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Tabletop War Games

Tabletop war games recreate the thrill and danger of the battlefield in a player's living room or on her kitchen table, and typically use metal or plastic miniatures to represent the troops and vehicles used in warfare. Battleground terrain is depicted using models too, while players follow rules sets and roll dice to determine the outcome of combat and strategic movements. Tabletop war games are multiplayer in nature, and some allow several participants on each side.

Historical
- These games allow players to recreate historical periods of warfare, from the days of ancient civilizations to 20th century conflicts. "Axis &Allies Naval Miniatures," for instance, is a collectible miniature game focusing on modern sea vessels such as battle cruisers and torpedo boats. Island cards and battle maps represent ocean-based battlefields.
  
  "Rapid Fire," meanwhile, is a rules system designed to allow players to re-enact battles from World War II, with participants each controlling a nation. The rules cover everything from guns and vehicles to naval operations and medical units, with the game's rules booklet explaining how to play via organizational charts and diagrams.
Sci-fi Ground Battles
- Some science-fiction war games represent struggles between ground-based troops. "Warmachine" is a tabletop game designed for collectible small miniatures, and is based around the steampunk subgenre, mixing steam-age technology with magic. Players control sorcerer-soldiers as well as cannons and steam-powered robots.
  
  Designed by one of the world's most famous war game companies, Games Workshop, "Warhammer 40,000" is based around the conflicts between humans and various alien races in the 41st millennium. Players command armies of vehicles, infantry and monsters, with forces ranging from just a few models to larger hosts.
Fantasy
- Fantasy war games feature armies of mythical creatures such as goblins and dragons. The fantasy game "Mage Knight" uses pre-painted miniatures which are sold at random in packs and traded between players. "Mage Knight" models come complete with statistics printed on the base for easy reference, and these bases rotate to indicate the health of a particular troop.
  
  The "Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game" is designed by Games Workshop, and aims to recreate scenes from the noted book and movie series. Players control either the armies of Sauron, which include trolls, demons and orcs, or those of light, which feature elves, dwarves and noble horsemen.
Space Opera
- Some sci-fi war games represent clashes between space vessels, and often use boards or grids indicating stellar bodies. Tactical space war game "Anaxis" uses hex paper to show movement and features six races, each with its own types of spacecraft. Each spaceship is controlled separately, and players must carefully track the situation of each craft during the action.
  
  In "Twilight Imperium," players don't just fight space battles, but also seek to develop whole intergalactic empires, using complex tactics to amass power via trade and diplomacy as well as force. The game features 10 alien races, with troops represented by plastic miniatures.

Board Games