The 20 best wargames of all time

Welcome to our round-up of 20 conflict classics guaranteed to test the mettle and raise the morale of the discerning battle simmer. We've scoured the scene for the finest pilot sims, the most tactically satisfying tank sims, the smartest and most rewarding hex-gridded strategy games and more. If you're relatively new to wargames, this selection will provide an excellent grounding in the PC's long history in the genre. If you're a veteran of many a campaign already, we hope you'll find some fresh tactical treats tucked away in the coming pages.

Birth of America 2

Link: Official site

AGEod creations are an acquired taste well worth acquiring. Early on, the unconventional interfaces and swift auto-resolved battles in games such as BoA2 and Alea Jacta Est (both good starting points for series greenhorns) are likely to crease brows. Stumble on, however, experimenting and observing as you go, and eventually the fog will lift.

Focused on the French and Indian War (1754-63) and the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), BoA2’s theme is as unusual as its game mechanics. None of the hundreds of cleverly differentiated historical leaders are more significant than General Winter. This is a game where exposure often kills more men than musket balls, and where irregular forces skedaddle back to their villages when the temperature drops. It’s a game of fort sieges and cheeky riverine invasions. Learn to love its quirks, and it probably won’t be long before you’re contemplating the weightier delights of AGEod’s American and Russian Civil War offerings.

Battle of Britain II: Wings of Victory

Link: Official site

Other sims provide superior Spitfires, fluffier clouds and chalkier White Cliffs of Dover. What you get here that you can’t get elsewhere is a sense of the awesome scale and fearful asymmetry of many Battle of Britain engagements. One of PC simulation’s most evocative experiences is pointing the nose of a BoB2 Hurricane at a patch of sky seething with Luftwaffe bombers. The dread, the excitement, the knowledge that the swarm of Bf 109s flying top-cover will soon be snapping at your tail... emotions merge and tangle like furball contrails. Beautifully engineered AI routines ensure dogfights are sweaty, and a classic Rowan dynamic campaign gives every kill significance. Stukas just levelled the local radar station? Raids in that sector will now be harder to detect.

Close Combat 2: A Bridge Too Far

Link: Official site

Long before Company of Heroes and Men of War started storming MG nests and petrol-bombing Panzers, Atomic’s Close Combat series was running amok with a hot Thompson, a pilfered Panzerschreck and a backpack full of pluck. Utilising a surprisingly sophisticated top-down tactics engine, the CCs boldly combined credible ballistics and true line-of-sight modelling with real-time action and brutally honest psychological simulation. Shells ricocheted, men cowered, PC tacticians purred appreciatively. Instalments 2 to 5 are generally considered the apogee of the series (I’m particularly fond of A Bridge Too Far) but the relatively modern Matrix Games remakes (Iron Cross, The Longest Day, Last Stand Arnhem, Panthers in the Fog, etc,) also have their adherents.

Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy

Link: Official site

Beware! Prolonged exposure to this dual-mode delight (turns are optional), and its siblings Red Thunder and Fortress Italy, may spoil your enjoyment of other, less rigorous WWII wargames. After a month or two of watching CMBfN’s death tractors trade shells, the shorthand that passes for armoured combat elsewhere can seem painfully crude. Battlefront approaches realism the way a bomb disposal engineer approaches a UXB. Weapon capabilities, armour thicknesses, force compositions... if you’re interested in the nitty-gritty of WWII land warfare, the CM titles are the best interactive encyclopedias money can buy. Fortunately, they work rather well as games too. Some fans still miss the randomly generated battlegrounds, bulging unit rosters and unscripted AI of the original trio, but progress in a visuals, spotting rules, infantry and artillery simulation make the shortcomings easy to bear. One day CM will get a strat layer, and grognards the world over will pinch themselves silly.

Command Ops

Link: Official site

Most wargames cast us as incorporeal control freaks—lunatic leaders determined to spell out every order and nursemaid every unit. The turn-free Command Ops is different. Australian AI master-craftsmen Panther Games provide a working command chain. You can dispense instructions on a unit by unit basis, but it’s far less exhausting—far more interesting—to issue commands via subordinate HQs. Give an underling a ‘Take that hill ASAP!’ or a ‘Defend that bridge at all costs!’ task (orders can be nuanced via a set of powerful doctrine buttons) and he’ll marshal his forces, work out appropriate formations and routes, arrange arty support, and move out. Should the original scheme prove impractical, HQs are smart enough to re-plan on the fly. It’s amazing stuff, and because the enemy is utilising the same sophisticated reactive AI, battles pulse and fragment remarkably plausibly.

DCS World

Link: Official site

MicroProse, Rowan, DID, Dynamix... most of the great flight sim studios of yore are now pushing up daisies. Just about the only veterans still around and still making serious jet and helo diversions are Muscovites Eagle Dynamics. Lately, ED have broadened their artificial horizons, becoming impresarios as well as artisans. Skies in the free DCS World now glitter with excellent third-party payware creations. Gratis aircraft like the Mustang and Frogfoot, and ED add-ons like the Warthog and the Black Shark, have been joined by MiGs, Hueys and Sabres built by outsiders. Anyone interested in superlative cockpit recreations, achingly authentic avionics, and top-notch flight models will find much to love here. Install the Combined Arms module and DCS World turns into a highfidelity Arma. First-person footslogging isn’t possible, but AFVs can be crewed, RTS-style attacks coordinated. Coming soon to DCS World: Nevada and Middle Eastern environments.

Falcon 4.0

Link: Official site

The history of this staggeringly ambitious F-16 sim is as long and wiggly as the Norwegian coast. Patches, politics, leaks, relaunches... the first choice facing any Falconer today is which of the community-enhanced versions of the game to choose. Whether you end up plumping for BMS, FreeFalcon or Allied Force (all have their pros and cons) you’ll need to study hard to get the best out of your high-tech cloud cleaver. Like DCS World, Falcon 4.0 at maximum realism settings is a switch-flicking, knob-twisting, button-dabbing ballbreaker. Flying is relatively simple; learning to navigate, refuel, utilise radar, deliver weapons and evade properly—that’s the real challenge. Where Falcon 4.0 parts company from its modern counterpart is in the campaign. There are no carefully arranged sortie sequences, no glib victory conditions or token representations of land war. Pilots participate in vast unscripted conflicts, swarming with potential prey and threats.

Enemy Engaged: Comanche vs. Hokum

Link: Official site

Like a faithful multi-role combat aircraft that stays in service long after its planned withdrawal date, EECH is simply too useful to retire. Fifteen years on from release, it still offers a peerless combination of realism, playability and campaign unpredictability. Yes, the dynamic campaign engine serves up a fairly simplistic ground war. Sure, the terrain will look awfully barren if you’re more used to Arma 3. But what other title lets you leap into the 3D cockpit of a Comanche or Hokum (thanks to modders, Apaches, Hinds, Black Sharks, Havocs, Vipers and Kiowas are also available) perform a quick cold-start, and go hunt AFVs, or reconnoitre or blitz an enemy base? FMs and avionics sit in the sweetspot between ‘Press E to increase altitude’ and ‘After two hours reading the manual I still have no clue how to get this ****** off the ground’.

Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm

Link: Official site

On Target tweaks the nose of convention by making turn lengths malleable in this ’80s-era WWIII TBS. Failed to combat electronic warfare attacks and protect your HQ units? That’s why your ‘order cycle’ is now 70 minutes rather than the 30 minutes it was at the start. Pea-soupy fog-of-war and debilitating order delays add to the delicious chaos. In the circumstances, it’s a blessing friendly units are so resourceful. Enemies are sharp too. Capable of speculative counter-battery fire, canny pontoon bridge building and cunning flanking manoeuvres, they ensure victories rarely come cheap. Imagine Eugen’s Wargame series had a slower smarter WeGo step-brother.

Graviteam Tactics: Operation Star

Link: Official site

The most impressive war machine to come out of Ukraine since the T-34, Graviteam Tactics is an Eastern Front RTS with a realism fixation and a campaign system to die for. One of its weirdest pleasures is wandering the battlefield after a engagement, studying the colour-coded impact arrows that sprout from wrecked AFVs. Campaigns are as predictable as swirling snowflakes thanks to the turn-based strategy layer that triggers battles. All GTOS veterans have stories to tell of chaotic night skirmishes and enemy tanks arriving from unexpected directions. Other campaigns can feel awfully stilted in comparison. DLC moves the action to Afghanistan (1979), Angola (1988) and the Kazakhstan/ China border (1969).

Open General

Link: Official site

For anyone into hexagons and Hetzers, the second half of the ’90s was something of a golden age. Talonsoft’s Campaign series was in full spate, Steel Panthers was raising the tactical realism bar, and the perky puzzle-like Panzer General was busy proving turn-based wargames still had popular appeal. PG II went on to inspire Panzer Corps and this massive free homage. The work of lone coder Luis Guzman, OG comes with dozens of fan-made ‘efiles’—mods that whisk the warmongering to new fronts and new eras. There are clashes in the campaign folder you won’t have encountered in any other wargame. Bored of Overlord? Try a landing in Tanga, German East Africa, in 1914. Tired of tussling with Tommies and Yanks? Have a bash at the Berbers (The Rif War, 1921), the Austrians (Hungarian War of Independence, 1848-49) or the Chinese (Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-45).

IL 2 Sturmovik: 1946

Link: Steam, GOG

Worried about multiplayer mischief, 1C Maddox worked hard to keep aircraft modders out of this landmark sim. When the defences were eventually breached, the resulting free-for-all turned an already compendious creation (IL-2: 1946 includes Western European, Pacific War, Winter War, Med and Eastern Front content) into an Aladdin’s Cave of steeds and sorties. Bored of playing sky tig with Spits, Bf-109s and Zeros? Once augmented with gigantic mods like Dark Blue World and HSFX, IL-2 will let you frolic with Fascist biplanes above a troubled 1930s Spain. It will nod enthusiastically if you express an interest in catapult-launched Hurricanes and North Atlantic convoy protection. It will give a jaunty thumbs-up when asked if a weekend in twin-boomed Dutch Fokkers or Crimson Skies-style Shindens is a possibility. Simulations don’t come more cosmopolitan than this.

Ultimate General: Gettysburg

Link: Official site

UGG feels like a sleeker, prettier incarnation of an earlier turnless American Civil War wonder, Sid Meier’s Gettysburg. As with SMG, enemy generals have palpable characters. Cunning, defensive, opportunist... pick a personality for your opposite number, or jab the ‘random’ button, either way, you’re guaranteed a lively and plausible scrap. Lines of tiny soldiers surge and pivot, flank and fall back. Caseshot-spitting cannons leave fields and thickets littered with corpses. An elegant control system (movement arrows are drag-daubed directly onto the terrain), a low price, and an unusual consequence-rich branching campaign, ensure UGG stands out in the wargaming crowd. There’s still balancing and some minor interface irritants to be addressed, but don’t let that stop you joining the fray.

Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol

Link: Official site

This is the game you waft under the noses of wargaming agnostics and novices—the diversion you deploy when you just can’t face the chilly utilitarianism of NATO symbology. Charming, original, and tactically rich, Ace Patrol’s segmented sky skirmishes never involve more than half-a-dozen player controlled planes, and rarely take longer than ten minutes to complete. Much of the tactical texture comes from the clever way pilot experience and aircraft movement is represented. As fliers rack up kills and amass flying hours, you get to add new manoeuvres to their repertoires. More manoeuvres equals more dogfight options, more chances to get on the tail of that Albatross or limp home in that battered Pup. It’s a far more intricate game than its modest pricetag suggests.

Rise of Flight

Link: Official site

RoF’s flyables are a splendidly antsy bunch. They bob. They squirm. They slip and shake. There’s a liveliness to the flight modelling that feels both appropriate and novel. Handsome plane models, well-appointed cockpits and brutal damage effects complement the feisty FMs. Wings Over Flanders Fields has the more salubrious singleplayer facilities and the more plausible AI (WOFF also doesn’t insist on an internet connection for campaign play) but this is the sim you turn to when you fancy some human opposition or an hour or two of contour chasing or spectacular stunting. 777 Sudios provides a Spad and Albatross free of charge for trial purposes. If the taster tempts, you’ve got various options. You can swell your hangar bit by bit by buying single plane DLC or you can opt for one of the two starter packs—Iron Cross or Channel Battles—each of which come with around nine extra rides.

Silent Hunter 4

Link: Official site

Some sunken-eyed sub sim veterans will argue Silent Hunter 3 should have occupied this berth. Like a Type VII’s ballast tanks, their arguments hold a lot of water. Intelligently modded, SH3 is a staggeringly strong sim: realistic, atmospheric, and—thanks to a freelance-friendly campaign—preposterously replayable. The Pacific-plying SH4 sneaks in just ahead of its Atlantic ancestor, mainly on account of its prettier vistas and vessels, superior crew management system, and taskable auxiliary units. The opportunities it affords to deliver commandos, recover downed pilots, and roam an ocean sprinkled with contested islands also help. Be sure to stow classy adjuncts such as Reel Fleet Boat 2.0 and Improved Stock Environment - Realistic Colours before leaving port.

Steel Beasts Pro Personal Edition

Link: Official site

If army approval, blue-chip ballistics, and an uncommonly civilised multiplayer scene are more important to you in a tank game than stunning views, bump-mapped beret badges, and bargain-basement pricing, then this is a sim you need to investigate. Despite the eye-watering price ($115) and the slightly musty visuals, dissatisfied customers are thin on the battleground. Users all seem to be too busy enjoying themselves inside scrupulously simulated treatments of AFVs like the Leopard 2, Challenger 2, Bradley and M1A1. Nine countries currently use SBPPE to train their tankers, the powerful scenario editor, multi-crew capability, and RTS-style map layer enabling coordination and command skills to be tested alongside shell-slinging proficiency.

Unity of Command

Link: Official site

Buy 2x2 Games’ friendly 2011 debut, and you get a design that understands that fuel was as important as bullets and shells on the Eastern Front in WWII. Where other operational offerings expect you to spend hours laboriously chipping holes in torpid enemy lines, UoC encourages rapid thrusts and bold breakthroughs. A simple yet resonant supply mechanic makes every offensive a fascinating gamble. As you scramble to secure VLs or pocket clusters of hostile units (those cut off from supply sources quickly weaken) one of the canniest AIs in the business is often attempting to pocket your pocketers. Due to tight time limits, campaigns can be a tad frustrating at times, but since component scenarios can also be enjoyed as standalone battles, that’s no reason to hang back. A sequel introducing amphibious landings and para drops is en route.

Wings Over Flanders Fields

Link: Official site

At some point circa 2001, sim devs lost interest in sumptuous dynamic campaigns. “Too expensive to build” they chorused, “make do with this limp line of scripted scenarios instead.” Combat Flight Simulator 3, one of the last sims to ship with mobile frontlines and meaningful sorties, is the stout branch on which this singular, singleplayer pampering payware mega-mod roosts. You choose one of 370 historically based Western Front squadrons, flying plausible randomly-generated missions until the Armistice arrives or the Grim Reaper reaps. Thanks to interesting mixed-ability AI, a nerve-fraying mechanical failure system, and a battlespace teeming with incidental activity, those missions rarely go according to plan. There’s not even any guarantee your kills will count: uncorroborated ‘claims’ sometimes fail to convince the tally-validating desk wallahs. Rise of Flight has the livelier flight models, but WOFF brings the 1914-18 air war to life more successfully than any of its peers.

Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942

Link: Official site

Graviteam didn’t make a red rouble out of SF in the West. The 2008 Credit Crunch and a disappearing distributor saw to that. The more you play this gritty Ost Front tank sim, the crueller that seems. Panzer Elite SE has the theatre variety and superior interface, but SF models the claustrophobic brutality of 1940s armoured warfare with more conviction. Whether you’re nosing through birch belts in your Panzer IV, bowling towards trenchlines in your T-34, or navigating smouldering hamlets in your Matilda, the mingled sense of power and vulnerability is exquisite. Is that protuberance on the horizon an AT gun, a hull-down StuG, or merely a stack of timber? Best give it a 76mm prod just in case. Mods add WWII celebrities like the Tiger as well as less glamorous halftracks and tankettes.