Global War 1939 - 1945

HBG's (Historical Board Gaming) 'Global War 1939 - 1945' is quite an interesting game. It is also quite flawed.

Tabletop Simulator (found on Steam for a great price as it gives you free access to countless board and card games, like Axis&Allies) is a great way to expose people to games they would never had discovered or be able to play. I, for instance, do not know any boardgamers, so I would never get the chance to play any of these games.

I started by playing Axis and Allies: Global 1940 v2 on TTS (Tabletop Simulator) as I am pretty much up for any sort of strategic WW2 game. I found the rules to be (generally) quite simple and discovered I somewhat disliked the set moves (IE Taranto Raid) that basically annihilated a country on Turn 1. I wanted to find a more complete game, something between Axis&Allies and Hearts of Iron, without needing a fully automated video game.

I found that in Global War 1939 - 1945. The game is essentially a heavily modified version of the Axis&Allies Global 1940 game. It introduces a better technology tree, additional units, and some unique gameplay rules. However, its slightly hard to tell which AA rules it keeps and which it doesn't and its rulebook comes across as being incomplete.

I have spent dozens of hours playing the game, as varied countries, against varied partners. It is certainly better than AA but with some vague rules and also some of those same 'set' opening moves, I found myself craving something more.

I found that in Global War 1926 - 1945, also by HBG, but a much more complete game, one they are constantly working on, and one that introduces some diplomatic actions to the game, while also allowing what appears to be greater flexibility as each Nation gears up for war.