7 – Burden of Command
The amount of praise I bestow upon Burden of Command might come off as excessive to some, even unduly so, but if you know me, you’ll instantly recognize that this is the kind of game that speaks directly to my core. As someone whose hobbies revolve around reading about World War 2 and playing World War 2 video games, I’ve been on the lookout for something that breaks the mold. This game steps away from the strictly tactical and strategic command of the battlefield and adds a whole new dimension to the conflict: the human cost of war. We so often read about this cost, but seldom see it mirrored in our games. Burden of Command expertly blends a narrative experience focused on the human toll of leadership, loss, and camaraderie, while peppering it with a semi-authentic, turn-based combat system. It might not have revolutionized the industry, but it certainly has me wishing for more experiences like it.
6 – Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy
Prior to my interaction with the Combat Mission franchise, my endeavor into wargaming had been relatively limited. I looked with suspicion to those, at the time, very weird-looking hex-and-counter games that seemed anything but intuitive to play. It wasn’t until I played, for the first time, the older Shock Force game sometime in the early 2010s that I realized I might actually enjoy something like this: a realistic depiction of tactical warfare. Well, that eventually led to me coming across and buying Combat Mission: Battle for Normandy sometime in 2017 or 2018, and the game quickly became one of the best Wargames of All Time.
What do you get when you pair up a guy who was devouring books and games about the Western Front during World War 2 with the best tactical simulation available? Well, the number 6 place on this list of my favorite strategy games of all time. What I love about Combat Mission: Battle For Normandy is the fact that it offers something no other game does: a very precise representation of what World War 2 engagements looked like during the Normandy campaign in a non-abstracted way, which is more typical of other, higher-levels of strategy games.
5 – Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition
I have penned several articles about the Stronghold series, and I would go as far as to say it’s possibly one of the most mentioned games in Strategy and Wargaming. My writing has spanned from one of my first articles exploring a real-life stronghold in Tomar, to an authentic replica of the battle of Aljubarrota, to reviews of both of the Definitive Editions (first one here, and Crusader here). But if I had to choose one entry to take the mantle of my favorite in the series, it would no doubt be Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition. The first Stronghold was amazing, but Crusader kept 100% of the original content, added new gameplay mechanics, new buildings, new units, a new setting (the Crusades!), a whole new set of challenges, and an overwhelming amount of single-player content. I was a wee lad when it came out, but that didn’t stop me and my cousins from acting like medieval warlords and strategizing how to take over enemy castles in particularly challenging missions. We even went as far as making dioramas on the floor to plan the attacks while one of us managed the economy and built up the forces. Man, games used to be so much cooler as a kid.
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