When my finger slipped, my heart sank. We were standing in two rows, our muskets pointing forward waiting for the signal. I could feel my cheeks flush with embarrassment the moment mine went off.
“At ease,” shouted the officer—I was too flustered to see who. He walked over to stand before me, and through the monitor I could sense the eyes of my 20 comrades.
“Steven,” he said disappointedly. “Run to the wall.”
Without so much as a word, I started running. By the time I was making the return jog to our formation, I was laughing. I had just been reprimanded in a videogame.
Many shooters are, like most of pop culture, vampires. They find a new premise and they bleed it dry; sucking the inspiration from it before moving on in search of their next victim. World War II, Vietnam, modern combat, and near-future science fiction: all of them desiccated by oversaturation in the genre. Mount and Blade: Warband – Napoleonic Wars defies that trend, and in doing so has created one of the most unique experiences available to players. At the heart of that experience is its vibrant community.
Most competitive online games are built to inherently support their gameplay, but Napoleonic Wars is, compared to Call of Duty, a much simpler game. You have a musket that fires a single shot, reloading takes upwards of 10 seconds and you can skewer people with a bayonet. But what makes Napoleonic Wars so unique is how the community has taken those basic fundamentals and crafted a thriving multiplayer game built upon discipline, teamwork and reverence for history.
Multiple times a week, thousands of players gather to partake in line battles. Following a strict formation, these players are led by an officer who issues commands and maneuvers them against other regiments. It’s slow, tactical and the most refreshing multiplayer experience I’ve had in ages.
“There’s really nothing out there at the moment that is quite like that,” Hauptmann Patriot told me during an interview. Patriot has been leading a regiment, the 19te, for several years now. The 19te, along with their sister corporation, the 1st EPI, played a crucial role in helping establish the North American community. Around 20 of their members gather to participate in battles against other regiments several times a week. They belong to the Prussian Army, a grouping of several like-minded regiments that represent the ideals of sportsmanship, integrity and fun.
“There are some units that are very strict and have permission to speak,” Patriot told me. “We try to shy away from that, the reason being we can be serious when we need to be but we like to have a fun atmosphere.”
The 19te is just one of countless regiments, all with their own culture, vision and tactics they employ within the game. The organized aspect of Napoleonic Wars, however, extends beyond simply being a game. For many, it’s a hobby.
“There are rules that we have internally and then there are rules we have to follow based on what event we go to,” Patriot said.
It sounds intimidating, and when I joined the 19te to get my first taste of battle, it was. Historically, discipline has always been one of the core tenets of any army. This was true especially during the Napoleonic era, when armies would march in formation and exchange volleys until one retreated. In Napoleonic Wars, it’s no different. An element of role-play is baked into the community; officers discipline soldiers firing out of formation or talking while receiving orders. What makes this equation so fascinating is how that role-play feels reinforced by the nature of the game. It isn’t an extension necessary for immersion but for success; a regiment who is disciplined and well practiced will always outperform on the field of battle.
These rules are also self-enforced, a unique prospect amid multiplayer shooters that are usually governed by rules built into the game. Firing out of line is easily the most egregious rule a soldier can break, but it is the officer who is responsible for ensuring this doesn’t happen, not the game.
When I fired before receiving the order and was forced to jog to the wall for my lack of discipline, it was during the 19te’s weekly practice session. The hour was spent running drills, practicing formations and maneuvers and concluded with a team meeting where players who had received promotions were instructed to stand on a box and were executed by firing squad—a ceremony that was strangely brotherly. It was surreal but, more importantly, compelling. In the short time I had spent with the 19te, I was already beginning to feel a sense of responsibility to the people I was marching beside.
Running drills and practicing might seem needlessly methodical compared to the high-octane firefights of blockbuster games, but Napoleonic Wars is built upon the truth that less is more. There is an appreciable skill in understanding formations and surprising difficulty to deploying them under fire. On more than one occasion I became flustered as shots zipped past my head and soldiers fell dead around me as our officer shouted commands. But I found a sense of pride from not letting the situation break me, and despite taking heavy casualties, remaining disciplined when staring down the barrel of a musket.
Many online shooters are inherently selfish; they portray you as a super-soldier capable of heroic feats, their campaigns filled with missions that highlight just how awesome you are. But as I marched with the 19te in my first battle, I was painfully aware of just how inconsequential I was as a single entity. My strength wasn’t derived from skill but in my willingness to follow orders and trust in my commanding officer. A sense of unity bound us together, and when the officer gave the command to charge, the roar of cheers as we raised our bayonets and rushed the enemy line was a gripping experience.
On paper, a lot of these aspects might seem like they’d contribute to a game that isn’t very fun to play. There is little agency for the average player unless you have the privilege of commanding a regiment. But the Napoleonic Wars community is built upon the satisfaction of not only winning but winning well. There is a nuance to formations and maneuvers than can take weeks to master and a sense of satisfaction from watching your unit perform admirably, knowing that you were a cog in that machine.
A regiment is only as good as the man who leads them, and when I sat down with Shadow, a Leutnant (German for lieutenant) in the 19te, he was quick to discuss what it takes.
“Everyone has to be on the same page,” Shadow told me. “Everyone has to line up correctly, everyone has to fire correctly, everyone has to reload correctly.”
“But as you get more experience, those pressures you once had become easier to manage.”
Officers aren’t only responsible for making sure their regiments are properly formed and following orders, but they also need to manage the moods and relationships of their soldiers both on and off the field of battle. It’s easy to imagine that, in an online community, inter-regimental conflicts can arise. Where some communities would be quick to purge troublemakers, Shadow has a different approach.
“It’s not a knock towards the person, it’s more of just a simple, ‘I don’t think we’re the right fit. Let me suggest a couple of regiments that may be more towards what you’re looking for,’” Shadow said. “There’s a place for everyone to be a part of a regiment.”
That nurturing sense of community between all of the regiments, regardless of rivalries that blossom on the field of battle, is what has kept Napoleonic Wars going for so long.
In true Napoleonic fashion, officers and their soldiers are expected to conduct themselves with etiquette and class. The 19te discourages its members from taunting or mocking other regiments, even those they are competing against. That image of professionalism even extends to the time between matches, when many players will attack each other at random for fun. During these moments, Shadow and the other officers were always quick to dissuade any of the 19te from partaking.
It feels like another world. War reenactment has played a part in western society since the Middle Ages, but this might be one of the first times it has ever taken place on a digital field of battle. Not every player who marches in rank might have an interest in it, but there is no denying that historical realism pulses through every vein in Napoleonic Wars. It’s the kind of game that plants a seed. For many, that seed has grown into an appreciation for the time period that the game draws from. Authenticity is so often pushed aside in favor of entertainment, and while Napoleonic Wars does little to recreate the horrors of war, there is an air of authenticity about everything it does.
The 19te, like so many regiments, have drawn from that authenticity to build a vibrant and refreshing multiplayer experience. Discovering them feels like finding a hidden gem amongst the titans of big-budget shooters that dominate the industry. For years now, that community has continued to thrive and grow, and as last year’s games are summarily discarded in favor of next year’s releases, the 19te and the regiments it fights alongside with will still be there, marching for glory.
Steven is a freelance writer from sunny Alberta, Canada. When he isn’t hibernating, Steven can be found fervently writing about videogames. You can listen to his podcasts at Pixel Attack or follow him on Twitter at @Stevenmessner