A global turn-based WWII wargame
Strategic Command WWII: World At War puts the whole Second World War on one top-down hex map, from Poland and China to Normandy and the Pacific. You play in turns: move your units, fight, then hand over to the other side. The Grand Campaign opens in 1939, and shorter scenarios are included if you want something smaller than the full war. Fog of War is on, so you only see what your forces can actually observe and have to plan around incomplete knowledge of where the enemy is and what they intend.
Between turns there is plenty to manage beyond combat. Research and upgrades cover Infantry Weapons, Rockets, Anti-Submarine Warfare, Amphibious Warfare and more, and Diplomacy lets you win over new allies while intelligence work undermines the enemy. Strategic Decision Events pop up along the way and force you to pick a direction, so the path to victory is yours to shape rather than a fixed script.
Playing it with friends
The game supports Online PvP, so you and people you know can take opposing sides and grind through the campaign across sessions. One useful option for a group: let the computer control some of your allies, so each human player can concentrate on the theaters they care about instead of babysitting every nation in the coalition. Remote Play Together is also available, which lets friends join in from their own machines.
Because play is turn-based on a hex grid, nobody has to keep up with real-time action. Games run at the pace of the group, and a session can pause and resume without anyone losing their position.
Before you start
Decide early whether you are playing Axis or Allies, and whether humans or the AI will handle the minor partners. Expect a long campaign if you take the Grand Campaign from 1939 onward; the shorter scenarios are the better entry point if your group wants a complete game in fewer sittings. You can pick between 3-D unit graphics and NATO counters, so set that before you begin if your group prefers a traditional wargame look.
There is an editor for making your own what-if scenarios, maps and campaigns from scratch, and the game supports up to 10 major powers, which is what keeps the modding community busy sharing new maps, reskins and campaigns. If your group likes tinkering, that is where the extra replay value sits.