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About Bonaparte

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Cambronne181505 Feb 2017 8:58 a.m. PST

When I looked for the rules for great battle to be used with figures in 54mm and not only for skirmishes, I realized that I did not have much choice. Over time I have found only two or three regulations that could be used. Two are Ken Cliffe: Harmchair Generals and ATKM, which are simple and original at the same time. Simultaneously, I found About Bonaparte,a love at first sight that led me to translate for Italy all three wargames designed by Dirk Donvil. About Bonaparte is not only an adaptation from other scales rules and is not a copy of other wargames simply because there are no regulations for 54mm with these characteristics. If anyone has found similarities with C& C:N, unfortunately AB was born in Belgium a few years earlier with the title IIAC, the letters reported on the special dice, therefore…
In these days, I play a battle test with 12 battalion of French and Russian figures in the campain of 1812, a great emotion. I use Toy soldiers of Italeri, Replicants, Hat, AIP and the new Napoleonic set of Chintoys. Someone of the members used AB with miniatures in 54 or have this love for this scale?

dBerczerk05 Feb 2017 10:55 a.m. PST

I have been hoping to try a game in 54mm with"About Bonaparte" but have not yet found a vendor who carries these rules here in the U.S.A.

I have used the rules from All The King's Men by Ken Cliffe for gaming both the American War for Independence in 28mm, and the 1st Russo-Turkish War of Catherine the Great (1769-1774) in 54mm.

picture

Here is a report of a game held last year using the ATKM rules.
zodanga.blogspot.com

Good luck with your project in 54mm. I hope to hear more of your experience with About Bonaparte!

Dale Hurtt05 Feb 2017 6:21 p.m. PST

On Military Matters generally carries Caliver Books and Partizan Press materials, but he does not (yet?) carry these, so I had to order mine directly from the UK. You can always email OMM and ask him to special order it with his next order though.

As the author related to me in an email, and as I posted to my blog, About Bonaparte was born from Battlecry (1999), which also uses the same dice. It is a heavily modified derivation from Battlecry and shares few mechanics with either Battlecry or Command & Colors: Napoleonics.

Cambronne181506 Feb 2017 1:03 a.m. PST

Ciao a tutti,
thanks Dale for your clarification, I hope that, past anger for printing of AB that you are getting inadequate (and you have all my sympathy because I have had similar problems), you try the game mechanics and rules conceived by Dirk, are slightly more complex than those of Ken Cliffe in ATKM. Both simplify the problems of morale of the soldiers in the field, one with the colors green, yellow and red that classify the possibilities of reaction of units, one by better defining the classification of reggiments and battalion in green, regulars, irregulars and veterans or elite with a different resistance to flag dice rolled by opponent player. Everyone, however, optimizes space and time to get the most fun in this scale not so easy to manage. Has anyone found other rules to be used for the 54mm?
For dBerczerk
beautiful photos and interesting blog. An unusual battle compared to the more frequent in the achievements of the fans, a complex choice also for the adaptation of the toy soldiers in 54mm present on the market. Why this choice, are you passionate about the historical period (1769-1774)?
on my fight, I can only report the photos of my first French line-up on the blog of Dirk Donvil group, always that I can write the link in the right way:
"https://pmcd-mobilisatie.blogspot.it/2015/05/in-march-finally.html#comment-form"
Take a look, there are many battles with AB with various scales of toy soldiers and we have to thank all the companies who in recent years have believed in this product.

dBerczerk06 Feb 2017 6:02 p.m. PST

For Cambronne1815 -- I enjoyed the photographs of the 54mm Napoleonic battle on your blog!

I chose the Russo-Ottoman War of 1769-1774 for my 54mm project because I already have collections in 28mm for the American War for Independence, and in 25mm for the Napoleonic Wars.

The rules from ATKM work well for this period in 54mm, but I would also like to pick up a set of "About Bonaparte" as well.

Do the rules require special dice to play? If so, are the dice an extra purchase?

Cambronne181507 Feb 2017 9:35 a.m. PST

25,28 and 54mm, amazing! A fine collection of toy soldiers for many eras and battles. I envy you. I came back to collect toy soldiers only 6 years ago and I chose ACW, FIW, American Revolution and Napoleonic age for the first purchases. I discovered a big world of plastic figures and I realized how much material had plenty now than in seventy's when my eyes see the first Napoleonic boxes in 54mm. Now I'm waiting for Dirk progress with the rules for the modern war (About Patton) to rebuild the period of Viet Nam but the difficulties to simplify the heavy weapons and armored vehicles seem not so easy to overcome. Unfortunately my 55 years leave no hope for me to paint alls pieces that I have already found and the Napoleonic is like a jealous lover: many nations, many uniforms, many colours and little free time.
I'm glad you liked the photos of the site, you will also find short videos on groups battles on YouTube at:
YouTube link
Yes, the special dice are an extra purchase but can be replaced by a classic D6, by classifying the various faces in the manner described on the rules, you can request dice from the Unicorn but I tell you now that it takes at least three sets (15 dice) to play in two or more players.
unicornmodels.be
You may go to see the gaming tables printed on:
link

dBerczerk07 Feb 2017 10:26 a.m. PST

Thank you for the links and the information. "About Patton" sounds very interesting. World War II and later-era gaming can be a lot of fun too, but you do need a lot of terrain (trees, buildings, jungle, hills) to reduce line-of-sight to compensate for the more modern weapons.

I began collecting 25mm MINIFIG Napoleonics in 1986, 28mm AWI in 2001, and 54mm figures in 2007 so I have been at it for a little while now.

Good luck with your projects!

Dale Hurtt07 Feb 2017 10:49 a.m. PST

@dBerczerk You can order replacement dice for Battlecry or Command & Colors: Napoleonics and simply treat the 'Crossed Swords' result as 'blank'. Otherwise the dice are exactly the same (2 infantry, 1 cavalry, 1 artillery, and 1 flag).

Note that this is the Avalon Hill version or 150th Anniversary edition of Battlecry, not Milton Bradley American Heritage version of Battle-cry. grin

Cambronne181507 Feb 2017 11:50 a.m. PST

Hi Dale,
good idea to retrieve the dice similar to those of AB, especially with the difficulties that there are in the various currency exchange rates, better find something near home. I have to say to you, however, that in Lucca (my city in Tuscany), there is a great exhibition dedicated to comics, illustration and Games (with more than 250,000 visitors every years) and sellers from all over Europe, but I never found these replacement dice that you mention. As collector would like to me to have also these dice, you can give me some useful guidance to request them?
Another question is: I forgot to ask you if you are also a collector of toy soldiers in 54mm or you have this passion in your already rich wargamer profile.
For dBerczerk, you can use the D6 read 1= null; 2-3= Infantry; 4= Artillery; 5= Cavalry. 6= Flag.
When I wanted to return to the passion of Napoleonic toy soldiers, I found on the market in 54mm only the Brunswick Avant-garde and the french dragons Hat, few bad reprinting of Airfix and something of Reamsa. For me it was a hard blow and I forgot that passion until 2009. After, my dream return with all his power!
You were much more fortunate than me.

Dale Hurtt08 Feb 2017 6:58 p.m. PST

I went to eBay (US of course) and searched for "battlecry dice". You can purchase replacement dice from Wizard of the Coast for the Battlecry game. You can purchase replacement dice by emailing GMT Games gmtgames.com and asking for replacement dice for Command & Colors: Napoleonics, which is your best bet, as it is very popular and still being published.

Finally, you go search on the web for "custom" dice and find lots of companies that will let you upload images and have custom dice made to your specifications.

Making your own dice is easy, but making them well is not. There are blank dice for sale at most craft shops in the US (I have no idea about Italy) and making adhesive label with your printer is also easy. But it creates a raised surface on the die faces, which will eventually wear and start to peel. You can try something like Mod Podge to glue it down and smooth it over, but if you do it unevenly then you will throw off the balance of the die.

Dice with blank sunken faces can usually be found online at places like Amazon.

Lots of options, really.

dBerczerk09 Feb 2017 6:59 a.m. PST

Dale Hurt -- thank you for all the helpful input! I enjoy gaming with 54mm figures, but it can be tough putting on a rewarding game for others more familiar with 15mm or 28mm figures.

Cambronne181509 Feb 2017 7:58 a.m. PST

Thank you Dale for the tips, in my first search on Ebay I have not been very lucky, but I took the opportunity to take a look also at Battlecry, play with AB does not exclude other games, is evident. For the dice, if I can not find in the coming months those of Battlecry, is not a problem. I use those of the Unicorn and I think if I had to have them manufactured, the cost would not be less. I wanted to have one alternative only for my personal pleasure.
The last possibility could be, as suggested by Dale, use the faces printed on last pages of AB for stick-on blank faces of a free 6D. However a comprehensive review of how to handle the problem of dice also saving money (which we can spend on miniatures). In Italy is not so simple to find special accessories as in this case but the our situation for what concerns the world of wargames is definitely very different from the USA, even in the case of 54mm.

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