HexWar's upcoming title, Assault on Arnhem, introduces online multiplayer and more

The first thing you should be doing when you read HexWar in a title here at The Wargamer is immediately search for the term 1775. If it doesn’t appear, then you have the right to be sad because 1775: Rebellion is one of the best board games of the last few years, and one of my most anticipated digital ports of 2016. That said, we know 1775 is coming, so we shouldn’t look more wargaming goodness from HexWar in the mouth. Their latest is Assault on Arnhem which focuses on Operation Market Garden and it’s a bit different than their usual fare.

The first difference you’ll notice is the look. Arnhem isn’t using the same engine as other releases of late such as Pea Ridge and Hex Mechs. It’s not even using the engine from IWO: Bloodbath in the Bonins. No, this game spots a full on hex map with counters. Counters! They even have NATO symbology on them, if that’s your thing. If it’s not your thing, you can choose counters that even dummies like me can understand with little pictures of soldiers on them. That’s not all, though. While most of their wargames are single-player affairs, Arnhem introduces cross-platform online multiplayer for two players, and hotseat multiplayer for up to four. This is a huge move in the right direction for HexWar, and opens the door for online multiplayer in future releases such as the aforementioned 1775: Rebellion and Richard Borg’s Command & Color title, The Great War.

Other than that, it sounds like standard wargame fare:

Key Game Features:

- Up to four player hotseat multiplayer

- Cross-platform online multiplayer (two player)

- In-game tutorial

- Turn based play

- Four scenarios (Grave; Nijmegen; Arnhem; Operation Market Garden)

- Fog of war mechanics (taking terrain into account). Hide your units in the woods and watch the enemy!

- Night time turns with reduced visibility, affecting combat and command. Slip your recon units through enemy lines!

- Logistics rules governing HQ supply lines and unit regrouping

- Over 110 units of 7 distinct unit types

- Three battle scenarios and a main campaign scenario

- Three levels of AI difficulty, playing as either Axis or Allies

- 3D Map View

- Supply drops, reinforcement schedules

- Simple enough for a beginner but with plenty of depth for experts

I have yet to confirm platforms being targeted by HexWar with Assault on Arnhem, but they usually focus on the Mac/iOS side. That said, some of their games lately have also been launching for PC, so we'll have to wait and see. We don’t have an ETA for Assault on Arnhem yet, but the fact that they’ve posted the product page on the website means it can’t be too far away. Now, bring me 1775!

A version of this story originally appeared on Pocket Tactics.