Have you ever used VASL?

[hongkongwargamer]

"thanks" for that last part in parentheses, Jack!!

I took care not to say “pants” for the sake of my former colonial masters

 

[MAS01]

I took care not to say “pants” for the sake of my former colonial masters

But now I will have visual images in my mind's eye . . . . .

 

[Sparafucil3]

Farenheit 451

That would make a great book title. -- jim

 

[Sparafucil3]

Nothing against VASL, think it's the future of board gaming, however. There is a tactile aspect to ftf that a computer screen can't mimic. Holding those dice in your sweaty palms transferring your mojo into them, knocking over that seven counter stack cause maybe you didn't really need that last cup of coffee. Or watching your opponent tear board 5 in half. That can't be matched with a computer. Ftf will be around for a while. We are too social of an animal to give it up, probably genetically predisposed for ftf interaction.

There are some things VASL just does better. Terrain modifications. Night. HIP. Stack management. There are something's that FtF just does better. Social interaction. Real dice ( @Houlie Dice TM). Group gathering. Story telling. Each has their own experience. If ASL were a EURO, I would say it will be around a long time. My 20-something daughters and all their friends are starting to socialize around board games. It has been fun to play games with them. They have zero interest in a 200+ page rule book though. They want to be able to buy a game and play it while reading through the rules. That doesn't happen with ASL. Board games however, I think those will be making a come back. JMO, YMMV. -- jim

 

[von Marwitz]

ie that ‘social’ bit is a hoax. VASL play online is every bit as social as FtF, without the smell (Or need of trousers).

A hoax? I will not tarry to contest that.

von Marwitz

 

[von Marwitz]

If ASL were a EURO, I would say it will be around a long time. My 20-something daughters and all their friends are starting to socialize around board games. It has been fun to play games with them. They have zero interest in a 200+ page rule book though. They want to be able to buy a game and play it while reading through the rules. That doesn't happen with ASL. Board games however, I think those will be making a come back. JMO, YMMV. -- jim

I have heard about the increasing popularity of so called EURO-games in the US from different people at different times from different angles. It is interesting.

Usually, I visit the great games fair "Spiel" in Essen, Germany, every year. I think it is the biggest of its kind in the world. (Anxious to see if it will be held at all this year...) The number of new releases is incredible. Among them are always new games that are really very good with regard to the gaming mechanims themselves over the components etc. Being EURO-games, you can learn and play them the same evening. Those a bit more advanced you need to play once the first evening to grasp the concepts and then really have fun from the second playing onwards. They won't cost you a fortune either but the most successful ones are often supported later by various extensions.

The nice thing is that you can play these games with "normal" people - last but not least including women. The latter would usually flee if you explain to them the benefits of different kinds of special ammo for a tank (that t-word...) even on SK level. EURO-games you can play with all your friends (and kids of a certain age), not merely the geeks.

If the 'social' thing would be a hoax, then there would be no need or explanation for them. Yet, they have a huge market. The most prominent ones by German authors have absurd numbers of copies sold: Catan around 20 million (!), Carcassone 9 million - both have been translated into 20+ languages.

von Marwitz

 

[von Marwitz]

I took care not to say “pants” for the sake of my former colonial masters

How do the new colonial masters call these?

von Marwitz

 

[Sparafucil3]

The nice thing is that you can play these games with "normal" people - last but not least including women. The latter would usually flee if you explain to them the benefits of different kinds of special ammo for a tank (that t-word...) even on SK level. EURO-games you can play with all your friends (and kids of a certain age), not merely the geeks.

As I said, both of my daughters play with friends and family. My daughters never once sought to ASL with me. Too much reading is all I ever hear. I have sat down with them and played a Euro game with them in less than 30 minutes. There is a great market for them. -- jim

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I have heard about the increasing popularity of so called EURO-games in the US from different people at different times from different angles. It is interesting.

I honestly don't think board games have ever gone away, so bold predictions upthread about a "comeback" seem a bit odd. They've always been here.

Jonathan Kay (I can't remember if he has an account at gamesquad, I think so, but if not he's definitely been active on Facebook ASL groups) wrote a year ago about board gaming in general for Wired:

Board Games Are Getting Really, Really Popular

Tabletop gaming has seen a surge in recent years.

www.wired.com

Wil Wheaton had a fairly successful YouTube channel devoted to boardgames several years ago. Boardgamegeek was founded back in 2000. Anecdotally, I was tickled ten years ago to see that one of the doctors I worked for had a regular "Settlers of Catan" night with his family booked into his calendar.

 

[Sparafucil3]

I honestly don't think board games have ever gone away, so bold predictions upthread about a "comeback" seem a bit odd. They've always been here.

Always been here isn't the same always been here and been popular. There have always been pockets of players and they clearly have never gone away, but when teens and twenty-somethings are picking board games over computer/console games--and doing it in fairly large numbers--I think it safe to say there is some resurgence in their popularity. Hush Puppies have always been there. Then some hipsters in NYC starting wearing them. Then they were featured in fashion guides.



In 1994, they existed, but they were all but dead. It's safe to say they made a comeback. Maybe board games weren't this dead among our circles--just like Hush Puppies were still being sold in 1994--but when they break outside of our small circle of already fanatical board game players, well, you can pick your own adjective. JMO, YMMV. -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

How do the new colonial masters call these?

von Marwitz

Pantaloons

 

[Michael Dorosh]

In 1994, they existed, but they were all but dead. It's safe to say they made a comeback.

I don't disagree, just pointing out how odd it is for someone to boldly predict their comeback in the future, since many observers - including you - have been talking for years about how the comeback has already happened.

Board games however, I think those will be making a come back.

 

[Sparafucil3]

I don't disagree, just pointing out how odd it is for someone to boldly predict their comeback in the future, since many observers - including you - have been talking for years about how the comeback has already happened.

There are comebacks, and there are comebacks. Among us, it's no big deal. We're boardgamers. When it starts to reach outside the traditional bastions and pulling people away from computers, consoles, and their phones, it moves from 1994 Hush Puppies to 2010 Hush Puppies. To me, that is something bigger still and a resurgence of the genre. Again, JMO. YMMV. -- jim

 

[Actionjick]

There are comebacks, and there are comebacks. Among us, it's no big deal. We're boardgamers. When it starts to reach outside the traditional bastions and pulling people away from computers, consoles, and their phones, it moves from 1994 Hush Puppies to 2010 Hush Puppies. To me, that is something bigger still and a resurgence of the genre. Again, JMO. YMMV. -- jim

Love hush puppies, tasty. Goes great with shrimp and grits. ??

 

[pensatl1962]

VASL is a great tool, and really a lifeline during COVID. I've used it for several years to do setups for FtF games, and I'd play about 50% of my games over VASL. Nowadays, it's 100%, although not by choice. It's amazing how many games you can get in a year doing VASL. Another plus with VASL is that larger, more meaty scenarios are great to play. If not doing FtF, you don't have to limit your selections to smaller tournament length scenarios that you can finish in one sitting. As an example, I just finished Chateau de Quesnoy - never in a million years would I have played it FtF. Same thing applies to many of the re-released scenarios in CdG2. A great experience all made possible by VASL - so a big thank you to the VASL folks. But I'm looking forward to FtF again at some point.

 

[Actionjick]

VASL is a great tool, and really a lifeline during COVID. I've used it for several years to do setups for FtF games, and I'd play about 50% of my games over VASL. Nowadays, it's 100%, although not by choice. It's amazing how many games you can get in a year doing VASL. Another plus with VASL is that larger, more meaty scenarios are great to play. If not doing FtF, you don't have to limit your selections to smaller tournament length scenarios that you can finish in one sitting. As an example, I just finished Chateau de Quesnoy - never in a million years would I have played it FtF. Same thing applies to many of the re-released scenarios in CdG2. A great experience all made possible by VASL - so a big thank you to the VASL folks. But I'm looking forward to FtF again at some point.

Chateau de Quesnoy was a favorite. Glad you got a chance to play it,?

 

[pensatl1962]

Chateau de Quesnoy was a favorite. Glad you got a chance to play it,?

It was great fun. My problem as the attacking Germans was that I played the 15-turn scenario as if it was a 10-turn scenario (e.g., a bit too rash).

 

[Actionjick]

It was great fun. My problem as the attacking Germans was that I played the 15-turn scenario as if it was a 10-turn scenario (e.g., a bit too rash).

Lol! At least you tried.

 

[von Marwitz]

It was great fun. My problem as the attacking Germans was that I played the 15-turn scenario as if it was a 10-turn scenario (e.g., a bit too rash).

But a great example of how the style of play has evolved over the decades.

von Marwitz

 

[Actionjick]

But a great example of how the style of play has evolved over the decades.

von Marwitz

A good point. I always liked the big, lots of turns scenarios. Their popularity seems to have taken a nosedive. Understandable as players don't seem to have the time for monsters anymore.