The Wargamer

Dan Verssen Games and Vassal Engineering Announces Special Forces

Wargame developer Dan Verssen Games announced today it has teamed with Vassal Engineering to publish Special Forces, a new board wargame which can be played using Vassal's online, web-based platform.  The Vassal engine allows the tabletop boardgaming experience to be converted into a simple, easy-to-use online platform.  The unique system allows the participants to see the game map, counters, die rolls, cards, and rules through the Internet, in real time. The Virtual Tabletop environment includes a built-in chat window for in-game messaging.

In Special Forces, players control either U.S. forces or Iraqi insurgents in a tactical war set in Iraq in 2004 and 2005.  The game comes with a tutorial, five scenarios that can be played in 30 to 60 minutes, and players can create additional scenarios using the customization toolkit.  Special Forces will be released shortly at Vassal on a "try before you buy" basis, priced at just $10 for the full version.

Special Forces is the first in a series of wargaming products which Dan Verssen Games will release through Vassal.  According to Dan, his games will be aggressively published to the Vassal engine, releasing several new games each month to give players the widest possible selection of titles.  Up next will be Earth Gone Mad, a fast-paced, multiplayer board game putting players in the position of saving Earth’s doomed population as disasters rip the planet apart.

Dan Verssen is best known for his work on numerous tabletop games, including Modern Naval Battles, Down In Flames, Hornet Leader, 7th Sea CCG, Star Force Terra, Lightning D-Day, and the Star Trek Collectible Dice Game. In addition, his development team is currently converting Modern Naval Battles and Down in Flames into computer-based games.  The games will be published later this year by Battlefront.

Special Forces Screenshots