Top War Board Games of 2025 Revealed

The best board games come in various themes, but war is one of the most popular, and for good reason – war board games offer incredibly fun and exciting experiences. Each of the games listed below delivers a sense of epic battle, whether it's a quick evening session or a day-long event. None of them will skimp on battle strategy, ensuring a thrilling and engaging gameplay experience. Gather your friends, prepare some snacks and drinks, and get ready for a long, exciting journey.

Here are a few tips to ensure longer games run smoothly: If possible, obtain a PDF copy of the rulebook (most publishers offer them for free) and have everyone read it beforehand. Encourage players to handle "admin" tasks like sorting hands or counters outside their turn. You might also consider implementing a time limit per turn, provided all players agree. Now, let's dive into the games!

TL;DR: These Are the Best War Board Games

Arcs
Dune: War for Arrakis
Sniper Elite: The Board Game
Twilight Imperium IV
Blood Rage
Dune
Kemet: Blood and Sand
Star Wars: Rebellion
Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear
Undaunted: Normandy / Undaunted: North Africa
Root
Twilight Struggle: Red Sea
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game
War of the Ring
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy
Arcs

### Arcs

0See it
War games that involve more than two players must balance the action on the board with the negotiation and alliances between players. Arcs achieves a perfect blend of these elements, as highlighted in our 10/10 review. Its innovative mechanics, inspired by traditional card game trick-taking, offer multiple strategic options while maintaining thrilling spacecraft battles on the circular board. This setup rewards aggression and discourages defensive play. Despite its rich features, Arcs allows you to build a full space empire in under two hours, making it ideal for considering the brilliant narrative campaign expansion.

Dune: War for Arrakis

### Dune: War for Arrakis

1See it at Amazon
Don't confuse this with the multi-player negotiation game Dune further down the list – War for Arrakis is a head-to-head duel for two, featuring the noble Atreides and the wicked Harkonnen battling for control of the precious spice. The game is highly asymmetric, with the Atreides employing guerrilla warfare, aided by Fremen allies and summoned sandworms, against the larger, wealthier Harkonnen forces. The Harkonnen player must focus on harvesting and shipping spice to maintain economic advantages. Designed by the same team behind War of the Ring, this game uses quality plastic miniatures and an excellent action dice system that constantly forces players to reevaluate strategies, all while being much quicker to play.

Sniper Elite: The Board Game

### Sniper Elite: The Board Game

1See it at Amazon
Fans of the video game series might be surprised by the close-quarters action in this tabletop adaptation, but that shouldn't deter you from its considerable appeal. The stealth mechanics are fully intact, with the sniper player moving slowly and silently against a ticking clock, while the German player controls roving squads trying to detect the sniper. The game builds escalating tension and offers a historical feel that the video game lacks, featuring thematic components and more realistic combat. With two different boards and various sniper loadout options and squad specialists for the German player, it promises high replay value and rich tactical decision-making.

Twilight Imperium IV

### Twilight Imperium 4th Edition

8See it at Amazon
Games don't get more epic than this all-day sci-fi civilization-building experience. It encompasses everything you'd want from the genre: bizarre aliens researching technology and building fleets to fight over a randomly generated galactic hex map. Inter-player diplomacy is crucial, as are in-game political decrees. Yet, the game's strategic core remains solid, particularly with the strategy card system, where players choose a special focus each round. This fourth edition maintains the sweeping scope while trimming unnecessary elements, making it more accessible.

Blood Rage

### Blood Rage

1See it at Amazon
In Blood Rage, you lead a Viking clan into the end times of Ragnarök, seeking to gain as much rage, axes, and horns as possible to win glory for your warriors and a place in Valhalla. Beneath its violent exterior and impressive components lies a game of considerable strategic depth. You'll draft cards to support your actions each round, carefully managing your warriors and monsters to pillage regions and fulfill quests for glory. With everyone else vying for the same goals, battles are frequent and exciting, using a blind battle card system. This game masterfully blends tactical challenge, theme, and outright brutality, making it a definitive conflict-based classic.

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Dune

### Dune

7See it at Amazon
Dune offers a very different futuristic experience (not to be confused with Dune: Imperium). Based on Frank Herbert's famous novel and first released in 1979, it was ahead of its time. With minimal randomness, the game thrives on a delicate balance of hidden information and asymmetrical strategy. Players assume roles of factions from the book, each with unique special powers. For instance, the Atreides can peek at cards during blind auctions, while the Harkonnen know all the secret traitors in play. This new edition features cleaner rules and stunning art, beautifully evoking the narrative and political themes of the novel.

Kemet: Blood and Sand

### Kemet Blood and Sand

0See it at Amazon
Imagine if the gods and mythical creatures of ancient Egypt descended to the desert sands to engage in fierce combat. That's Kemet. The game features tech pyramids that allow you to customize your strategy with special powers across attack and defense, integrating these into your board play. Everyone starts with the same battle cards, leading to intense mind games as you try to outguess your opponent's moves and discards. The unique board layout ensures no hiding, making for a fast-paced, brutal experience.

Star Wars: Rebellion

### Star Wars: Rebellion

14See it at Amazon
Star Wars: Rebellion offers a fresh take on a beloved franchise. The Rebellion player, as the underdog, must survive militarily while winning planets to their cause, while the Empire wields massive armies to crush any signs of dissent. This asymmetric struggle is filled with well-known characters and events from the movies, but the narrative unfolds based on your decisions. The game weaves strategic challenges into each turn, ensuring a dynamic and varied experience.

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear

### Conflict of Heroes: Awakening The Bear

0See it at Amazon
Tactical wargames, focusing on squad or individual soldier actions, can be challenging to design without becoming overly complex. The Conflict of Heroes series strikes the perfect balance, using a straightforward system of action points, dice, and differing front and rear defense values to deliver excitement, realism, and tactical challenge. Starting simple, it expands to include artillery, vehicles, and tanks for a comprehensive World War 2 experience. The command point system, allowing extra actions during your opponent's turn, adds a layer of strategic depth, making every point spent feel crucial.

Undaunted: Normandy & Undaunted: North Africa

### Undaunted: Normandy

5See it at Amazon
### Undaunted: North Africa

3See it at Amazon
### Undaunted Stalingrad

1See it at Amazon
While not a simulation, these games brilliantly use the deck-building genre to capture the essence of infantry combat with minimal rules. Officer cards allow you to add new unit cards to your deck, mimicking the issuing of orders and supplies in the field. These unit cards then enable you to move matching troop counters on the modular scenario map, engage the enemy, and capture objectives. As casualties thin your deck, units become less effective due to eroding morale under fire. With tense firefights and pivotal moments, these games offer an accessible and engaging way to relive the Second World War.

Root

### Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right

18$59.99 save 25%$44.99 at Amazon
Root is one of the shorter games on the list, yet its bold design emphasizes asymmetry. Four factions vie for control of a woodland realm, each with unique rules and a distinct feel. The Marquise de Cat and the Eyrie engage in standard, yet different, conquest games, while the Woodland Folk act as guerrilla fighters against the invaders. The Vagabond is a lone trickster-hero. Despite its cute theme and quirky art, Root is a game of brutal strategy, raising significant questions about politics and governance.

Twilight Struggle: Red Sea

### Twilight Struggle: Red Sea

0See it at Amazon
The original Twilight Struggle is often hailed as one of the best board games ever, but its complexity and lengthy playtime can be daunting. This version retains the compelling card-play mechanic, where players face dilemmas about triggering key events for their opponent while navigating their hand of cards, but shortens the playtime to about an hour. A new scoring mechanic adds excitement to the shorter game, and history buffs can explore the lesser-known Cold War events in East Africa, with real historical events simulated through game mechanics and a designer's notes book for context.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

### A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

2$64.95 save 21%$50.99 at Amazon
This game captures the political intrigue and treachery of the books and TV show, borrowing a mechanic from classic Diplomacy: only one player can win, but no one has the resources to do so alone. Alliances and eventual betrayals are inevitable, keeping everyone on edge. Governed by a thrilling secret order system, players can't know their opponents' intentions until it's too late. The game is enhanced with elements from the world of Westeros, adding strategic depth. A great game in its own right, it's a must-have for fans of the franchise.

War of the Ring

### War of the Ring 2nd Edition

2$89.99 save 22%$70.36 at Amazon
This game is the best adaptation of Tolkien's work to the board game format. It features a dual gameplay system on the same board: the epic clash of armies across Middle-earth and the quest of the Fellowship to destroy the One Ring. The genius lies in how these two halves interweave at every turn, requiring players to master a delicate tactical balance.

Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy

### Eclipse: 2nd Dawn for The Galaxy

3$207.00 at Amazon
While the Twilight Imperium series focuses on warfare and diplomacy, Eclipse emphasizes long-term strategy in sci-fi civilization-building. Systems for initiative and technology upgrades require players to think several steps ahead as they expand from their starting hex into the galaxy. This tactical depth enhances the feeling of exploration, ship design, and combat, where success depends more on the right technology and units than on the roll of the dice.

If you enjoy these, be sure to check out our picks for the overall best board games and the best board game deals.

What Counts as a Wargame?

In hobby circles, the term "wargame" carries significant weight. It often refers to a niche genre of games that simulate historical conflicts, requiring detailed historical research and often commanding high prices for their detailed components. Games like Awakening the Bear and Twilight Struggle: Red Sea exemplify this genre, though they're on the more accessible end.

However, the definition has grey areas. Some games simulate conflicts that could have happened but didn't, like the Cold War escalating into World War 3. Others, like Undaunted, use historical settings without aiming for simulation. The smallest group includes games that attempt realism in entirely fantastic or sci-fi scenarios. Whether these count as "wargames" varies among gamers.

Ultimately, these semantic discussions matter most to enthusiasts. We've used the broadest definition, encompassing games that explore conflict from various angles, from historical simulation to fantasy diplomacy. If a specific type of conflict game interests you, enthusiast sites can provide further exploration.