Folks, it’s been a banger year in war gaming. Just going to get right out and say it. While we didn’t have a left-field swing like Burning Banners and its fantasy wiles, we continued to see fresh themes and ideas, including in games not on this list like Cross-Bronx Expressway and The Old King’s Crown, which take war gaming principles and apply them in new ways. We also saw some excellent remasters and reprints, like Fields of Fire Deluxe Edition, making classics more available and (importantly) easier to play through updated tutorials, sturdier materials, and errata inclusions.
I say this every year, and, because our medium builds upon rather than removes its predecessors, I believe I will always say it: there’s never been a better time to be a war gamer. Read on, leverage that Want List, and find some great war games from 2025:
The Rock of Chickamauga
On the heels of A Most Fearful Sacrifice’s second edition, Flying Pig Games’ Civil War adventure continues with another massive title. Rock uses a card-draw system with alternating activations to keep the game interesting and moving, especially given the large number of units in play. In other words, you won’t need to go run errands for an hour while your buddy moves 100 counters. Instead, you’re engaged in a beautiful game, with eye-popping, big, maps and chunky counters bearing quality illustrations. For US Civil War players looking for a new game that’ll take over your table (and then some), Rock is it.
Golden Age of Piracy: 1718
As a fan of the computer game Sid Meier’s Pirates, Golden Age captures what made that game so much fun: rip-roaring adventure, high stakes, and a load of hilarious
dice. Your pirate’s life is one of plundering, capturing ports, evading the Royal Navy, and lasting long enough to buy your permanent freedom. Lighter rules packed with decisions roll up into an epic story, providing you survive. Golden Age is a stellar sandbox pirate war game (how many times have you seen those words in a row?) perfect for anyone seeking to tell their own story in the frothy Caribbean.
Assault: Sicily ‘43 – Gela Beachhead
Fresh tactical games seem to emerge every year, and while Assault: Sicily ‘43 – Gela Beachhead is technically a sequel to (and can be merged with) Assault: Red Horizon ‘41, Sicily is Assault Games’ hitting their stride. These games move, folks – simple, single counter-per-hex stacking rules (transportation excepted) and command point activation reduces analysis paralysis and maintains a clear board state. You’re not deciphering counter forests nor pondering which unit to activate, because that’s all been decided ahead of time. Couple these little innovations with a modern production and an included campaign, and you have a dynamic title built to battle through with your playing partner.
Congress of Vienna
Churchill holds a banner for a particular type of war game – one equalizing strategic warfare with its diplomatic counterpart . Congress of Vienna, taking place after Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in 1813, bumps the player count to 4 in a high stakes card-driven conflict. This is a game where the complexity arises less from rules than from decisions, where you’ll cajole Russia to attack France while you, as Britain, deal with those annoying Americans, only to find Austria redirecting those troops instead. It’s a vipers nest, a game of constant action that’ll suck you in for half a day playing through the full campaign, and you’ll love every minute of it.
An Impossible War: The First Carlist War in the North, 1834-1838
Creating fog of war on a tabletop is always a trick, but block war games do it better than most, and An Impossible War does it better than most block war games.
Asymmetric factions with wildly different goals in a conflict little explored in tabletop means the blocks and their hidden information are doubly effective. Ambushes, expeditions deep into enemy territory, and frothy event cards tango with a trim, effective rule set to keep the game’s weight on the decisions rather than the pages. If you’re a fan of block games like Julius Caesar or Sekigahara, this is exactly what you’re looking for.
Hubris – Twilight of the Hellenistic World
Successors, a big game about the chaos following Alexander the Great’s death, gets a scintillating sequel of sorts in Hubris, a three-player descent into warring madness. This is, at first glance, a daunting experience, but, like diving into the deep end of the pool, the possibilities, player-created stories, and intrigue emerge. Whether it’s your own court plotting rebellion, raids and open war, or provinces in need of stern guidance, Hubris pulls you into a world so alive you won’t mind spending most of the day there. Like Pendragon, designer Morgane Gouyon-Rety’s prior title, Hubris is a work of stellar research coupled with ingenious design.
By Swords and Bayonets
A wonderful aspect of war gaming is learning the rules to a system and enjoying numerous games with minimal extra effort. GMT’s Great Battles of the American Civil War is one such system, and its 9th volume, By Swords and Bayonets, offers an excellent entry point for newbies and veterans looking for an excuse to dive back in. The four battles can each be fought in an afternoon and support the rules for the entire series, letting you dive in, have a blast, and continue on. This is classic civil war hex-and-counter done right – if you’re looking for a new system to learn and explore, Swords is as good an entry as you’ll find.
The Bell of Treason
Some of the most interesting war games model things other than physical warfare, and The Bell of Treason, which puts two players on opposite sides within
Czechoslovakia’s politics during Hitler’s quest to claim the country. Primarily card-driven, both players are attempting to influence various factions and achieve a majority in manners similar to Red Flag over Paris or Votes for Women. Fast and furious, matches can play out in under an hour, letting Bell of Treason claim that rare spot of war games you can run back in an evening, telling a fresh story every time.
Battle of the Little Bighorn Game
Like Bell of Treason, the Battle of the Little Bighorn Game, published by The Historical Games Company, a publisher that seems to find the fascinating creases in history to explore, is something a little shorter, a little weirder, and full of fun. A duel for two, with low counter density and tense fighting as Custer faces off with the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. There’s enough variety with the game cards and objectives—protecting teepees, for example, and gunning for leaders—offer tactical juice. This is the sort of game that offers something fresh in a package you’ll easily get to play, and that bit, getting to play it, is what really matters.
Gettysburg: The First Day
Any time a series gets up to 12 volumes, that means two things: the system is excellent, and learning it is worth your time. Revolution Games’ Gettysburg: The First Day continues the Blind Swords series chit-pull activation and adds a bevy of other features, like artillery and sharpshooters, into the mix. This is a relatively light game stuffed with strategy, with scenarios, including the grand campaign, playable in an afternoon even with war gaming newbies. For solo players, Blind Swords is an excellent option too, as chit pull and dice roll combat keep things unpredictable, making both sides play a compelling experience.
Miracle at Dunkerque
Keeping tension high and rules overhead low is a key consideration in a shorter solitaire war game, and Miracle at Dunkerque gets the balance right. Helping it is the
scenario dynamics: desperate evacuation under overwhelming assault is as compelling as it gets, and you have a clear historical metric to balance yourself against. Here you are indeed playing the British, attempting to evacuate as many of your soldiers as possible while the German forces bear down upon you. Event cards push relentless pressure, requiring you to balance maintaining a defensive line while scooting your troops out. If you played 2014’s A Spoiled Victory, you’ll find the same team here, updating and refining that title’s systems while getting the Legion Games production quality. This is an hour-long adventure, able to fit into any afternoon, evening, or, heck, morning coffee that needs a little spice.
Modern Tactics #1: Afghanistan
We have a few tactical war games on this list, but what makes Modern Tactics stand out is its setting – there’s comparatively few games that put you in the gritty, urban environment of Afghanistan in the 2000s. Built on the Old School Tactical system and flush with intriguing elements, like civilians, IEDs, and unknown combatants, Modern Tactics is a two-player battle that flips turns every impulse, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum response. You might call in an airstrike only for your opponent to run, leaving hidden bombs behind to snarl your pursuit. Much more than a point-and-fire contest, Modern Tactics is a fulfilling blend that goes down easy with VUCA’s top-notch production.
