What would you look for in a WaS remake/Spiritual successor?

I much prefer the certainty of X-Wing’s distribution system to the randomness of WoTC’s preferred method. Most of my collection was bought unit by unit or in known lots from other people prying with collections so that I would minimize duplication. I’d say ships could be sold individually (for capital units) or in small packs of 2-4 (DDs and other small craft). Air wings could be sold in bundles of like planes (3x F4Fs) or in air wing packs (one each of F4F, SBD, TBF). Carrier could come along, or with a starter air wing, then you could purchase more air wings if you wanted to change the era that you’re playing in (I love running the Enterprise with two F4U-1Ds and a TBF). Finally, they could offer task force packs like Flames of War does for ground units. For instance, maybe you could get a Pearl Harbor pack, or a specific task force from Midway. Perhaps the introductory sets could represent the forces at Coral Sea or something. If I was starting from scratch I’d gladly spend a little more to know what exactly I was getting, and have sets that are instantly usable. With WaS I got my first carrier quickly, but had to wait a while before I could field a whole air wing. Only with my last purchase was I finally able to put an air wing on every one of my carriers!

For scale, I personally like 1:1800. However, it doesn’t seem to be the most common out there. It all depends on the system you want to use to play with. I like playing without a grid and using a ruler to calculate distances for moving and firing (each grid=4 inches). However, the battlespace quickly gets crowded at the current scale. 1:2400 or 1:3000 would be much more manageable, but unpainted miniatures are already out in those scales. If I had more time and a steadier hand i’d Just go with 1:6000 and to true to scale battles! But for this thought exercise, I think 1:1800 is a great size. Just look at eBay, there are plenty of Cruisers, carriers, and battleships for sale on there for a price equal to or higher than the majority of X-Wing and Armada ships. And they sell.

I love the RFID idea! To be able to incorporate physical models on an easily communicable digital seascape would be awesome! I enjoy computer strategy games, but the little kid in me loves the tactile feeling of moving pieces around the environment.

As for the OP post: I think I hit the distribution idea pretty squarely (in my option) but for ships I’d pick up right off the bat I’d stick with my 5 favorite US ships of World War II: Enterprise, Missouri, Alaska, Arkansas and Wichita. They’re the first that I picked up in WaS (except Wichita, fortunately there are amazing artists on this forum who are helping me out), and I pick them up whenever I can in computer/ mobile games.

It was a collectible game so had a broad appeal to different groups. The simplicity and game mechanics are fundamental as are the fact the models were painted and relatively inexpensive. Hence I wouldn’t mess with those things.

If you were starting from scratch and doing it over you might consider launching it simutaneously with a video game to broaden the appeal. The other option might have been to offer a theme pack or starter set between each full set. “Spacer sets” may have allowed some reuse of moulds for sister ships but would have to have enough appeal to sell sufficient volumes.

Remake it almost identically just take into account the overcosting of some earlier units and fix that .

I have to admit that the simplicity (for the most part) of the original rules was a major draw for most everyone I've played with...so I don't think I'd mess too much with that.  I think a revamp of the air rules, however, might be in order, i.e. the turn-around time for flight launches is too short.  Plus, the random booster model makes it easier to sell for less money (everyone would only buy Warspites and Essexes and few would buy DeRuyters). However, having a good, balanced starter pack or scenario packs (see below) make sense to get the game going.

Having some well-balanced scenarios supported by the manufacturer and with prize support for the FLGS like Star Wars: X-Wing will bring players back to the game stores.  Having something like linked or themed scenarios like the D&D Adventurers League or the Pathfinder Society stuff from the role-playing side of the game industry makes sense.  

The other thing I think we need are campaigns. Sure, Wizards put together some scenarios that were loosely related, but there were no full-on "Guadalcanal Campaign" or ongoing "Med Campaign" or US Island Hopping campaigns. Further, it would be nice to have a made-up campaign like The Corellian Conflict for Star Wars Armada link  or the Co-Op Campaign for Star Wars: X-Wing:  link

Finally, (and I think someone mentioned this earlier), having the ability to customize your ships with updated Captains and/or equipment a la Star Wars: X-Wing is a great idea. Yes, there are those who prefer to leave their game in a historical light and not add Radar to a ship that didn't have it, but as gamers we love to tinker and I think that's why X-Wing is so popular, near infinite combinations that support your "attack plan" or just the way you like to play the game.

The simplicity of the rules was definitely a huge plus for me. The abstraction made the game fun, but also every turn had a lot of impact and your "grand strategic decisions" were going to play out relatively quickly. A game of 100 points could be played fully in 30ish minutes. 300 points could take an hour. Usually the longest part was fleet-building.

As to how to distribute the cards/units, I think I'd do a hybrid of the random blind booster and scenario packs. I think if you start by just selling the scenario packs people will buy exactly that and drop out of purchasing instead of "chasing" important pieces or striving for completeness. If you were simply restarting/re-releasing the game, I think the random booster pack is the way to build your interest and get people to spend their money on gathering the pieces they want - especially for the "rare" and "uncommon" ships. Commons however, I think should be available as a separate pre-known purchase as well. The airwing purchases, or the 4x DD of this type package. I think that would be a really smart way to also scratch the itch of those who are trying to build a capable air force, or a true limits collector of Fletcher class etc. It doesn't really hurt the release of reprint sisters "down the line" because they will still be available in later set booster packs (random distribution) and have the "official" card that way.

AFTER the first set (and in between subsequent sets), I would see releasing perhaps a theme/scenario packs, but the themed pack would probably be more akin to the new starter - good balanced units, but no rares or "required" units. OR they could be repeats of the previous sets units, but prepackaged together so you "know what you're getting". As RH put it above, more of a "tweener" release that could include maps/counters/rule add-ons/scenario situations/etc.

As to the the "miscosting issue" of the early sets, unless you have the entire library pre-designed it's impossible to know what is balanced and what isn't - and it's a moving target with each new UNIT - not set. Set1 is actually well-balanced in the small sphere of Set1. Set2 rewrote the costing rules - dramatically in some cases - and basically made a mess of costing goalposts when the two sets are reconciled together. The sets afterwards (mostly) tried to restore the balance, but certain SA's are not worth certain points. They scale based on the other capabilities (technical and meta) of the unit/nation/year/ruleset/etc - and they often do so inconsistently across units/nations/years/rulesets/etc. No one would accept a U510 costing 13 points nowadays - we're ingrained at 11 points for that sub, but it set the bar for all other subsequent U-boats. If a new Uboat is too pricey it won't get used, you'll just go back to a U510, but if the new Uboat is too cheap you've power-curved/power-crept/OVERPOWERED compared to what's available for other nations - but then you've obsoleted the benchmark unit in the first place.

With all the nerfs to aircraft in this thread there would have to be a reduction in cost, or AA values, to keep them relevant.