Unleash Your Inner Grognard: Your Strategy and Wargaming Guide to the WDS Summer Sale 2025
I truly don’t think there’s such a thing as a “bad” Wargame Design Studio title in their massive library. Whatever you like, or don’t like, just comes down to personal preference. These are the kind of games that are truly made for those wargaming enthusiasts and history buffs who love to dive into the nitty gritty of strategic, operational, and tactical level warfare. Wargame Design Studio has a library of over 100 games, covering conflicts from the medieval period all the way to the modern day, at all levels of strategy, and they’re well known for their meticulously researched simulation of conflicts, maps, orders of battle, and also alt-historical scenarios of real events.
Since I was going to do this list anyway, I asked Wargame Design Studio what games they would love to highlight, and mixed them up with some of my favourites you have already seen before in Strategy and Wargaming. So enjoy our top 10 picks, highlighting the best Wargame Design Studio games you can buy this Summer Sale.
Besides all that, the Wargame Design Studio players have a very active multiplayer always looking to help onboard new players!
If you don’t know how their sales work, all games out longer than 12 months have been reduced by 25%, and if you buy in bulk, you get a 20% extra discount for orders over USD 199. Learn everything you need to know here.
10 – Smolensk ’41
World War 2 Eastern Front lovers are a dime a dozen, so plenty of them already have, or are considering buying Smolensk ’41. With a master map of nearly 84.000 hexes (yes, not 840, not 8.400, you read that correctly), this title from Wargame Design Studio is a fan favourite for newcomers to the wargaming genre and battle-hardened veterans of the genre. Set during July of 1941, the game covers the German advance as they steamrolled over the desperate Russian defenses. With 46 scenarios played at a strategic level, a complex battle order that covers the Axis and Russian forces that took part in this battle, and despite being the first game in the series, Smolensk ’41 is still a go-to game from the grog-favorite publishing studio.
9 – Normandy ’44 Gold
This one stands not only as one of the best Wargame Design Studio games, but as one of the best games focusing on D-Day ever made. Players will take the role of one of many operational-level commanders as they experience the epic struggle of the D-Day landings and the weeks following that momentous time in history. While Smolensk ’41 is played at a strategic level, Normandy’44 Gold is played at an operational level and it masterfully captures the intense fighting, complex maneuvers, and how hard it can be to dislodge a force that had been preparing for years for your arrival. Its highly detailed map and comprehensive order of battle allow players to experience the historical complexities and “bocage” fighting that made the Normandy ’44 campaign so unique and challenging, and this title features all beach landings, the fight for Villers Bocage, Carentan, Cherbourg, and others. In total, there are 96 scenarios, each one of which is playable by both sides. If, like me, you have a fascination for D-Day, this is an obvious choice.
8 – Campaign Gettysburg
Gettysburg has to be one of the world’s most ()famous battles. Known for its sheer size and scope, as well as the impact it had on the overall course of the American Civil War, its impact is everlasting in American history. For fans of said history and deep strategy, the Campaign Gettysburg from WDS offers an unparalleled recreation of the pivotal 1863 Gettysburg campaign, extending beyond the famous three-day battle to include the crucial engagements leading up to it. With an astounding 628 scenarios, of all shapes and sizes, for the low price of just $29.95, this classic Civil War wargame is a dream come true in terms of dollar paid for content received. Add to that a realistic Order of Battle and a map with nearly 120.000 hexes, and few are the games that can come close to matching the sheer amount of quality content available.
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