Alright, wargame enthusiasts! If you're into a solid dose of strategy and the tension of World War I, Fields of Despair: France 1914-1918 is right up your alley. This is a block wargame for 1 or 2 players, set on the Western Front, where you take command of either the Allies or the Central Powers. The name of the game here is strategy, with battles on land, sea, and air, plus economic and technological decisions that can turn the tide of war back home.

What really makes Fields of Despair shine is its block system, which takes the 'fog of war' to a whole new level. Forget standard combat values of 1 to 4; here, the range goes from zero to twenty! This means a single block can hide a devastating force, allowing you to bluff and deceive your opponent without giving away your strategy with stacks of units. Movement is super fluid, and you can 'break' or 'combine' blocks during the movement phase – for example, a block with a value of 16 could split into two 8-value blocks, or vice-versa. And there are 'Deception' blocks (zero-value) to further confuse things!

The fog of war doesn't lift even after initial contact. Your blocks remain hidden, even in the same hex as the enemy, until you decide to allocate an air squadron for reconnaissance or send your men across no man's land. Get ready for a 22"x34" mounted board, a bunch of colored blocks and stickers, various counters, and wooden cubes for economic points. It also comes with a rule book, a playbook with scenarios and examples, and individual player boards for economic and tech tracking. Oh, and there are player aids for both solo and 2-player modes. It's a game that will test your strategic mind and your ability to outwit the enemy!