched to Italy in 1799 arrived confidently, but within six months, poor supply and several rough encounters with the newly organized French armies had changed them. By the end of the year, one British observer noted "...the Russians were almost totally demoralized...their withdrawal is due to the almost unanimous desire to return to Russia and to an evident dread of meeting the French." By 1812 the French had developed more respect for their Russian infantry opponents, the joke by then was "Not only do you have to kill a Russian, you have to push him over too." The Army sent into central Germany in 1813 was, like most others on both sides, a large, but somewhat spent force, with many regiments operating at a fraction of their original strengths due to the ravages of the previous year's fighting and weather losses.

Through 1805, the Russian Army used the Regimental Pool system, drawing from a general unit pool and temporarily assigning them to column or wing leaders. In 1806-1807 they switched to the Divisional Column system and in 1811 they switched to the Corps system for the rest of the wars. The French system of formation change may be used by 1812. Recommended artillery ratios: 1807 = 1 battery per 7 bases. 1812 = 1 battery per 5 bases.