Hi all
New user of vassal here
Does anyone have any recommendations for the best war games on vassal
Also am interested in operation Barbarossa so at the same time would appreciate recommendations on eastern front war games
Thank you
Click on the Modules Library then click on the Filters icon. Then…
type “Barbarossa” into the Full Text Search Field and all of the Barbarossa related modules will be listed.
If you want an introductory wargame on the Eastern front, which in its Vassal implementation provides a fair bit of automation, I would recommend
- Battle for Moscow - shameless self-plug
To me, the quintessential Barberrosa and larger eastern front game is
- The Russian Campaign - GMT 5th Deluxe Edition.
Other modules of the same game- The Russian Campaign - Avalon Hill 3rd Edition
- The Russian Campaign - Avalon Hill 3rd Edition
- The Russian Campaign - L2 4th Edition
- The Russian Campaign - Avalon Hill 3rd Edition and L2 4th Edition
You can also do a tag search like
Yours,
Christian
To be clear you are expected to physically own the game you are playing on vassal. The game companies have mostly allowed vassal modules to be posted for use, it is very important that we do not abuse that privilage!
In some cases, that is true, if the owner of the copyrighted materials has slapped that condition on the license of use.
I would recommend anyone to read this thread over on BoardGameGeek.
The TL;DR of that thread is
- What can be copyrighted is original and artistic work. That is, the work cannot be a copy of previous work, nor can it be trivial in the sense of no artistic expression.
- That would likely not include systems, rules, game mechanics, and the like.
- Graphics and particular artistic expression of rules can likely be copyrighted
- Copyright does not prevent others from implementing a game so long as no copyrighted material is not used in that implementation.
- Someone may claim trademark on a title or similar, but that trademark has to be actively upheld.
GMT’s conditions on Vassal (and similar) modules, can be found in their FAQ (at the very bottom). It says that at least one player must own a physical copy, but that “rules, playbooks, player aids, or other game-related content” may be photo-copied (no word on electronic copies) for non-commercial and personal use.
L2’s webpage has since August 2019 said “We will be OFFLINE for a few weeks UPGRADING THE NEW SITE!”, so no clue there.
Other publishers are often not very explicit about the license to their copyrighted materials. Decision Games, for example, provide their own Google Drive folders of Vassal modules and rules. The do not, however, stipulate under which conditions the copyrighted materials can be used.
If other publishers allow their copyrighted materials to be used in a Vassal module, without owning a physical copy of the game, then it is perfectly OK to use the module without owning a physical copy.
It would actually be a good idea if module authors would be more explicit about the license under which the copyrighted material is used. Without an explicit license, any redistribution of copyrighted materials is prohibited. For example, all modules of GMT games should probably either reproduce the last question of their FAQ or give a link to it.
Of course, what can be copyrighted is limited - and does not include things like game mechanics, rules, systems, and the like.
You can make a game that functions exactly like Monopoly iff you do not use any of the graphics or copy the rules verbatim - in full or in part. You cannot call it Monopoly because that is a trademark of Hasbro, nor are you likely permitted to use the name Monopoly anywhere in your game or promotions of the game, as that would infringe on the trademark, and because Hasbro has actively upheld that trademark.
Scans of graphics - such as maps and counters, or verbatim copies of rules, as posted on for example BGG, could be copyright infringements, as could any module which contains such things without license.
My 2¢
Yours,
Christian
Added to all that is the difficulty, if not impossibility, of actually enforcing any copyrights.
Permission or no permission, anyone can scan an entire boardgame for their own personal use, and everyone would be none the wiser to it. A person could even privately share a digital version of a boardgame they made with their friends. The key word there is “privately”, opposed to publicly sharing, such as by uploading a digital version to a publicly accessible website, like vassal.org. That’s about the only thing that can realistically be enforced, the prohibition to post a digital version publicly.
Everything else is mostly hubris and virtue signaling, like, “Hey, I wanna make a Vassal module of this game, but I want to police myself in my own home and on my own computer and not violate anyone’s 50-year-old real or imagined copyrights. Like, I’m really and deeply concerned about that. Also, there’s a guy on eBay selling CD’s of all the old General Magazine issues. People like that should go to jail. Like, yeah.”
I’m not trying to be a nasty person here. I’m just relating what the reality is.
1 Like
To be clear, it is still copyright infringement to share copyrighted materials - whether it is on a publicly accessible platform or not. True, it will be hard to litigate.
If your livelihood is contingent on upholding copyright, then it is understandable that you would care about copyright - a certain drummer comes to mind. It would be hypocritical to claim one cares about ones own copyright while at the same time sharing others copyrighted materials without license.
It’s a little like saying I want free healthcare but I don’t want to pay taxes.
Copyright does generally not expire until 70 years after the initial release.
One is free to create a copy of copyrighted material for ones personal use, but if you somehow want to share it - whether publicly or privately - you will need some sort of license to do so. Thus, if you want to share a Vassal module that contains copyrighted materials - graphics, phrasing of rules - and you do not own that copyright, then you must have license to do so. If not, then you a liable and the hosting service - e.g., vassalengine.org - may likewise also be.
Granted, many publishers seem to take a relaxed attitude towards this - e.g., GMT and Decision Games, and Compass Games actively promote third-party modules with their copyrighted materials in it. However, that wasn’t always the case - Decision Games blocked Vassal modules with their copyrighted materials in them for a long time, and I know of several game authors that have objected to their game being made available, some even threatening with lawsuits - even if the proposed module did not contain copyright-able materials.
One way around that is to not use third-party copyrighted materials in your modules. Since rules, mechanisms, systems, etc. are not copyright-able - not creative expressions - that is doable. Then, one can slap on a license that allows anyone else to use it as they see fit.
The point is, that the issue isn’t entirely “academical” or a question of “virtue signaling”.
One could argue that that guy should go to jail for exploiting the vulnerable, when you can find the same scans elsewhere - and archived - for free
Well, one could argue that you didn’t quite succeed But, no worries.
Yours,
Christian
I am merely pointing out that no one has control over what people do in the privacy of their homes. If someone wants to make a digital version of a game, Vassal (and other similar programs) provides the tools do so and no one can stop them. Therefore, for most if not all intents and purposes, trying to enforce a copyright under those conditions is all but impossible.
Similarly and for the same reason(s), no one has control over what people share, privately, with their friends.
This isn’t rocket science.
I’m not advocating violating anyone’s copyrights, I’m not encouraging it, I’m not even condoning it. I am merely pointing out the reality that enforcement of copyrights in this so-called “industry” is realistically only possible in the public realm.
My understanding when I started using vassal was that they wanted that standard kept to keep game companies happy.
I think no one disagreed with your characterisation of how difficult it can be to litigate copyright - I certainly didn’t. Also, no one suggested you endorse - in any way - breaking copyright law.
What I did object to was your rather snarky and possibly condescending characterisation of people who may care about copyright - for various good reasons - be it because it is in their interest to uphold their livelihood, respect other peoples work, or because they want to be able to share their work without bringing anyone into trouble.
I do agree with you that there’s a lot of “imagined copyrights” - which is why I brought up this thread over on BoardGameGeek.
In the context of Vassal - and in particular the module library - it would be a good idea to be specific about under which conditions the materials are distributed. If for no other reason than to protect Vassal from liability.
That could have been the case, but nowhere is it stated to day (except on GMT’s page). In fact, the wording of Decision Games’ stance does not say anything along those lines. If it is a requirement to use a specific module, then the module project should specify that.
Yours,
Christian
Discussions of the nuances of copyright are seldom productive, as they tend to be conducted with no reference to jurisdiction by people who are not copyright lawyers. These discussions are best held elsewhere.