Top War Board Games for 2025

The best board games come in a variety of themes, but war is one of the most popular. This is no surprise – war board games offer an exciting and immersive experience, simulating epic battles that can span an evening or an entire day. Each game on this list promises a deep dive into battle strategy, ensuring you're engaged from start to finish. So, gather your friends, stock up on snacks and drinks, and prepare for a thrilling adventure.

To ensure your longer games run smoothly, consider these tips: Download a PDF of the rulebook (most are freely available from publishers) and have everyone read it beforehand. Encourage players to handle "admin" tasks like sorting cards or counters outside their turns. If everyone agrees, you might also set a time limit per turn. Now, let's explore 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

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War games that involve more than two players must balance the action on the board with the negotiations and alliances formed between players. Arcs achieves this balance remarkably well, as highlighted in our 10/10 review. Its innovative mechanics, inspired by traditional trick-taking card games, provide numerous strategic options, while the open, circular board encourages aggressive play and discourages defensive tactics. Despite these engaging features, you can still build a comprehensive space empire in under two hours, making it an ideal choice for those looking to explore the narrative campaign expansion.

Dune: War for Arrakis

1See it at Amazon
Don't mistake this for the multi-player negotiation game Dune further down the list. War for Arrakis is a head-to-head battle for two players, pitting the noble Atreides against the wicked Harkonnen in a fight for control over the precious spice. It's a highly asymmetric game, with the guerrilla warfare of the Atreides and their Fremen allies and summoned sandworms clashing against the larger, wealthier forces of their foes. The Harkonnen player must focus on harvesting and shipping spice to maintain their economic advantage. Designed by the same team behind War of the Ring, this game uses quality plastic miniatures and an excellent action dice system that forces constant strategy reassessment, yet it's much faster to play.

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 its charm remains intact. The stealth element is central, as the sniper player moves slowly and silently against a ticking clock, evading roving squads controlled by the German player. This tension is heightened by a historical veneer not found in the video game, with thematic components and more realistic combat. The game includes two different boards and various sniper loadout options and squad specialists for the German player, ensuring high replay value and tactical depth.

Twilight Imperium IV

Twilight Imperium 4th Edition

8See it at Amazon
No game offers a more epic experience than this all-day sci-fi civilization-building adventure. It features everything you'd expect from the genre: bizarre aliens researching technology and building fleets to fight over a random galactic hex map. There's diplomacy, of course, but also in-game political decrees to vote on. Despite the importance of deal-making, the game rests on a solid strategic foundation, particularly with its strategy card system, which allows each player to choose a special focus each round. This fourth edition maintains the game's sweeping scope while trimming unnecessary elements, making it more accessible.

Blood Rage

1See it at Amazon
In Blood Rage, you lead a Viking clan into the end times of Ragnarök, striving to gain rage, axes, and horns to win glory for your warriors and secure a place in Valhalla. Beneath its violent exterior and impressive components lies a game of considerable strategic subtlety. You'll draft cards to support your actions each round, managing your limited warriors and monsters to pillage regions and fulfill quests for glory. With everyone else vying for the same goals, you'll engage in exciting blind battle card confrontations. This game expertly blends tactical challenge, theme, and outright brutality, cementing its status as a conflict-based classic.

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Dune

7See it at Amazon
Dune offers a unique take on futuristic gaming, distinct from Dune: Imperium. Based on Frank Herbert's iconic novel and first released in 1979, it was ahead of its time. With minimal randomness, the game relies on a captivating balance of hidden information and asymmetrical strategies. Each player assumes the role of a faction from the book, each with distinct special powers. The Atreides can peek at auctioned cards, while the Harkonnen know all secret traitors. This dynamic results in a compelling narrative and political gameplay that echoes the novel. The new edition features streamlined rules and striking art.

Kemet: Blood and Sand

Kemet Blood and Sand

0See it at Amazon
Imagine ancient Egypt's gods and mythical creatures descending to the desert sands for a brutal showdown. That's Kemet. You can discuss the tech pyramids that allow you to tailor your strategy with special powers across attack and defense, feeding into your board play. Or the shared battle cards leading to mind games as you try to outguess your opponent's moves and discards. But the game's essence is its breathtaking pace and relentless violence, with the peculiar board layout ensuring no one can hide, and everyone is just a move away from fierce combat.

Star Wars: Rebellion

14See it at Amazon
Star Wars: Rebellion brings the beloved franchise to your table with a liberal twist. It's unmistakably Star Wars, with the Rebellion player as the underdog, struggling to survive militarily while winning over planets, and the Empire wielding vast armies to crush dissent. It's an asymmetric struggle, enriched with familiar characters and events from the movies, yet the unfolding narrative is in your hands. The game is woven together with strategic challenges, ensuring each turn is packed with variety and excitement.

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening The Bear

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Tactical wargames, focusing on squads or individual soldiers, are challenging to get right. Too much detail can bog down the gameplay, slowing what should be a thrilling encounter. The Conflict of Heroes series strikes the perfect balance with its simple action point and dice system, combined with differing front and rear defense values, offering excitement, realism, and tactical challenge. Starting simple, it soon expands to include artillery, vehicles, and tanks for a comprehensive World War II experience. The command point system, a small pool of extra actions during your opponent's turn, adds a strategic layer, making each 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 recreate the tactics of infantry combat with just a few rules. Officer cards allow you to add new unit cards to your deck, simulating the issuing of orders and supplies to soldiers. Unit cards then move matching troop counters on the modular scenario map, engaging in battles and seizing objectives. Casualties thin your deck, reflecting morale erosion under fire. With tense firefights and pivotal moments, these games offer an accessible and engaging way to relive World War II.

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 it's a bold design that emphasizes asymmetry. Four factions vie for control of the woodland realm, each with unique rules and a distinct feel. The Marquise de Cat and the Eyrie play standard conquest games, though quite different. The Woodland Folk are guerrilla fighters against these invaders, and the Vagabond is a lone trickster-hero. Don't let the cute theme and quirky art fool you – this game is a strategic powerhouse, raising questions about politics and governance that resonate in the real world.

Twilight Struggle: Red Sea

0See it at Amazon
The original Twilight Struggle is often considered one of the best board games ever made, but its complexity and long playtime can be daunting. This version retains the compelling card-play mechanics, forcing players to navigate endless dilemmas about triggering key events for their opponent, but reduces the playtime to about an hour. It's still packed with challenging decisions, but a new scoring mechanic adds excitement. History buffs can explore the Cold War's lesser-known East African theater, with real historical events simulated on the player's cards, and a book of designer's notes to provide deeper historical context.

A Game of Thrones: The Board Game

2$64.95 save 21%$50.99 at Amazon
This game captures the conniving and backstabbing of the books and TV show, borrowing a trick from classic Diplomacy: only one player can win, but no one has the resources to do so alone. Alliances and inevitable betrayals keep everyone on edge. The thrilling secret order system means you can't know your opponent's plans until it's too late. On top of this proven formula, the game adds strategic elements from the world of Westeros. It's a must-play for fans of the franchise and a great game in its own right.

War of the Ring

War of the Ring 2nd Edition

2$89.99 save 22%$70.36 at Amazon
For fans of the source material, this is the best board game adaptation of Tolkien's work. It brilliantly splits the game into two interconnected halves: the epic clash of armies across Middle-earth and the Fellowship's quest to destroy the One Ring. The genius lies in how these two elements interweave at every turn, creating a complex tactical balancing act for players to master.

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. Its smart systems for initiative and technology upgrades force players to think several steps ahead as they expand from their starting hex into the galaxy. This tactical depth enhances the feeling of exploring the cosmos, designing ships, and engaging in combat, where success relies more on the right technology and units than on the luck of the dice.

If you enjoy these, don't miss our picks for the overall best board games and the best board game deals.

What Counts as a Wargame?

In gaming circles, the term "wargame" can be quite specific, often referring to games that simulate historical conflicts. These niche games often require detailed historical research, leading to high prices for boxes filled with map sheets and numerous cardboard counters. Examples from our list include Awakening the Bear and Twilight Struggle: Red Sea, which are on the more approachable side of this genre.

However, the term encompasses a broader range of games. Some simulate potential conflicts that never happened, like a Cold War escalating into World War III. Others, such as Undaunted, use historical settings but aren't strictly simulations. A smaller group attempts to simulate entirely fictional or sci-fi scenarios. Whether these count as "wargames" is a matter of debate among gamers.

Ultimately, these semantic discussions are less relevant to casual players. We've opted for a broad definition, including games that explore conflict from various perspectives, from historical simulations to fantasy diplomacy. If a particular type of conflict game interests you, enthusiast sites can guide you further.