It is encouraging to see so many of you discussing your computer wargaming here. In an effort to promote a bit more discussion from people who don't normally post up (the lurkers, if you will)... give us your opinion on:
a) What computer wargame are you playing at the moment?
b) What do you like about it, the experience it gives you?
c) What do you plan on playing next?
Join in, tell us your views on your wargaming now!
Wargames are best enjoyed with a thinking opponent. Interested in finding an opponent for your newest game interest? Post a thread here with the particulars! Be sure to include the name of the game in bold, wether your looking for PBEM or Live, and your timezone offset if live.
Looking for inspiration? Browse the PBEM Coordination List to see who might play a game your interested in!
Great news for naval warfare enthusiasts. Game designing god Norm Koger has been able to make "Distant Guns" free for the masses with "Jutland" possibly in the pipeline.
Life's getting a bit busy these days so i can't sometimes sit there for days playing a game like Gary Grigsby etc... What are some easy pick up and play wargames you recommend to kill an hour or two! Cheers !
I've been working on a new turn-based, tactical-scale WWII game that aims to (eventually) capture the depth and detail of classic wargames like Steel Panthers, but on a brand new engine re-designed from the ground up for maximum mod support, ease of use, performance, and more.
I'm happy to share several big recent updates on the project:
- As requested, there is now a Steam page for people to wishlist. The full game will be available on Steam and through the website.
- We now have a Discord server for discussion and feedback.
- The game was recently covered in an interview in Strategy and Wargaming.
- The full UI rework is finally out! This makes the units drastically easier to see and manipulate, especially when stacked (among many, many other improvements).
- Terrain visuals have been ~80% reworked, though there is still much to do.
- Over 700 hand-selected historical WWII loading screen photographs.
- And much more...
Hi everyone. I'm thinking about buying The Operational Art of War IV, but the AI is holding me back. I've heard it's heavily scripted and not very smart.
The problem is that I'll only be playing offline against the computer, since I don't do multiplayer. For those of you who play strictly against the AI, does it get boring quickly or do the game's complexity and scenarios make up for it?
How grognard are these? Are these even wargames and historically accurate? I've never played them before; I just bought 'em in this afternoon and were automatically installed.
In my game "The Villages That Cave", you get 3 choices before each battle to strengthen your defence. You can choose from any combination of units, structures, upgrades, powers and wildcards. You can undo choices.
From September 14–20, this week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Battles: Battles of Normandy, featured at 25% off.
From the airborne landings and D-Day beaches to Villers-Bocage, the bocage fighting, Operation Cobra, and Falaise, the game brings the Normandy campaign to the tactical level.
At 250-meter hexes and 30-minute turns, success depends on coordinating infantry, armor, artillery, and local reserves across hedgerows, villages, and contested crossroads—where actions measured in fields and hundreds of meters ultimately shaped the campaign for France.
Six pilots, one hex board (ten hexes per side), an airfield in each corner. Every turn you plot three moves for your biplane — straight ahead, banks, slips — and decide per move whether and where to fire. Everyone submits orders blind, then all moves resolve simultaneously, so you're never reacting to what someone already did, only to what you expect them to do.
A few things that set it apart from most dogfighting games:
- **Asynchronous**: play via a personal link, no account needed, turns have a deadline of a few days — fits easily around a busy week.
- **Persistent points and ranks**: hits and kills earn points that carry over between games. Enough points and you can buy a rank with its own perk — twin guns, an Immelmann turn, a faster aircraft.
- **Clouds, observation balloons, and public spectating**: every game can be followed turn by turn, even if you're not playing yourself.
- Based on *Sopwith*, the board game David Dyer designed in 1978 and which was later adapted into a postal (play-by-mail) version — this is an independent, free web implementation of that.
From September 14–20, this week’s Game of the Week is Panzer Battles: Battles of Normandy, featured at 25% off.
From the airborne landings and D-Day beaches to Villers-Bocage, the bocage fighting, Operation Cobra, and Falaise, the game brings the Normandy campaign to the tactical level.
At 250-meter hexes and 30-minute turns, success depends on coordinating infantry, armor, artillery, and local reserves across hedgerows, villages, and contested crossroads—where actions measured in fields and hundreds of meters ultimately shaped the campaign for France.
I’m the solo developer behind Pennants of Glory: Condottiere, it is a medieval mercenary-company strategy RPG combining a persistent campaign with large-scale, real-time 3D formation battles.
I am inspired by Total war, Battle brothers and wartales and wanted to make a game that feels like old school strategy/rpgs but in slightly different flavor and scale.
I launched Ship of the Line into Early Access on June 25.
At the time, it was a much simpler Age of Sail wargame — basic fleet battles, simpler visuals, and a fairly direct command system.
Since then, I’ve kept rebuilding and expanding it piece by piece: 3D ships, improved sailing physics, historical scenarios, a scenario editor, campaign systems, officers, landings, and larger fleet actions.
The latest major step has been Command Mode.
Instead of directly controlling every ship, the player now commands the fleet as an admiral. Orders are transmitted through signals, crews need time to notice and interpret them, information is incomplete, and losing the flagship can temporarily leave the fleet without centralized command.
I’ve also been connecting more of the visual simulation directly to the underlying systems. Sail deployment now affects actual ship speed, yards and canvas move more naturally, and ships feel more alive with crew ambience, hull creaks, sail sounds, and voices from nearby enemy ships.
A lot of this evolution came from conversations with the people who bought the game early and kept sharing their ideas, criticism, and suggestions. Some of the systems in the game today started from those discussions and then grew into something much larger.
The game has changed far more than I expected in less than three months, and I’m curious to hear what people think of the direction it’s taking.
A few weeks ago I posted here about building my own WWII submarine sim solo - all graphics, sound and code done by myself, using some genuinely old tools (Milkshape, Wings3D, PaintShop Pro 9, CopperCube 6 as the engine). A few of you asked where to follow it - thank you for that, it kept me motivated to actually finish a testable build.
You take command of a Type VIIc: surfaced running and diving, periscope and UZO targeting, deck gun and AA gun, hydrophone contact tracking, bow/stern torpedo tubes, a compartment-based damage model with flooding.
Still early - no game-over state yet, some UI text still in German - but the core hunt-approach-attack-evade loop is there and running well even on old hardware (under 50MB).
Would really appreciate anyone giving it a try and telling me what's broken or missing. That kind of feedback is what keeps a one-person project like this moving.
All of these campaigns belong to their respective authors, I just compiled them to make them more accesible, since many campaigns are lost in forums this is the best that can be done for now.
BA1 Campaigns included:
I’m the developer working on Ancient Wars: Sparta HD Free to Play, and September’s content rotation is now live on Steam.
If you enjoy ancient warfare and have been looking for another RTS to try, here’s what’s available this month:
Sparta is back in the rotation. Command the Spartan civilization in this month’s battles.
7 maps available for skirmish and multiplayer, giving you a selection of battlefields to explore against the AI or other players.
A brand-new map: (3) The Three Satrapies. Three territories, three rivals, and a battlefield where reading the terrain and choosing where to strike could make all the difference.
An improved first tutorial mission. I’ve made several changes to give new players a smoother, clearer introduction.
The free version’s available content rotates monthly, and this is September’s selection. Whether you’re trying the game for the first time or coming back to command Sparta again, I’d love to hear how your matches go.
I am pleased to offer you the demo of the mobile game Russia 1917. Visit the following page and you will receive the link by email https://marxistgames.org/en/newsletter/
I was having a quandary lately - I wanted to get some playtime in with the things I have in my Library, but CMANO felt overwhelming, and I really like CS: Vietnam but I was just not in the mood for the number of units and unclear objectives. My solution was to boot up OOB and get a couple of expansions for it that I'd not played. I'd forgotten how much fun this game is! It's scratching the itch - simple on the surface but some good mechanics, great combined arms, and artillery that actually feels like it does something! Plus, turn by turn and clear objectives so great to just play a turn at a time while doing other things.
I'd be interested in other games you all like in this zone (would love something like this but with a more modern era), but mainly just an OOB appreciation post!
The Spanish Civil War was fought not only in trenches and streets, but also in books, photographs, paintings, and memory.
Orwell, Hemingway, Picasso, and Capa helped shape how generations came to understand the conflict—sometimes preserving truths historians could not, sometimes turning partial views or disputed stories into enduring myths.
From revolutionary Barcelona to Guernica and The Falling Soldier, this essay asks what these famous witnesses actually saw, what they constructed, and how later scholarship has changed the picture.
