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Monday 27 April 2020

An unsolicited review of the Portable Napoleonic Wargame

Over the weekend I received a very unexpected email from Dale Munz (AKA Dale the Wargamer) who wrote the following review of THE PORTABLE NAPOLEONIC WARGAME:
'I just tried your Napoleonic Portable Wargame rules at the "Corps level" for the first time. I have been playing a solo campaign of two opposing sides each with a corps of 4 divisions (each division having infantry, cavalry and artillery). I came across a situation where each side had 2 entire divisions fighting in the battle against 2 opposing divisions. I had been using your division-level rules, but thought my battlefield (hex-gridded 12 x 12) would get too crowded. So I pulled out the Corps-level rules. I merged each side's 2 divisions into one force, arriving at a composition that resemble your Corps-level example (French v. allied) in your book. I fought two battles this way. I was completely blown away by how realistic each game was and how much fun! I'd start playing the battle and simply could not stop until either it was supper time, or my hands hurt from throwing dice. It was really exciting, and I never knew which side was going to win. I particularly liked the command and control (CinC giving orders to each corps each turn, and testing to see if they were carried out). It really gave me a feel for how difficult it is to command large units, and get them to do your bidding. These rules are simply (as well as being simple) the best rules I've played yet in terms of excitement. I enjoy the other rulesets, and even other author's rulesets, and like some variety. But I can't say enough about these rules.'
I love getting emails from people who've enjoyed using my rules, and I know that Dale wanted to share his reactions to using my Napoleonic rules with a wider audience. (I know this because he stated it elsewhere in his email, and before publishing it above, I asked his permission to reproduce what he had written.)

In reply, I wrote:
'Thank you very much for your email. It was very, very humbling to read.

This comment might surprise you, but your enthusiasm was extremely gratifying to read, especially as you have ‘got’ the idea behind the Corps-level rules. The C&C rules came about as a result of long discussions I had with Arthur Harman, who is a much greater expert on all things a Napoleonic than I am. He pointed out just how difficult it was for generals to control troops on a large battlefield, and the rules evolved from his suggestions.
'
It's feedback like Dale's that makes all the effort I have put in to writing and publishing my rules worthwhile.

Thank you, Dale. You really made my day!

12 comments:

  1. Hi Bob,

    It is very good to receive this positive feedback about the success of your Napoleonic rules. It would be interesting concerning the choice figure scale used by Dale - such a large Battle would be well served by 2mm, 6mm or 15mm. Cheers. KEV.

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    Replies
    1. Kev Robertson (Kev),

      It was extremely gratifying to receive Dale’s comments, and made me feel that all the effort was very worthwhile.

      I think that Dale has a blog, and looking at that should give some idea what size figures he used.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. It must be very gratifying to get such positive (and well deserved) reviews.
    I notice that Amazon now have a hardback version of the Colonial rules on sale for £25.76. Do you know which version this is?

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    Replies
    1. Barry Carter,

      It’s always great when someone sends such enthusiastic and supportive comments. It make all the work worthwhile.

      As far as I can see, Amazon are selling the hardback, slipcover, black & white edition of PCW, but charging the price I would expect for the casebound, colour edition. Unfortunately, I set the price that Lulu.com charges, but have no control over what Amazon and other retailers charge. In this case, they seem to be making quite a margin on each sale. What I am pretty sure of is that I doubt that they will pass on any of their additional profit to me!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Great feedback. Makes me want to try the Corps level rules now!

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    Replies
    1. Maudlin Jack Tar,

      It was a very pleasing review to read ... and I look forward to hearing how you get on with the Corps-level rules.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. That's a great review and obviously great for you to receive as the author. I have some planned Nappies games coming up and will look at your rules again in light of the above.

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    Replies
    1. Steve J.,

      Unsolicited reviews like this one are always welcome.

      I hope that you enjoy trying my rules.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. I recently bought your Portable Napoleonic Wargame rules. Can you explain what you mean by "notional" when you ate talking about leaders and their point values please?

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    Replies
    1. Captain Nolan,

      The points value of a commander and/or subordinate commander counts towards their side’s overall total points value and the Exhaustion Point, but does not imply that they have any combat value ... hence the points value is notional.

      I hope that explains it.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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