The Best War Board Games 2025

This article explores the best war board games, offering a diverse selection catering to various preferences and play styles. The games listed provide epic battle experiences, ranging from shorter, faster-paced encounters to extensive, multi-hour campaigns. Prepare for strategic depth, thrilling combat, and engaging narratives. For longer games, the article suggests pre-reading the rulebook, delegating administrative tasks between turns, and potentially implementing turn time limits for smoother gameplay.

TL;DR: The Best War Board Games

• Arcs: A highly innovative space empire game blending trick-taking mechanics with intense spacecraft battles. (Image: )
• Dune: War for Arrakis: A head-to-head duel between the Atreides and Harkonnens for control of Arrakis, featuring asymmetric gameplay and excellent action dice mechanics. (Image: )
• Sniper Elite: The Board Game: A tense, close-quarters stealth game with historical accuracy and high replayability. (Image: )
• Twilight Imperium IV: An epic, all-day sci-fi civilization-building game with extensive diplomacy, technology, and galactic conquest. (Image: )
• Blood Rage: A Viking-themed game of strategic subtlety, card drafting, and brutal combat. (Image: )
• Dune: A complex, asymmetrical strategy game based on Frank Herbert's novel, emphasizing hidden information and political maneuvering. (Image: )
• Kemet: Blood and Sand: A fast-paced, violent game set in ancient Egypt, featuring unique god powers and tactical combat. (Image: )
• Star Wars: Rebellion: An asymmetric struggle between the Rebellion and the Empire, offering a dynamic narrative and strategic depth. (Image: )
• Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear: A tactical wargame focusing on squad-level combat during World War II, offering realism and tactical challenge. (Image: )
• Undaunted: Normandy / Undaunted: North Africa / Undaunted: Stalingrad: Deck-building wargames simulating infantry combat during World War II, offering accessible and engaging gameplay. (Images: , , )
• Root: A shorter game featuring asymmetric factions battling for control of a woodland realm, emphasizing strategic depth and political intrigue. (Image: )
• Twilight Struggle: Red Sea: A streamlined version of the classic Twilight Struggle, offering a shorter playtime while retaining the core strategic dilemmas of the Cold War. (Image: )
• A Game of Thrones: The Board Game: A political game mirroring the intrigue and alliances of the A Song of Ice and Fire universe. (Image: )
• War of the Ring 2nd Edition: A highly-rated adaptation of Tolkien's work, featuring a dual-game system combining large-scale battles with the Fellowship's quest. (Image: )
• Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy: A sci-fi civilization-building game emphasizing long-term strategic planning and technological advancement. (Image: )

The article concludes by discussing the broad definition of "wargame" used, encompassing historical simulations, hypothetical conflicts, and fantasy/sci-fi settings. It encourages further exploration of specific subgenres within the wargame community.