I 've been thinking about getting into Vassal for a long time but I always balk once I get started. If you’ve used Vassal, is there a “best” game to learn to use it with?
I would recommend Battle for Moscow the BFM mod. It started life as print and play so all the instructions are on the internet and there are not many rules. For PBEM as the attacker does the defenders retreat this speeds up play. I am not saying that this is the “best” game because there are hundreds I have not played but of the few I have this is my recommendation. Hope you have many happy hours playing via Vassall.
The game you choose to try really isn’t very important. I would recommend that you use the time you might devote to deciding which game to start with and redirect it to reading the User’s Guide instead. In particular, focus on the parts that talk about how to save games and record your moves (making logfiles). After that, simply pick a game you have interest in. Most good modules have a README or some kind of instructions on how to use them. Have your baseline expectation be that you will be moving/dragging things around manually and be responsible for applying rules yourself (rather than a module doing it for you). After you get the hang of that, you might explore the pieces/features in your module–right-click things and see if any shortcuts/conveniences are built in. VASSAL isn’t complicated if you read the manual and calibrate your expectations based on the understanding of what the software (and a module) will and will not do for you.
I agree with Joelcfc25. The specific game is not important, except to say that if the goal is simply to learn how to use Vassal, I would recommend playing one in which you know the game rules, thus you would be familiar with what the module is set up to do. So if you played Monopoly for instance, you would understand going into the game, what the pieces were capable of or expected to be able to do, as well as how the cards work, and so on.
When in doubt, right click on a piece to see what the options are.
Other than that, Joel’s suggestions about understanding game saving and how Vassal works in general are important.
If you are computer savvy, most everything will be somewhat intuitive. If you are not, you may need someone to get you through some of the hidden aspects of the system.
I’d say just grab the module for whatever game you already like and know how to play “in real life” and jump right in and poke around with it. If you don’t already have some wargame buddy you want to try it with, post a message in the “opponents wanted” section of the forum!
Can be addictive! I opened a VASSAL module to play it for the very first time just over a year ago, and now I’m… well, anyway.
Brian