Many strategic or tacticaltabletop gamesare loved for their impactful choices and opportunity to plot ultimate victory. Those who wish to take their strategy to the next level can opt for a similar genre of gaming, grand strategy games. If your standard strategy game involves careful planning or tactical choice, grand strategy adds layers to these elements demanding a greater level of forethought and management.
Titles in this category generally follow the same goal, to achieve total domination through wargame mechanics. Building armies, managing production, and more. For all the best in grand strategy board games look no further. From the introductory to the immensely complex, you’ll find everything listed here.
Root
A perfect intro to grand strategy with woodland creatures
Choose a faction and seek total control of the forest kingdom. Build up your forested holds and deploy forces to outmaneuver your opponents.
If you are a newcomer to grand strategy titles or just looking for a lighter experience, then Root is the game for you. It shows you everything that’s great about grand strategy gameplay without making anything tedious or too difficult to follow. You won’t be leaving for a snack and a drink waiting on another player’s turn to end.
You get to deploy troops and advance your faction, but the levels of management will never feel too weighty. Each faction has its own playstyle, which is another great aspect of an enjoyable strategic game. With a double-sided game board, Root can be mixed up for more fun after you’ve gotten familiar with it.
Axis & Allies
Take control of World War 2 in this strategic wargame
The classic war strategy game, Axis & Allies is a grand strategy title for 2-5 players. Based on the second World War players take control of the major powers and battle for victory while managing income, research, and units.
Axis & Allies is like a grandparent to the grand strategy genre, aclassic tabletop gamewith many releases and even digital titles. If Root is an entry point then Axis & Allies is a master class. Gameplay is elevated by a significant margin, with far more elements of war to concern yourself with.
Troop production and deployment is a lesson in logistics, with the possibility to advance your production and firepower through technology. Resource management also demands more of you with currency generation and spending being a major deciding factor for victory.
Spending too much or not spending enough can set you back in this chaotic world war, with the need for new areas of production as battle lines advance and change. It also easily supports five players with satisfying team play, but your afternoon will be gone just for the game’s setup in terms of time commitment.
Star Wars Rebellion
Decide the fate of the galactic war
Decide whether you fight for the Empire or against it in Star Wars Rebellion. This space strategy game is set in the Star Wars universe with the Empire hunting down the Rebel base, but you control the outcome. The Rebels and Empire play very differently with unique mechanics for each.
A nice middle ground of complexity and ease of play is found with Star Wars Rebellion. Besides the fact that it’sthemed around Star Wars, there are other awesome aspects to the game. The two sides of Rebellion and Empire are portrayed perfectly through gameplay.
The Rebel Alliance cannot win through force alone and instead aims to drum up support against the Empire. On the other hand, the Galactic Empire has ships and troops to spare, trying to stomp out the Rebels and find their hidden base. Each faction feels unique and special to play.
Although it can’t support multiple players, the one-on-one battle for the galaxy feels better than ever. The two sides feel balanced in terms of their goals and the game feels very replayable with elements shifting from game to game. Overall this is an excellent pick for your game shelf to experience big strategic fun.
Path Of Civilization
Advance your people and build a lasting empire
Path of Civilization brings the feeling of the popular game to the tabletop. Offering strategic building through simultaneous play you may raise your civilization to the top. Boasting thousands of possible game states for ultimate replay value every game will feel fresh.
For a bit of an abstract approach to grand strategy, Path of Civilization forgoes a shared game board. Each player uses a faction board to track play and direct confrontation plays out very differently than other games. You rarely feel that you are fighting another player but instead pursuing your own victory.
With Euro-style play, fans of tactical resource management will rejoice. You advance population, collect cubes, and try to spend them better than the rest. There is a huge variety of tech cards and possible starts, leading to great replay value. Playing your turn can be tricky at first, but give it time and you’ll find a game of incredible strategic choice.
War Of The Ring
Protect the lands of Middle Earth, or ravage them
The second edition of War of The Ring offers all the fantastic gameplay of the first with an updated release. Fight for the peoples of Middle Earth or join the darkness and oppress them.
Those who don’t want a space-based conflict can enjoy another licensed wargame with War of The Ring. The beautiful world of Middle Earth is laid bare for an epic campaign of war. Following the setting of the books, Sauron is defiling the land and the people of Middle Earth try to stop him.
Similar to the asymmetric elements in Star Wars Rebellion, the Free Peoples are not looking to win with a show of force. The Dark Lord has a clear advantage in terms of strength, so the opposing player seeks to destroy the One Ring to unseat Sauron’s grip on the world.
The oppressive force of your enemy feels even stronger in War of The Ring. It is technically possible to match force for force, but it will require expert play and some luck. For the most part, a straight fight will simply feel impossible for the Free Peoples player. The strategy and play are always enjoyable though, offering excellent gameplay regardless of the looming danger.
Clash Of Cultures: Monumental Edition
A fresh conflict for supremacy every playthrough
Clash of Cultures offers a civilization-building experience for 2-4 players with a modular board and expansive strategic choice. Play in 4X style as you explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate to secure your place at the top.
Another shot at a civilization builder comes to the rescue if you enjoy Path Of Civilization but missed having a game board to conquer. Clash of Cultures uses an intriguing exploration system where you uncover modular game tiles. It adds a fantastic element of discovery to what’s often unchanging in grand strategy games - the map.
The replay value of a map that’sunique to every playthroughcannot be overstated, as generally every game of this nature works off predetermined map layouts. This is usually for balance and ease of play, so that you may become familiar with the routes and paths of attack. An unknown board introduces a new level of tactical planning to your quest for domination.
Clash of Cultures offers the highly desired feature of varied factions, and the construction of wonders adds additional strategic layers to the gameplay. Unfortunately, the one downside to this expansion set of game materials is that there are so many game materials. Board tiles, troops, buildings, happiness markers, and more will clutter your table but remain manageable.
FAQ
What Makes A Game Grand Strategy?
The line between a game being a grand strategy title or not can be fuzzy, usually, titles are placed in the genre for having extra management mechanics. The game of Risk for example, is certainly a strategy game, but many would not consider it to be a grand strategy game. The lack of resource gameplay or additional objectives leaves Risk simpler than more complex titles that demand more than troop placement.
A humorous method to evaluating whether a game is a grand strategy title is to check if there are many types of tokens and pieces. If the parts of the game mostly consist of some troops and dice you are likely in for less of a tactical commitment than one like Clash of Cultures. The presence of currencies, multiple resources, objective trackers, and other such mechanics are the elements that push a strategy game into the grander genre.
What Are Asymmetrical Mechanics And Games?
Asymmetry when discussing game factions or systems refers to players or sides of the game having different gameplay from each other. Almost any game will have some level of asymmetry, but in strategy games like War of The Ring or Star Wars Rebellion, each faction can have wildly different tactics and goals. This difference in gameplay between factions is a common element in grand strategy, demanding new plans when you change sides between games.
Some games can be highly asymmetric, with even greater differences between players, such as using entirely separate rules for everyone at the table. These are the titles that are usually referred to as asymmetric games although similar to grand strategy there are no exact guidelines. For most strategy games expect to see some level of asymmetry in play, with some much more so than others.
