Highlights
- War games are a popular genre in tabletop gaming, offering a variety of options from miniature war games to classic territory control games.
- Science-fiction futures provide some of the best experiences in tabletop war gaming, featuring alien races, space battles, and powerful weaponry.
- Each game mentioned, such as Scythe, Infinity, and Star Wars: Legion, offers unique gameplay mechanics, accessible rules, and captivating visuals, making them great choices for fans of sci-fi war games.
War games are one of the most saturated genres in tabletop gaming, coming in various forms. From the miniature war games such as Warhammer that are often hobbies in and of themselves, all the way to classic territory control games that have players pushing armies of plastic across nations, there's no doubt that when it comes to tabletop war games, there's plenty to choose from.
8 Best Multi-Session Board Games
For players who like to take their games across multiple sessions, it's hard to beat the following examples.
Despite many war games taking on classic themes such as WW2 and other historic periods of war, some of the best experiences in tabletop war gaming are set in science-fiction futures often involving varied alien races, space battles, and powerful weaponry.
8 Scythe
Set in an alternate version of 1920s Europe wherein nearby countries fight wars with heavily armored mechs, Scythe is an engine-building game that revolves around resource management and brutal, unforgiving combat. Despite being very much about war, initiating a fight in Scythe can be as detrimental for the attacker as it is for the defender when done at the wrong time.
The game's unique, asymmetric factions add a lot of replay value to Scythe, and the game's stellar artwork and design make it one of the most visually pleasing and immersive science-fiction war games. Furthermore, the game's setting is truly unique, and the gameplay itself is fairly accessible when compared to similar games.
7 Infinity
This miniatures war game features a low model count that makes it one of the cheaper and more accessible miniatures games to get into. The game features a hard sci-fi setting with an aesthetic akin to that seen in cyberpunk-style fiction and anime.
Infinity stands out from other miniatures war games with its reaction system that allows inactive players to react to what their opponent is doing as their turn progresses, keeping both players involved in the battle at all times. This helps to keep the game tense and engaging, allowing players to pull off strategic maneuvers to get their troops out of trouble mid-combat.
6 Star Wars: Legion
This Star Wars miniatures war game is just as expensive as many other miniatures games, but its accessible rules and evocative Star Wars theme make it a joy to play for fans of both Star Wars and miniatures games.
7 Best Star Wars Board Games
Having fun in the galaxy far, far away doesn't stop with movies or video games. These fun board games should satisfy fans quite a bit.
Star Wars: Legion's rules are fairly standard, with gameplay that primarily revolves around moving units and throwing dice. However, Star Wars: Legion also features a weapon system that allows players to have multiple weapons in each squad, combining attacks for devastating effects. Furthermore, the game features a unique initiative system that creates a strategic puzzle out of deciding who goes next.
5 Space Empires 4X
This complex grand strategy board game features large-scale and thematic gameplay with a focus on space combat and player elimination. The game's rulebook contains basic rules that are merely eight pages long, making it one of the quickest games to learn.
Space Empires 4X features a large variety of spaceship classes and a technology tree that allows for deep and strategic combat, enabling players to play differently every time. The visuals and components of Space Empires 4X are extremely minimal, but the game's accessible yet deep rules make it an experience worth trying for fans of science-fiction war games.
4 Dune (2019)
Originally published in 1979 by Avalon Hill to critical acclaim, Dune had been out of print for years due to licensing issues. However, in 2019, this classic war game set on the dusty dunes of Frank Herbert's iconic Arrakis was brought back to life by Gale Force Nine.
10 Best Sci-Fi Board Games Of All Time
Fans in the mood for serious sci-fi strategy can't go wrong with these tabletop games.
Dune is one of the more complex games. The game is asymmetrical in nature, with various distinct factions vying for control over several strategic objectives (in the form of "strongholds") as well as precious "spice," an important in-game currency. The game's combat is quick and brutal, often leading to massive casualties, and players must also be mindful of the storm that makes its way around the board, threatening to swallow troops whole.
3 Eclipse: Second Dawn For The Galaxy
This large-scale space opera strategy war game for up to six players features an easy-to-set-up game board and plenty of plastic spaceships to do battle with throughout its lengthy playtime. Eclipse also features an intuitive and strategic system for exploring the hexagonal galaxy, adding tension to the game even when no one is being aggressive.
Eclipse is very focused on combat between players, with plenty of the game's victory points being available through fighting. Building on this, Eclipse features a ship upgrade system that allows players to experiment with their ship designs, building unique fleets to counter the armies of the other players. This system is arguably what makes Eclipse so distinguished from other sci-fi war games, and what makes it such a great choice for fans of combative gameplay.
2 Twilight Imperium
This sprawling sci-fi space opera strategy war game is currently in its fourth edition, originally released in 1997, and published by Fantasy Flight Games. Twilight Imperium is easy to learn and teach, featuring a combat system that plays out entirely with dice rolls and relatively simple action cards, but its lengthy playtime may make it inaccessible for some.
8 Board Games That Feel Like Video Games
These board games should satisfy video game fans due to their similarities.
Players don't need to be aggressive in Twilight Imperium to win, and the game features mechanics to support and even encourage diplomacy and trade. However, eventually, combat is bound to ensue. Whether it be battling for control over the game's central victory-point-earning planet, or simply a dispute over a particularly resource-rich planet, players will almost always find themselves in fast-paced, tense space battles in which both sides are likely to take heavy losses.
1 Warhammer 40,000
Originally released in 1987 under the name Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, there's arguably no game more prominent in science fiction tabletop war games than Warhammer 40,000. This miniatures war game is a sprawling hobby set in an expansive grim-dark setting that has been expanded upon with novels and even several video games.
There's no arguing that Warhammer 40,000 is an expensive hobby, but its deep history and simple rules allow players to immerse themselves in a sci-fi world torn apart by war, fighting large-scale battles with any number of the game's abundance of distinct factions.