The Best War Board Games 2025

War-themed board games offer a thrilling blend of strategy and excitement, captivating players with epic battles and engaging narratives. Whether you prefer a quick evening skirmish or an all-day epic, these games deliver intense strategic challenges. Gather your friends, prepare your snacks and drinks, and prepare for an unforgettable gaming experience.

To ensure smooth gameplay, especially for longer games, consider these tips: Access a PDF rulebook (often available from publishers) for pre-game reading. Encourage players to perform administrative tasks, like sorting components, outside their turns. If agreed upon, implement a time limit per turn.

The Best War Board Games

This list showcases a diverse range of war-themed board games, each offering unique gameplay and strategic depth.

Arcs

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Arcs masterfully balances action on the board with player negotiation and alliances. Its innovative trick-taking mechanics provide multiple strategic avenues, while the fast-paced spacecraft battles reward aggression. Despite its depth, a game typically concludes within two hours, making it ideal for shorter sessions, especially when considering the engaging narrative campaign expansion.

Dune: War for Arrakis

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A two-player duel for control of Arrakis, this game pits the Atreides against the Harkonnens in an asymmetric conflict. The Atreides utilize guerilla tactics and Fremen allies, while the Harkonnens leverage economic advantages through spice harvesting. The high-quality components and action dice system from the designers of *War of the Ring* ensure constant strategic re-evaluation, yet the game remains significantly faster to play.

Sniper Elite: The Board Game

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This adaptation of the video game series offers close-quarters stealth action. The sniper player must remain undetected against the clock, while the German player controls roving squads to hunt them down. Beyond the tense gameplay, it features a historical veneer with thematic components and realistic combat. Multiple boards and customizable loadouts provide high replayability.

Twilight Imperium 4th Edition

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An epic, all-day sci-fi civilization-building game. Players control diverse alien races, research technology, build fleets, and engage in galactic conquest. Diplomacy plays a role, but the game's core is a robust strategic system, highlighted by the innovative card system that dictates player focus each round. This edition streamlines the original, enhancing accessibility without sacrificing scope.

Blood Rage

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Control a Viking clan striving for glory in the Ragnarök. Beneath the violent theme and stunning components lies strategic depth. Players draft cards, manage resources, and engage in blind battles to conquer regions and fulfill quests for glory. This game masterfully blends tactical challenges with thematic immersion and brutal combat.

Dune

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Based on Frank Herbert's novel, *Dune* is a game of asymmetrical strategy and hidden information. Players control factions with unique abilities, engaging in political maneuvering and resource management. The lack of randomness emphasizes strategic depth and evokes the novel's themes. This edition boasts improved rules and artwork.

Kemet: Blood and Sand

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Kemet plunges players into a brutal conflict between Egyptian gods and mythical creatures. Players utilize customizable pyramids to tailor strategies, engage in intense battles using shared cards, and relentlessly fight for dominance. The unique board design ensures constant engagement and aggressive gameplay.

Star Wars: Rebellion

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This game recreates the iconic Star Wars conflict. The Rebellion fights for survival and planetary control, while the Empire uses overwhelming force to quell dissent. The asymmetric struggle, featuring familiar characters and events, offers a dynamic narrative shaped by player choices and strategic decisions.

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear

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This tactical wargame balances detail with engaging gameplay. A simple system of action points, dice, and defense values provides excitement and realism. The game expands to include artillery, vehicles, and tanks, offering a comprehensive World War II experience. The innovative command point system adds another layer of strategic depth.

Undaunted: Normandy & Undaunted: North Africa & Undaunted: Stalingrad

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These games cleverly use deck-building mechanics to simulate infantry combat. Officer cards add units, reflecting real-world command decisions, while unit cards dictate troop movement and combat. Casualties deplete the deck, impacting unit effectiveness. The tense firefights and pivotal moments create an accessible and engaging World War II experience.

Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right

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Root is a shorter, asymmetric game where four factions vie for woodland control. Each faction has unique rules and gameplay. Despite its whimsical theme, Root offers intense strategic challenges and explores themes of politics and governance.

Twilight Struggle: Red Sea

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A streamlined version of the acclaimed *Twilight Struggle*, this game retains the core card-play and strategic dilemmas while reducing playtime to approximately an hour. The new scoring mechanic enhances excitement, and the historical setting of the Cold War in East Africa adds thematic depth.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

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This game captures the political intrigue and backstabbing of *A Song of Ice and Fire*. Only one player can win, forcing alliances and betrayals. The secret order system adds tension, while thematic elements enhance strategic depth.

War of the Ring 2nd Edition

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A masterful adaptation of Tolkien's work, this game features two intertwined campaigns: the epic battle for Middle-earth and the Fellowship's quest to destroy the One Ring. The ingenious interplay between these campaigns creates a challenging strategic balancing act.

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy

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Eclipse emphasizes long-term strategic planning in a sci-fi setting. Smart systems for initiative and technology upgrades demand foresight. Exploration, ship design, and combat are integral, but success hinges on strategic resource management and technological advantage.

Explore our selections for the best board games and best board game deals for more options.

Defining a Wargame

The term "wargame" is debated among enthusiasts. Some restrict it to simulations of historical conflicts, often featuring detailed maps and counters. Others include games simulating potential conflicts or those set in fictional or science-fiction settings. This list adopts a broad definition, encompassing games that explore conflict from diverse perspectives, from historical simulation to fantasy diplomacy.