Best Strategy Games For Engaging In Large-Scale Wars

Most games have a hard time expressing the scale of the conflict, especially if the gamer is playing as just one soldier on the ground. Strategy games are perfect for simulating a large-scale war. By taking a much higher-level view of the battlefield, the player can make massive decisions that can involve hundreds of thousands of casualties, so each choice needs to be weighed carefully.

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By  Eduardo Ariedo

Whether it's the grinding wars of WW1, hands-on tactical decisions for individual battles, or managing an entire world war from a bird's eye perspective, many strategy games are perfect for simulating large scale wars, but some arguably do it better than others.

5 Victoria 3

The Engine Of Industry Fuels War

Paradox Interactive's newest release takes place between 1836-1936 and all the industrial turmoil that happened in between. Though much of this period is known for being surprisingly peaceful, Victoria 3 does simulate horrible wars such as WW1 quite effectively with grinding frontlines that barely move, and each decision matters.

With the unique diplomatic play system that allows other countries to jump into aggressive maneuvers from one country to another enhanced by the brilliant Spheres of Influence DLC, the game successfully simulates how conflicts as widespread as WW1 occur and shows what the logistics and economic despair of those wars feel like. It's a lot of fun to play, and it's really informative, too.

4 Steel Division 2

Hands On World War

As the premiere battle simulator currently on the market, Steel Division 2 sees the player adopt the role of a commander as they send their units into battle. Each instance of the game takes the form of a large-scale battle, where many units need to be tactically managed to secure victory, which is perfect for jumping in quickly and requires zero grinding.

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In actuality, this often involves a healthy mix of micro and macro decisions, whether that be tuning up a tank to just the right specifications or unit allocation to best counter an oncoming offensive from the enemy. Battles can grow to massive sizes, and things can get overwhelming for players who aren't into strategy games. However, for strategy fans, it's one of the best WW2 simulations currently available.

3 Total War: Warhammer 3

Magic And Mayhem

Where most of the games discussed thus far take place in historical settings, Total War: Warhammer 3 decides to go the entirely opposite direction and lean fully into fantasy. That means that armies are made up of thousands of fantasy creatures, and the game takes place over sprawling continents. The player takes control of multiple armies and has to carefully assign strength to fight large-scale wars over a long period of time on behalf of the game's many legendary lords.

That sense of scale can really be seen when these armies clash, taking place on massive battle maps with a camera so high that it's difficult to see individual soldiers. However, once the units clash, the player can put the camera right into the thick of the action and see how many thousands of units are battling on behalf of them. It's absolute chaos at times, providing players with a great simulation of large-scale wars.

2 Hearts Of Iron 4

The World At War

Hearts of Iron 4 is the undisputed king of WW2 simulation games and successfully portrays the sheer scale of WW2. The player can take control of any nation in the world in 1936 and build up to the war itself, fighting for survival or domination as the circumstances demand.

With an interlocking series of complex systems that reward strategic thinking and a frankly obsessive love of in-depth micro-numbers (though some countries are much easier for beginners), Hearts of Iron 4 is an incredibly impressive simulation of WW2 that rewards player ingenuity, whether they want to tread the path of real history or forge a path into alternative reality that can lead to even bigger wars.

1 Stellaris

Make The Galaxy Burn

While Paradox games tend to take place in historical settings, Stellaris sends players into the future, where wars don't take place on a planetary scale, but instead on an intergalactic scale between spacefaring civilizations. Though Stellaris doesn't simulate individual ground battles very much, the actual scale of the wars is unprecedented, with hundreds of millions of casualties being quite common.

Players can take the role of militaristic civilizations, where every aspect of their society is tailor-made for waging war, resulting in wars that engulf an entire galaxy in flames and can even feature leviathan-scale cosmic horrors getting involved in the action. In terms of scale, it's hard to get much bigger than Stellaris.