Thanks for the the write up Pat.
Yeah, this issue plagued me with my TanTan X-21, which is a clone of the VB-099.
I had a couple of threads going on my workarounds, which included a couple of new headsets, FSA ACR among them. I feel like there are just a number of design flaws with these Chinese head tubes that take threadless headsets. For me, the biggest one is all the slop around stack height for the different headset bearing/lock ring combinations.
In the end, getting the stack height right with the appropriate number of microspacers was the trick. Yes, the microspacers need to be modified, but the modification is a 2 minute job with a fine tooth blade on a hacksaw and block of wood for an entire stack of spacers. I settled on the FSA ACR bearings and lock ring, with the stock head set cover and spacers, mostly because that combination felt the smoothest and looked the cleanest. But, honestly, with the right number of microspacers, any combination of components solved the head set play issue.
On a separate but related note, when I built up my Giant Propel frame, it came with a microspacer that fit their overdrive 2 steerer tube. My experience with my Chinese frame definitely helped a lot with setting up the Propel's head set, but it was a nice touch from Giant to include the spacer.