What SGS Korean War covers
SGS Korean War is a turn-based wargame covering the Korean War from June 1950 to May 1953, with each turn representing one week. You get the whole span of the conflict: the sudden North Korean invasion, the UN counter-offensive after the Incheon landing, the Chinese intervention, and the long static period of fortified lines that followed. The opening phase moves fast, more like a blitz than a siege, and the game keeps that mobility visible alongside the trench-like stalemate of the later years.
Scenarios come in different lengths, so you can pick something that fits the time you have. Short options include the Pusan Perimeter, Incheon, Chosin Reservoir and the Spring Offensive, each just a few turns. Longer campaigns run three months, six months, twelve months, twenty-four months, or the full 150-turn grand campaign from the first invasion to the armistice. Duration varies from a few hours for the shortest scenario to 100+ hours for the whole war.
How two players share the game
One side plays the North Korean and Chinese Communist armies with Soviet backup, the other plays the United Nations with South Korean, UNO, Commonwealth and American forces. The sides are not symmetrical. The Communists start with very numerous land forces and impressive Chinese reinforcements but are weak in the air until the Migs arrive. The UN player has to hold desperately at first, waiting for American reinforcements, aerial superiority and economic weight to shift the balance. No side is specifically advantaged.
Play runs across land, air and naval operations plus the political and diplomatic layer. You move and maneuver troops, organize air, HQ and artillery support, conduct breakthroughs and exploitation, build logistical networks and fortified lines, and handle strategic bombing, partisan warfare, troop training, unit rotation and force reconstitution. Politics and diplomacy come through cards and events: on the UN side, the unknown date of Chinese intervention shapes both your campaign and choices such as whether MacArthur keeps command or whether help from Nationalist China is accepted. On the Communist side, Soviet support and Mao's involvement are tools you control.
Before you start
Land units are modeled at regimental level, with smaller formations like armor battalions, UN contingents and partisans also present. Air units are squadrons; naval units are abstracted as task force groups, since the sea war mainly matters for logistics and support. The map covers all of Korea, from the Chinese and Soviet borders down to the southern straits and Japan, with every natural terrain type of the peninsula and a weather system that visibly changes the map when it rains or snows, affecting operations.
The grand campaign offers alternative starting setups: better-prepared North or South, an ready USAF, or extensive fortifications along the 38th Parallel. Expect a detailed, slow-paced simulation with many systems to manage rather than quick matches, and plan your session around the scenario length you choose. Remote Play Together is available if you want to share one copy with a friend.