This is, perhaps, the war you’ve been waiting for. Today we’re looking at the Charles S Roberts Awards Nominees and Winner for the World War Two category. There’s some stellar titles here, many of which didn’t receive huge print runs, so, as ever, I’ll point you to the Want List to save these for snagging later, as they’ll come in and out of stock quickly.
Otherwise, gear up for a series of great games in the biggest conflict humanity’s ever known.
Tactical Battles Refined
Flying Pig Games’ Old School Tactical series, which we talked about in more detail here, is building a strong reputation. As befits its name, Old School Tactical gets you 
into the gritty bits of squad-level combat, similar to games like Combat Commander and Advanced Squad Leader. A fresh design perspective, though, elevates Old School from the crowded pack. First and foremost, Old School strikes a balance between rules overhead and fun, streamlining many fiddly bits that’ll drag down matches in other games. That doesn’t mean snipers, mortars, and the like don’t get to have their unique elements, just that the steps are often reduced and done via modifiers or slight tweaks to the core infantry rules so you’ll spend far more time in the action than the rulebook. The back-and-forth impulse system ensures you won’t twiddle your thumbs for a while as your opponent nudges their entire force around the battlefield. It’s fast and furious, folks.
Old School also brings chrome to the production, with beautiful, easy-to-read counters, vivid maps, and thick scenario books. Originally a crowdfunded project, the care FPG shows for these games is evident. Volume 4, the one nominated here, takes place in the Italian front, with 14 scenarios based in Sicily and the mainland. There’s also expansions that allow meshing with prior volumes too, creating larger, joint operations opportunities. While Volume 4 serves up a fine standalone experience, you’ll likely find yourself buying into the system at large just because it’s that much fun.
Ultimately, Old School Tactical is for the squad-level newbie or veteran looking for a simpler, faster system. You’ll generate stories, have a great time, and, with more volumes on the way, learn a rule set sure to keep you entertained far into the future.
The Whole War In An Hour (More or Less)
There’s a sweet spot between war games with big player counts (War Room), light rules (Quartermaster General), and components (Axis and Allies). Worthington Publishing, with One Hour World War 2, attempts to strike that spot with a five-player, accessible title that, while difficult to hit the playtime advertised, nonetheless delivers on its promise of a speedy, yet meaningful, version of World War Two.
One Hour does this through an action and response system ensuring every player stays engaged while having to consider where to spend limited action tokens. Every nation has their own unique action card which, on its left side, lays out actions the nation can do (e.g. Germany can launch a land invasion of a space). On
the right side of that card are responses available to some nations that they can spend one of their action tokens to take. In short, like Race for the Galaxy and other games where actions drive follow-ups from other players, One Hour adds a strategic choice layer while keeping everyone involved. The clarity here also keeps the game moving – no analysis paralysis while staring at a forest of counters, and as choices are locked in, forward momentum continues even if a later action in the same round would’ve changed your first choice.
All this comes together in a glossy package flush with color, chunky counters, and clear design. One Hour will be easy to grasp for most war gamers, but serves equally well as a fun entry to the genre for euro gamers or anyone who’d just played Risk too. That may be the prime reason One Hour belongs on this list and in your collection – it’s playable on any given evening with almost any group.
Stalingrad Done Fast and Fun
It’s difficult to imagine a World War Two category without a Stalingrad entry, but it’s also nice to see one that both expands scope (including the whole battle on a single map) while keeping a whole campaign playable in a day. Stalingrad Roads: Battle on the edge of the Abyss, from Nuts! Publishing, is the third game in the ‘Roads’ series (Liberty Roads and Victory Roads), and carries on elements of that ruleset to Russia’s bloody wasteland.
What you’ll find in Stalingrad Roads is a clean production, with crisp counters, a single (large) map, and a few scenarios to familiarize you with the rules before the big campaign. The broad battlefield gives plenty of replayability, as both sides can try all sorts of different tactics to take objectives. Combat rules here press the damage and encourage pushing for breakthroughs with blood, much like the actual battle. The carnage is bolstered by a medium-heavy war gaming ruleset, one that leverages HQs for supply and generalized support chits to boost key attacks.
One thing you won’t find here, and which keeps Stalingrad Roads a zippy affair, are strong zones of control. This encourages swift movement, morphing the battlefield with dynamic action rather than forcing turn after turn of plunking dice rolls. You’ll also find weather effects playing a big role in your operations, with the wrong snowstorm or muddy day forcing strategic shifts. It’s fun, it’s nimble, and, again, it’s a game you can take from start to finish on a Saturday. That alone gives it a marked leg up on many Stalingrad games. Oh, and if you’re a solitaire player, there’s no hidden information, so Stalingrad Roads should be an easy pick up.
A Normandy Monster War Game
Multi-man Publishing continues their Grand Tactical Series about the battle for Normandy with The Greatest Day: Utah Beach, a monster chit-pull activation game that, to be frank, just pops off the table. I’m a fan when war games choose colors other than drab beige, green, and light blue, and The Greatest Day has oranges, pinks, and yellows. The division cards crackle with personality, from the photographs of commanding officers to gritty effect applied to the material. All this might seem like chrome, and it is, but when you’re talking Normandy, finding ways to stand out amid a plethora of amazing games is key.
The Greatest Day also has its sheer size to stand out from the pack. You’re getting a bevy of scenarios and campaign options here, with multiple maps too. Enough counters to tire even the most efficient clipper. You’ll also find bocage by the hex-load. Utah Beach was a gnarly infantry affair, and that’s well represented here, with tactical dynamism focused on taking bridges, towns, and slipping through those hedgerows. While the rules aren’t the most complex in the genre, they’re of reasonable heft, which is why I’d suggest, if you can wrangle it, getting a few people together for a team game. For those who prefer solo, the chit-pull feature and lack of cards make this work just fine too.
Altogether, this is a big production. Best suited to players interested in close combat at a tactical level looking for their next monster. Or a pop of color.
North Africa From A Tank’s Turret
At a distance, many tactical war games are so close to miniatures war gaming that the differences might as well disappear. Panzer North Africa, by GMT Games, does its best to blur those thin lines in the north African desert. This is tank warfare done up close, with your armor much more than a single counter and a few numbers. These war machines get their due here as you bring them forth across some 32 scenarios, each one coming with detailed cards covering arms, defense at
various points, and more. It’s a little like Battletech wandered into World War Two.
The reason Panzer North Africa wins this category, for me, is the joy in this box. We’re talking zipping tanks across the sand and taking shots at one another. We’re talking duels in the desert, with infantry doing their best to stay alive. The rules, while thorough, do their best to reward success with meaning. Lining up and taking that shot into the enemy’s vulnerable rear isn’t just a die roll, it’s an engaging dance fraught with mishap and, at its end, satisfied by reducing the target to a burning hulk.
Even that feeling might be tempered if the scenarios weren’t up to par, but the collection here (complete with a full solo system) is flush with variety. Most only take a couple of hours or less once you have the hang of the rules, keeping the action intense and the fun high. There’s so much here that, if you’re even a little interested in the North African campaign and tank battles, this should be your next game.
