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I just got into Vassal40k and it has certainly lifted my spirits. Without it, I can only play maybe 1 or two games a weeks, maybe 2 days a week. With it, i can play every day, all sorts of people, from all over the world. Ive literally played someone from germany, russia, spain, the UK, and colorado (ok, thats a joke) but a smattering of other US'ers.
Positives (Not comprehensive, jsut what i could think of)
You can make your own maps
You can play test whatever army you want
Theres usually always someone to play
Dice programs!
Playtesting for free
You can play people from all over the globe
You can make your own maps, of jsut about any size
measuring devices
You can play apoc stuff
Everyone is pretty friendly
Dont have to deal with ragers
Can play in off hours (im mostly on between 9pm-6am)

Negatives (Not complete, of course )
Some people dont speak english very well...and sometimes you dont speak their language very well
Sometimes people will...leave the game for no reason and youll never see them again. Kinda sucks in the middle of the game.
Games take waaay longer then a normal game would, not due to lag, but due to players not being on point and doing stuff. For example, im in a 500 point game right now thats taken 3 hours so far...


So, I encourage you to try it! I am the only unemployed person with an income in my town, that plays 40k, so, ihave lots and lots of time, unlike everyone else. Since starting to play, ive probably played what, 10,15 games?






Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, Moderators! If this is wrong for me to put here let me know...Im not trying to advertise, im just trying to spread the Holy Word of the Emperor to all 40Ks mankind...

Interface seemed rediculous to me. Wouldn't mind getting into it, though.

Hmm, it's pretty much the only way I can play the game right now, so vassal is pretty good for me.

vassal is good, but beware of cheats, always have your books on you to check that they are playing it right

Also, some people can get sucked into VASSAL over the real game! I've known at least two players who got a little too nto VASSAL and as a result didn't want to play games of 40k in person when they were around.

Testify wrote:Interface seemed rediculous to me. Wouldn't mind getting into it, though.

I would totally help you out. In some ways its simpler, in some its more difficult.

Also, some people can get sucked into VASSAL over the real game! I've known at least two players who got a little too nto VASSAL and as a result didn't want to play games of 40k in person when they were around.

I get this feeling like Crap! I dont want to play anymore! Im burnt out. Then someone beeps me and asks me to play and i go oK!

Still going to gameday and playing though. I really feel it helps me hone my skills!

i agree bas, since playing vassal i am totally up to date with the rules and know most if not all codex's pretty well.

another one to watch out for is when people ask that inocent question "what army you playing" then tailor vs you, kinda obvious when that happens though lol

So you will probably like that there is a new version.

Finally! WIth the lack of necron players in my general area I can now begin to fight a few of them

this interface is slightly overwhelming.

Brother SRM wrote:Also, some people can get sucked into VASSAL over the real game! I've known at least two players who got a little too nto VASSAL and as a result didn't want to play games of 40k in person when they were around.

Really? Vassal seems to make me wants to play real games more often due to past experience with using it. Though the program is still good for exploring different army lists.

Myrrodin wrote:

Brother SRM wrote:Also, some people can get sucked into VASSAL over the real game! I've known at least two players who got a little too nto VASSAL and as a result didn't want to play games of 40k in person when they were around.

Really? Vassal seems to make me wants to play real games more often due to past experience with using it. Though the program is still good for exploring different army lists.

Yep, it's happened with a few folks I've known. One player would show up to 40k night at the club I used to game at and would never have an army. Turns out he just hangs out around hobby stores and plays VASSAL games, but not the real thing.

The interface is a bit tough, but there's tutorials and the like out there to help one get the hang of it. A lot of folks are happy to help newbies too.

I found this one here useful, but you have to skip to about 2:30 or listen to him pitch a long finished vassal tournie. Goes over installing and a lot of the basics of play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSgMV8Ls3l4

Anyone play the BFG vassal module? Just out of curiosity.

I played it, and would like to play it more often. It was great fun.

Battlefleet Gothic is a very entertaining system, with much to few players.

Hey where can I download Vassal or whatever. I've wanted to try this out for a while.

http://vassal40k.wordpress.com/

Does anyone know where you can organise games of vassal in advance?

It's great, especially for play-testing new lists/codexes.

As for getting 'sucked into it', as good as Vassal is, it can never beat the poker-like 'friends around a table' feel of the real game.

Have GW OK'ed it now? I thought Vassal went underground having torrent-only downloads, but in the last year or so it's came back into popularity with a new website.

How beginner friendly is Vassal? I'd like to use it for practice, but I don't quite have all the rules memorized yet.

I happened to log on one time while a guy was showing someone else how to play, he then offered to teach me. I forgot his name though...

But if you find someone helpful they can give you a run through of a game, list building, map building, etc. Its easy enough once you go through it once.

Ol'Dirty wrote:How beginner friendly is Vassal? I'd like to use it for practice, but I don't quite have all the rules memorized yet.

There's some vid's on youtube. I suggest watching a few and than following along with one's own practice.

Try the the site, there are many tutorials linked.

(Just click my banner).

Does anyone know where you can organise games of vassal in advance?

You may try the ,,Note" (the small Letter in the server/connection bar).

Ol'Dirty wrote:How beginner friendly is Vassal? I'd like to use it for practice, but I don't quite have all the rules memorized yet.

The online system can be a bit more complicated but the game itself is very simple with a small learning curve IMO. The main thing to remember is that Vassal40K is merely a virtual tabletop rather than a fully coded game like Dawn of War.

On Vassal, the trick is learning to manipulate the sprites. Once youve learned that, its simplicity itself. Everything in vassal is sprites. What i mean by manipulate is click, drag and right click

If you want to set up a game in advance, thats a little more difficult. Your best bet is to log in and right click on peoples names and send them private messages.

Posting notes on the bulletin board thing will most likely get you no response :(

What i mean by manipulate is click, drag and right click

There's also ctrl and shift with the arrow keys, move's 1", other moves 6", saves so much time for hordes. Hotkeys save alotta time.

Which is all alluded to and defined if you right click the sprites

Also, your gamespeed goes up significantly if you use F1-F9 to roll dice

A small composite I whipped up, of guides for vassal:

General Tutorial: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/400194.page#3377236

General Tutorial: http://forums.tauonline.org/general-40k/78521-vassal-40k-tutorial.html

How to save your armies for later: http://vassal40k.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/how-to-save-armies-in-vassal40k/

Standard V40K etiquette:

1) Arrange a game. Agree on a timeframe, points cost, and language.

2) Notify any interruptions with as much advance as you can.

3) Agree and write down the following in the Scenario section: Terrain Rules, House Rules, any other non-standard modifiers.

4) Post your lists unrevealed. Grab models. Reveal.

5) Play! Ask if they would like to roll mission, or deployment, unless you agreed on a nonstandard scenario.



People who troll, WAAC, cry, or renege on pre-arranged rules, stipulations, and agreements:
Alex (usually 2k Dark Eldar lance-spam),
EastCoast or Felix (usually 2K, has a bunch of names though) simply trolls games - IP 67.243.169.61.
LVal IP 71.62.234.189 is a wintroll and will delay all losses with talking about how good he is in tournaments.

I just cant get into it :( i am like you though i have enough money to not need to work but left with tons of free time i usually post of game shops facebook pages for games and give my contact info out liberally to get the most games i can when i want to play
just something about vassal just doesnt doit for me

o well