4 – The Last General
I first spotted The Last General in the wild, on social media in early 2024, and instantly reached out to Alejandro, the sole developer behind this innovative game, and I think it’s fair to say that it’s also shaping up to be one of 2026’s most ambitious wargames. This is going to be a truly massive real-time strategy aiming to combine high-level command, sprawling maps, and tactical combat into a single epic experience, even going as far as allowing players to take control of a single soldier in third person, similarly to Gates of Hell. Played from the vantage of a “general,” players command armies across gigantic, procedurally generated warzones (up to 400 km²), complete with dozens of towns, cities, and industrial hubs, where they have to manage unit creation, allocation, logistics, and resource management. With thousands of units operating on a single map, if The Last General can deliver on its premise, it can very well be a next-gen wargame, capable of rivalling titles like Broken Arrow and WARNO, and The Last General could redefine what a modern RTS/wargame can be. In my opinion, this makes it a must-wishlist title for 2026.
3 – Battleplan
Battleplan is another title I had the pleasure of playing recently, and despite the limited content available, I must have played the 4 missions at least 5 times each, just to experiment with new tactics and army compositions, so that alone should tell you that Battleplan is well established on my wishlist of wargames going into 2026. Set during the Normandy Campaign, the game is an extrapolation of the planning tool of Hearts of Iron IV but with plenty more options and a higher level of control, giving players the power to command entire armies simply by drawing their strategies directly onto the campaign map. Instead of micromanaging every unit, you’ll issue high-level operational orders like breakthroughs, encirclements, setting up defensive lines, artillery and air priorities, and then watch as your forces execute your orders across a historically accurate map of France in World War 2. It’s certainly a unique wargame that plays like no other, so that alone makes it one of the most exciting WW2 wargames going into 2026.
2 – Grand Tactician: Napoleonic Wars
Look, if you want to announce a wargame, do it like Grand Tactician: Napoleonic Wars, because its trailer is an absolute banger that has us wishing I could go and fight for the Glory of France alongside Napoleon, and I’m not even a fan of the man. Grand Engineer Corps, the developers of Grand Tactician: The Civil War (1861-1865), have been teasing a new game, but have never detailed the time period. Well, now we know for sure that the game is going to be a Napoleonic-era strategy experience, and if their new title is equally as good or better than Civil War, then I think it’s fair to say that we are about to witness one of the best Napoleonic wargames ever made. Battles will be fought at a 1:1 scale, on a battlefield generated from the topography of the exact location of the battles. Expect things like fog of war, weather changes, couriers delivering orders, morale, equipment, terrain, organization, and officer quality to be important factors in determining the outcome of a battle. Are we about to witness the definitive Napoleonic wargame in 2026? Wishlist it and keep your eye on it!
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