VAS 2

[jjvillegas]

Excuse me for may poor English and my ignorance but:
I have VAS Game but What is VAS 2
Thankyou

[MongooseMatt]

Currently in development, it is a new edition of VaS!

[suzan]

Currently in development, it is a new edition of VaS!

How long we must wait for this new edition?

[MongooseMatt]

A little bit longer, I am afraid

[AdmiralGrafSpee]

Hey, any update? This year?

[MongooseMatt]

No update yet, may not be this year - but new things are happening on the computer games front for VaS!

[Lord David the Denied]

What's happening with VaS? Basically no models on the site now, no discussion on here, it's like a ghost town. Do you guys not care about miniature games any more?

[MongooseMatt]

We do, but we are going to do them properly - when we go forward with VaS2, you chaps will be the first to know!

[Lord David the Denied]

Maybe it's just me, but the idea of "doing it properly" doesn't gel with concentrating on computer games and leaving the actual gamers hanging. VaS had huge potential, if only you'd "done it properly" years ago when it was first released. This is a far cry from the company that won awards with ACtA. Remember how busy this forum always used to be?

[MongooseMatt]

if only you'd "done it properly" years ago when it was first released.

To be fair, we had no idea how it would be received when it was first released (plus we did not have the 3D tech to do the ships back then).

Remember how busy this forum always used to be?

Take a peek at the Traveller forum, that is where the activity is at the moment!

[Lord David the Denied]

Come on, MAtt. Traveller is an RPG. I'm talking about miniature gaming. There used to be hundreds of posts a day for ACtA, and while you couldn't control losing the B5 licence you could have got VaS and Battlefield Evolution going properly back then. I'm not aware of any major World War 2 naval game, so you had a niche for VaS, and I'm unequally unaware of any major modern skirmish-level wargame. You'd never rival 40K, but you had a niche for that as well. I don't know what 3D tech you have or haven't got, but you could have got with a miniatures manufacturer, like you tried to do for ACtA, for VaS and BF:Evo as well. A real manufacturer, not that Chinese pre-paint joke outfit. Someone like Perry Miniatures could have produced a line of modern figures in 28mm, and there are countless vehicle manufacturers who could have done tanks and life vehicles for you. Leaving that aside, you've got the 3D tech now, so where are the ships for VaS? Where's the book? What are you lot doing?

[MongooseMatt]

but you could have got with a miniatures manufacturer,

This is where we are going, but it goes two ways.

We could get a minis manufacturer signed up for VaS tomorrow (we have had offers), but if it is a chap casting in his garage then we are going to have issues with quality and production. What we need is a quality manufacturer who can produce in volume _and_ has a good distribution network. This is on a different level - the manufacturer will need a reason to produce the minis and room for it in their production.

That shrinks the list greatly.

[Lord David the Denied]

That's at least some kind of answer. The question remains, though - why is it all taking so long? Why not get this sorted out long ago? VaS was released, what, a decade ago? Back then you were making models for ACtA yourselves, and then you got in bed with that American outfit for ACtA models just before the balloon went up and the licence was lost. Why wasn't there a manufacturer back then? Even now, why not get with one of the companies making WW2 naval models? Or at least someone making military models from other eras. Come to think of it, what happened to the existing VaS range?

[carthaginian]

'm not aware of any major World War 2 naval game, so you had a niche for VaS, and I'm unequally unaware of any major modern skirmish-level wargame.

How can you not be aware of any other 'major' WWII naval miniature games?
1.) Grand Fleets 3rd Edition
2.) Naval Thunder: Clash of Dreadnoughts
3.) Action Stations
4.) Seekreig 4th edition
5.) Command at Sea, 4th edition, 2nd printing

These are just the ones that have similar sales figures or scope/complexity when compared to Victory At Sea... there are several smaller companies that put out reasonable rulesets, though most of them are very nuanced and appeal only to a very minute audience. #5 is a cousin to the granddaddy of ALL naval wargames - Larry Bond's HARPOON - and has the ratings and recommendations to prove it, not to mention a massively developed product line comprising pretty much anything that floated, flew or submerged from 1938 - 1946.

These are not just games I'm pulling out of my arse, they are the "people to beat" in naval wargaming... they are the people that Mongoose has to challenge with Victory at Sea 2.0. When it drops, it has to combine simplicity, depth and accessibility in ways that none of these games do in order to stay afloat (intentional pun alert). If it doesn't, they will blow it out of the water (again) and Mongoose will be left in a sink or swim (ditto) situation with a niche product that they have invested a lot of time and money in, but isn't going to be able to find and sea room to maneuver in (ok, I'm done).

[hdan]

Add to that list General Quarters, an excellently simple game with a lot of leg and a TON of ships rated for it.

[Maelmordha]

I don't really understand this conversation especially the need to produce a bespoke set of models for WW2 naval wargaming. There's a plethora of manufacturers out there already making a range of ships mongoose couldn't match in their wildest dreams. There's Navwar, Skytrex and GHQ to mention but a few. So looking for a model maker to make yet another range for VAS 2 is utter madness and certainly not a reason to postpone VAS 2.

All we actually need are the rules (like the days of old...). I believe these have been completed to a large extent.

If you don't plan to publish them as VAS 2, (evidence suggests we wont see them before 2020), then please publish them as Updates for VAS so we can benefit from all of you hard work

[Ecclesiastes]

but you could have got with a miniatures manufacturer,

This is where we are going, but it goes two ways.

We could get a minis manufacturer signed up for VaS tomorrow (we have had offers), but if it is a chap casting in his garage then we are going to have issues with quality and production. What we need is a quality manufacturer who can produce in volume _and_ has a good distribution network. This is on a different level - the manufacturer will need a reason to produce the minis and room for it in their production.

That shrinks the list greatly.

Huh? What happened to this then?

Posted two years ago, 30 Jan 2015 on this forum:

Warlord will indeed be taking over - the official release (for rulebook and box sets) is currently August, but I believe you will see single ships before then. Currently in the process of getting ships to them!

[MongooseMatt]

Warlord have a trifle too much on their plate at the moment.

[Brass]

I am (somewhat belatedly) with Maelmordha on this. Given the number of well-established companies already marketing naval miniatures, not to mention the new ones springing up on Shapeways, it makes no sense to delay the publication of VAS2 until you can find a manufacturer for a line of "official" models.

[Greg Smith]

Please publish the book already. We have ships already. No one at my local club is going to replace their Navwar ships with Mongoose ones, no matter how nice.

A book with a better point system and improved rules would go down a treat. (And pages that don't fall out )