How about crowdfunding?

[Lurdaw]

Hi everyone!
I'm really interested in the new set of rules and your new (and impressive!) set of miniatures! Have you considered a crowdfunding campaing to get de release earlier? Could be really easy to design the perks combining e-book and paper editions rulesets and several miniatures. 8)

With such a low pace releasing schedule I've not been able to convince anyone in my gaming group to give a try to your game. And it looks amazing! At least would be great if you publish a post in your blog centered in Victory at Sea with a release schedule for the whole rules and miniatures set.

Best regards and don't take it bad, I'm really eager to see the full potential of VaS 2.0

 

[Da Boss]

Previous MGP Kickstarters have been mixed

The Judge Dredd one was a huge success - lots of great models and interest, raised lots of cash.

The Rogue Trooper and some other ones - less so.............

 

[DanaussieII]

Its an acquired taste, is Im sure what most gamers would say, Judge Dread while more like beer will sell a lot more bottles, but VaS is the fine wine, a quality product that will not sell as much but will have a loyal following for so long as you keep producing the quality wine.

I agree with the comments as made by Lurdaw, the slow release seems to be the thing bothering most of the players that play in this scale, this seems to be the general feeling around the community.

I would like to reassure the Bossman however, that while I have a huge collection of 1/1800's that will keep me playing until rapture, I intend to replace each and every one of them with their Mongoose counterparts as soon as they become available.

Time I got....if you build them they will come. :lol:

Cheers guys

Dan

 

[rcbecker1]

The game will be there but we are still working on it. The fleet list are being fine tuned as to create the most acurate ships for you to game with. You have to remember we are working with everything from BBs to LSTs and Camships. We are not putting out a game that just hits the main and favorite ships as do most games then later feed out other stuff slowly. This game will be thourgh and complete. It covers fleet battles to beach invasions. I have been also writing generic scenarios for playing and demoing for players to play and bring in new players. The USA OOB or TOE is slowly completeing I am working on the DDs at this time and there is alot of special info there and this area is quite large. After this is Russia last of the main fleets. Will be doing a little touch up on minors, Spain and Common Wealth and others. As mentioned before VAS I is a great game, play it till VAS II comes out. VAS I is the game that got me into WWII naval and I still love it. I appologize for the time it is taking but this is alot of work and we are devoting as much time to the project as we can.

If you have questions or want sneak peaks maybe Matt will allow this as I have tons of stuff to wet you appetite and keep you up to date. I myself remember when WAS released snippets of info from the designer and how much people got exited includding myself when we got to see a few ships coming out in the next set of ships

 

[Ecclesiastes]

Sneak peeks, previews and more info about the changes from version 1 to 2 would be very welcome! (as would be the Denmark Strait set )

Examples I can think of:
- Preview of how you build a fleet (fleet organisation chart??, Ship upgrades??)
- Preview of a ship card or stats
- Explanation about how gunnery has been revised in VaS 2
- Same for torpedo's
- Showcase of different generic scenario's for pickup games
- Info about what rules will be core rules and what rules will be optional
- How will airplanes and subs work?
- Will there be any form of 'morale'? Will there be ships leaving the battlefield when they take to much damage? Will fleets retire once they take to much damage?
- Etc.

 

[rcbecker1]

As far as guns go the big changes are how gun ranges effect modifiers for shooting they are not so generc as they were in VAS I same goes for torpedoes.
There are some new things when it come to guns and torpedoes. such as modifiers and special abilities of the guns and torpedoes.
Tropedo ranges are no longer a static 10" it is based off of the torps real ranges and size.
Planes have changed for the better in the case of bombing and attack of surface vessels and submarines.
Anti aircraft weapons have been made less generic concerning types and ability.
New rules to effect carries in battles.
DDs and smaller ships are more worked in to the stucture of the game with more playability.
You will be able to better play harbor attacks and coastal invasions in the new rules.
There is more info on the ship cards than in the past since more detail has been added to the actual weapons and stats of the ship without adding any dificulty to the game.
As for fleet organisation this has to do with you wanting to play historical or tournement style games.
The point value sytem allows the player to build there fleets to equal points if they want. Or the players can play historical games which are not always balanced as you know.
I cant really give all your asking for since Matt has the final say on this but should he pop in and say yes there will be small tidbits of stuff I can show you to peak your interest.

 

[DanaussieII]

The game will be there but we are still working on it. The fleet list are being fine tuned as to create the most acurate ships for you to game with. You have to remember we are working with everything from BBs to LSTs and Camships. We are not putting out a game that just hits the main and favorite ships as do most games then later feed out other stuff slowly. This game will be thourgh and complete. It covers fleet battles to beach invasions. I have been also writing generic scenarios for playing and demoing for players to play and bring in new players. The USA OOB or TOE is slowly completeing I am working on the DDs at this time and there is alot of special info there and this area is quite large. After this is Russia last of the main fleets. Will be doing a little touch up on minors, Spain and Common Wealth and others. As mentioned before VAS I is a great game, play it till VAS II comes out. VAS I is the game that got me into WWII naval and I still love it. I appologize for the time it is taking but this is alot of work and we are devoting as much time to the project as we can.

If you have questions or want sneak peaks maybe Matt will allow this as I have tons of stuff to wet you appetite and keep you up to date. I myself remember when WAS released snippets of info from the designer and how much people got exited includding myself when we got to see a few ships coming out in the next set of ships

Hi Ray,

Yes...More! More! More! :lol:

Well you got me drooling with anticipation mate, and I certainly like the approach that Mongoose is taking in terms of the units and how they are planning to launch them...you have yourselves one dedicated fan right here that's for sure.

Dan

 

[leopard]

Oh now this sounds very interesting, sounds like the thought has gone in to create a good basic framework as opposed to starting with battleships then finding out later the game doesn't scale down so destroyers are little more than tokens (or the other way round of course) and then the whole thing creaks at the edges when new concepts are added.

For myself I have little issue with complexity in the ship profiles, as long as the actual mechanics are clear and above all there is little rulebook flipping to actually play the game.

I know you guys have worked with ADB, seriously have a look at how SFB plays. It has a rulebook only a lawyer could love which is amazing for killing insects - but the ship profile sheets and reference charts mean once you know how the game works you can leave the rulebook in its set of 40' shipping containers while you play.

If to fire a battleships guns I need only to know how direct fire weapons work in general and the ships data sheet which tells me all the modifiers for that ship and the reference card which has all the generic modifiers (range, weather etc) I'm very happy.

Indeed prefer a game that doesn't shy away from detail embedded into a set of easy to understand and logical rules. If ship 'x' has an extra inch of range over ship 'y' in the game this is a good thing and not something to 'abstract away'.

From what you describe you have the level of detail about spot on, if the actual game mechanics are as well thought out this could well be something just that bit special.

May even forgive the introduction of a point system and hopefully not the total removal of the crew casualty system (even if thats just a optional rule)

 

[MongooseMatt]

From what you describe you have the level of detail about spot on, if the actual game mechanics are as well thought out this could well be something just that bit special.

That is what we are hoping people will think

May even forgive the introduction of a point system and hopefully not the total removal of the crew casualty system (even if thats just a optional rule)

Crew casualties are there, worked into the critical hit system...

 

[AdmiralGrafSpee]

Hey Matt how about some previews?!

So how big do you think this book is going to be? Its sounding awesome.

I would totally back a kickstarter for this book - but then again I'm planning on buying it as soon as its available anyways.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Possibly a 400-pager - we are trying to keep it sensible!

Previews will come, but we want to get a few ducks in a row first...

 

[rcbecker1]

Matt it may be a 400 and something pages as Im finishing the USA OOB and will be about 14-16 pages one sided or 8 two sided. Fortuntely it the only fleet that big with UK being close at 13 one sided pages or 7 two sided pages.

leopard:
Yes the goal is to keep it acurate and detailed but simple to play.

 

[leopard]

Sounds very good to me, very pleased the crew stuff is factored in somewhere that adds a lot of colour to the rules as well as being excellent for campaigns to drive crew quality as replacements dilute the overall baseline.

Love v1, this sounds like it will be the same general level of detail, perhaps a bit more in a few areas but the same overall mechanics.

Amazing what you can do with such a simple rule concept as the core.

 

[rcbecker1]

Sounds very good to me, very pleased the crew stuff is factored in somewhere that adds a lot of colour to the rules as well as being excellent for campaigns to drive crew quality as replacements dilute the overall baseline.

Love v1, this sounds like it will be the same general level of detail, perhaps a bit more in a few areas but the same overall mechanics.

Amazing what you can do with such a simple rule concept as the core.

The type of crew effects many things, Special abilities, some attacks, defense against certain types of attacks, ability to repair criticals and fires. So the crew type and skill does make a big difference. I think it will add to the game not take away from it.

Mechanics is the same but a little enhanced.

Yes this system allows alot to be done with it and I hope to see more in the future.
Ray

 

[leopard]

Oh fully agree on crew making an impact, hence my slight worry at the thought of it going away.

The concept of a ship having 'x' crew and that number being reduced over time as the ship takes damage is a good one and allows you to have two different clocks on how long a ship can fight for (crew and hull damage). e.g. a merchant is probably easier to disable through crew hits than a warship with multiple watches etc.

Something SFB has, the last couple of crew units cannot be removed through damage - so you cannot de-crew a ship through weapons fire, someone always survives, though perhaps not enough to actually do a lot. You then allow these last few to be killed by fires etc.

Point is you can assign the different crew quality levels to an experience rating, say an average crew is '50' and an elite crew is '100'. In game the number matters little (just the level) but in a campaign replacement crew may be of a lower level (say 25) so that ship that was once elite may have to accept a drop in crew quality, or accept the risks of running with a reduced crew.

You're all a bunch of teases anyway with this, though its a good incentive to actually get off my posterior and get on with painting to try and get the local club playing VaS 1 while we wait for this to come out, the game is a whole lot better than the 'steam punk' version thats out there, and a darn sight better laid out as well.

 

[rcbecker1]

In VAS II you dont have to keep track of your crew like in VAS (meaning no check off boxes). Thats what they meant by its not there but it has been used in other ways. Its hard to explain till you see it in the game.

 

[leopard]

In VAS II you dont have to keep track of your crew like in VAS (meaning no check off boxes). Thats what they meant by its not there but it has been used in other ways. Its hard to explain till you see it in the game.

Eyes will be kept open