Top 10 Must-Have Features For Wargames

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All Wargames Must Have These 10 Features!

Do you enjoy strategy games but find that many new ones are too simple? You’re not the only one. While making games easier to pick up can be good, it often means they don’t stay interesting over time. To stand out in the crowded world of wargames, a new game needs to offer real depth and reward players who think long-term, keeping them coming back for more.

Here’s what I think any new war game needs to really grab players and keep them coming back.

10 – Random Battle Generators

Many wargames focus on recreating historical battles with a high degree of accuracy, allowing players to experience the challenges faced by commanders like Rommel or Napoleon. While this is a major draw for players, it can become a problem when they’ve played the same scenarios repeatedly for years and become intimately familiar with every detail. To genuinely test their skills, these games need to incorporate the unpredictable nature of real combat – the same uncertainty that historical generals had to contend with.

I have fond memories of games from the 1990s, such as the Age of Empires series, where randomly generated maps and the ‘fog of war’ kept each playthrough exciting. Today, VR Designs’ Advanced Tactics Gold is the only game that really captures that same feeling of a dynamic and unpredictable wargame.

I understand developers need to earn money by crafting realistic content and expansions, but I think introducing some randomness could really energize competitive gameplay and push players to adapt instead of just memorizing levels.

9 – Customizable Key Bindings

It’s strange that so few game developers let you customize the keyboard controls. This is really annoying when games in the same series use different default setups, making you learn new controls each time. As I’m getting older and dealing with back pain, comfortable controls like using WASD are more important than ever. It’s hard to understand why some developers are still stuck with outdated key layouts from the 90s.

Games like Age of Empires 4 really shine by letting you customize all the keyboard controls. Command & Conquer Remaster also offers a lot of flexibility in this area. It’s frustrating that some game developers seem to find it so difficult to include this feature.

8 – We Need More Obscure Conflicts

Everyone enjoys games set during famous, large-scale wars like World War I, World War II, the Roman Civil War, and the Napoleonic Wars, and they’ll likely continue to be popular settings for games for years to come. However, we’ve seen these conflicts so often that many other interesting battles from history are being overlooked and deserve the spotlight.

I want to give a special mention to Avalon Hill, who were masters at turning lesser-known historical battles into computer games. Their “War Across the World” series lets you experience unusual conflicts, like the actual “Soccer War” fought between Honduras and El Salvador. You can even play through Che Guevara’s campaign in the Congo, a game that includes challenging elements like recruiting child soldiers and taking hostages. While the accuracy of that detail is debatable, it does illustrate the harsh tactics used by African rebel groups after World War II.

TrickySoft’s *The Operational Art of War 4* lets you play out large-scale battles in conflicts like the Iraq War and the Sino-Soviet War, as well as fictional scenarios such as the Kashmir conflict of 1999. Shrapnel Games’ *WINSPMBT* also offers a vast range of options for wargaming.

Several strategy game series feature lesser-known conflicts. Jason Pethros’s Campaign Series: Middle East includes missions based on the Algerian Revolution. Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front covers the Iran-Iraq War and conflicts in Rhodesia. The Every Single Soldier series focuses on Angola, Ireland, and will soon include Rhodesia.

Beyond these impressive cases, most developers prefer to stick with what’s expected, particularly larger publishing companies.

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2025-09-16 17:43