VBAM Games Forums

Yep. There is a lot I could say about this, and have said so to Jay. Alas, but we both feel pretty strongly about not dissing one's supposed partner, so those comments will never see the light of a forum post no matter how therapeutic it would be to vent publicly (it obviously works for SVC). Be assured, though, that whatever does or does not happen with Federation Admiral, the nucleus of great ideas (especially the Local Campaign) will eventually see the light of day one way or the other.

I think everyone here appreciates and respects both your and Jay's professionalism, which is in stark contrast to SVC's spoilt child public antics. There is obviously some odd thinking going on somewhere over at ADB because Bruce Graw's Star Fleet Warlord (in my view an order of magnitude more superior as a campaign system than F&E), and double orders of magnitude superior to the bizarre Galactic Conquest (the other ADB campaign system), isn't remotely compatible with F&E - it has planets all over the place, fleet with dozens of ships in them, Romulans allied with Kzintis, etc., etc. That is, it is genuinely a campaign system unlike F&E which is a hex and counter tactical boardgame and no amount of calling it a campaign system will make it one. That would be a bit like calling Avalon Hill's Third Reich a campaign system for running European countries in the 1940s.

Yes, it is his ball and he can do what he likes with it, including turning it into something nobody wants*, but there are better ways to do that than publically rubbish your efforts.


* I'm fairly sure the F&E players want a version of F&E powered by VBAM just as little as VBAM players want VBAM: The F&E edition.

The frustrating part is that Jay really knocked one out of the park, and I am really anxious that his work see the light of day - you guys'll love it!

I'm very intrigued by the idea of a "director's cut" so that we can see Jay's original vision for what an exciting FC campaign system looks like.

Well, I will stand by the OCD comment. Cole was sputtering that he couldn't even do a read-through without his arbitrary format guidelines. That is absurd. He is applying strict creative restrictions and it is appropriate for VBAM to get feedback from him throughout that process. But they are not even close to the page-layout phase yet, or even final version for final edit, so he is just creating procedural obsticles for no real purpose. So of course a specific format for printing, but that is not the stage this was at yet, if I understand the process. Have you looked at the hoops he makes people go through as far as format to report errata; or even to just post on some topics. seriously... OCD. And don't buy into his 'games overworked designer' (I think that acronym just about tells you everything you need to know about how things work over there) when he posts his daily schedule, and it is far from grueling. My guess is that this project came in much bigger than he had envisioned and he subconciously put the brakes on. But that is supposition, what we know is we aren't getting the game any time soon!

So really is it worth it to VBAM? Isn't it time to focus energy on getting some product out the door of your own?

Gosh, I hadn't even thought of that. If SVC (PE) is busily turning it into a product neither F&E nor VBAM players actually want, is it worth investing any further intellectual capital in it at all? I mean, sure, there will be some curiosity buys from VBAM players (and I'll surely be one of those), but with the public rubbishing it's been given over at the ADB forums I doubt many F&E players will be buying.

Time to concentrate on getting 2nd edition VBAM out of the door?

It is what it is.

I know an alpha version of 2E is veeerrrrrry close now, and hopefully Tyrel will get over the last few hurdles so we can share that batch of goodness soon. Our efforts have been on streamlining the game so that the focus is still on the decisions but hopefully with less work.

That is music to my ears! VBAM 2 would be a wonderful panacea to the FA blues.

Just saw the ADB/Mongoose collaboration annoucement for SFB:ACTA on TGN.

My first reaction was: what a great synergy with VBAM:FA!

Continuing to hope that this comes together! ADB seems to be taking on a lot these days and I am intrigued by their strategy to publish multiple tactical and strategic rule sets for their universe...

It's interesting to me that naval mini wargames are proliferating so much at the moment: Spartan games with it's three lines (sail, space and steam punk) and the resurrection of ACTA by Mongoose with both Faded Suns and now SFB (as well as the many boutique games out there like SITS, WHI, and many more). I eagerly anticipate the next VBAM product that can be used to give these table-top games a campaign context.

Cheers,
Josh

Hi Josh,

Yeah, I remain cautiously optimistic about the venture. This will likely be a means for ADB to reach a new market segment that wasn't all that interested in Federation Commander but liked the setting, and likely more shelf space for ADB products in general. I was thinking about this earlier and wondered if Mongoose's ACtA did better than the AoG's B5 games in general as that might be a good bellweather for how it will do.
Does ACtA have its own campaign system? Or am I thinking of something else?

-Jay

XSiberia wrote:Just saw the ADB/Mongoose collaboration annoucement for SFB:ACTA on TGN.

My first reaction was: what a great synergy with VBAM:FA!

Continuing to hope that this comes together! ADB seems to be taking on a lot these days and I am intrigued by their strategy to publish multiple tactical and strategic rule sets for their universe...

It's interesting to me that naval mini wargames are proliferating so much at the moment: Spartan games with it's three lines (sail, space and steam punk) and the resurrection of ACTA by Mongoose with both Faded Suns and now SFB (as well as the many boutique games out there like SITS, WHI, and many more). I eagerly anticipate the next VBAM product that can be used to give these table-top games a campaign context.

Cheers,
Josh

Does ACtA have its own campaign system? Or am I thinking of something else?

B5:ACtA has linked scenarios rules (somewhat expanded in the Powers and Principalities supplement) and Mongoose published a few mini-campaigns in it's free newsletter. You might be thinking of The D6G's X-Cam system which was originally written for B5:ACtA and then genercized for other uses.

Steve Cole has said on his forums that all existing projects with other companies where released or in the works won't be affected by this.

And Federation Admiral is still listed for release:

http://www.federationcommander.com/News ... index.html

So hopefully all the companies that have partnered up with the ADB like yourself will all make out well in the end.

Has this still not been released? I see it hasn't garnered a mention on SVC's blog since April either.

Can't say I'm surprised.

Either way - I poked the FC boards . . . in a non-thermonuclear manner

I think it's currently listed for a September release. You'll pardon me for not holding my breath.

Well he gave a response. We'll see . . . .