WWII Board Game Domination to be Released in 2021

Credit: Domination
Credit: Domination

A WWII themed board game published by Phalanx has hit its funding target on the Kickstarter website and is set for release next year.

The ‘son-of-Mini-WWII’ is the brainchild of Phalanx designer Wei-Cheng Cheng and has had rave pre-launch reviews.

Said to have taken its inspiration from the industrial level warfare of World War Two, the game can be played either as a two-player or two-team outing.

The Axis and the Allies battle it out across the five continents and seven seas, through every kind of terrain, until one side attains domination.

Credit: Domination
Credit: Domination

The board game’s motor is a deck of cards and each player or team holds a hand of cards that spells out the forces at their command, what they can target and where they can be deployed.

Most of the cards display a ‘tech-tree’ which lets the player know how many units they can move and how far, with the points not used stockpiled for major actions later in the game.

The main deck is balanced with Peace cards, which in practise are a way of stocking up on more points for future battles, winning negotiations with neutral countries to gain allies or improving technology and firepower for later use.

At the end of the game the winner is decided by the highest number of Victory points accrued across the world, leading to Domination.

Cheng’s previous war game credits, apart from Mini WWII, include Growling Tigers: The Battle for Changde 1943.

Publishers Phalanx, famous for their app powered U Boat simulation board game also released the Roman era Hannibal and Hamilcar: Rome versus Carthage, which was an anniversary version, plus Nanty Narking, a reboot of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld relocated to Victorian London.

The Kickstarter website is hosting the Domination pledge page up to July 14th, 2020 and just $34 will get you a copy of the game with pledges rising to $88 with all sorts of goody-bag add-ons including luxury game mats and playing pieces. The game itself is set for production and dispatch in 2021.

The Second World War was a war fought on so many different fronts, from the steppes of central Russia to the North African deserts, from the ice-cold waters of the Falkland Islands to the tropical heat of the South China Seas.

Soldiers of all nationalities faced each other in street to street fighting and in impenetrable jungle, on mountain passes and swamps.

Technology accelerated with the development of nuclear warfare and automatic firearms, bouncing bombs and fighter aircraft that could only have been imagined before the outbreak of war.

WWII enemies became Allies and Allies found themselves betrayed in an extraordinary seven years of bloodshed which changed the face of the globe for years to come, redrawing borders and alliances with enduring consequences.

Credit: Domination
Credit: Domination

It was a classic ‘Hot War’ with populations mobilised across every continent to support both the Allied forces and Hitler’s Nazi agenda.

Historians have argued that the German Fuhrer’s ambition was ultimately his undoing and had he been more considered his Reich could have achieved Domination over time, but he had more than ninety minutes to make his mistakes.

If you have the patience to ait for 2021 to remake history, fighting in the air, on the beaches, and on the landing grounds, you will have just ninety minutes to achieve Domination or suffer annihilation.

You will need all your strategic cunning, your nous for diplomacy, and your instinct for when to close in for the kill.

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The stakes could not be higher, the penalties for failure more severe, so make sure the pizza has been ordered in, the tinnies are properly chilled in the fridge, and that your phones are set to ‘do not disturb’, your very survival could depend on such preparedness.

Ian Harvey

Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE