When you say "hypothetical" are you restricting that to "historical alternatives"? Because my favorite hypothetical is set in the future - SPI's venerable "Invasion America".

WEG's Against the Reich allowed you to not only pick other locations in northern France, but also southern France, too. There are others, I'm sure.

I have had an idea for a board game of World War II, at the platoon level. There are several out there (Panzer Grenadier, Panzerblitz, etc), but none of them fully satisfy me. There is a computer game system: East Front, West Front, etc (John Tiller games) which are about what I am picturing.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet created the system. I have a few ideas, and even have a test map. But I haven't yet made the counters and started pushing them around. Thus, at present, it remains hypothetical.

Paraguay

I don't know of any games that are explicitly focussed on a landing at Calais, but many Western front games allow you to invade in many alternate places.

In fact, one of the AH classics -- D-Day -- offers the Allied player the option of landing at the Pas de Calais instead of Normandy.

The same can be said for its later release Fortress Europa.

Historical, future, whatever. I'm curious about all.

I don't know much about Against the Reich, but naturally just about any large scale strategy game like 3rd Reich, Europe Engulfed, etc... will let the Allies land in spots other than Normandy, give alternate set-ups, etc... That's not really a "hypothetical game", IMO. Just a different strategy.

Perhaps I should have been a little more clear on a hypothetical Calais landing. The game would have to be operational in scope. Basically, I'm asking if a game exists like a Normandy invasion game, but for the what-if situation of going to Calais instead. Something like:

Breakout: Normandy
The Longest Day
Decision in Normandy


Cheers,
Jason
www.wargamedepot.com

My favorite hypotheticalwargame has yet to be published: Rains of Power by Fantasy Flight...This should be something like Twilight Imperium 3ed but set in a nowadays political spectrum. If this will ever be published...

As for Calais landings indeed Against the Raich gives you a lot of opportunites including a landing in Calais.

Other than that WestFront / EuroFront from Columbia is a brilliant 'what if' game too.

I don't know of any particular Calais landing game either.

My favorites are the Fleet Series by Victory Games. They cover a hypothetical war between the US and Soviet Union fought on the sea. They aren't terribly complicated and seem to capture the feeling from reading a Clancy novel.

Eisenbach Gap is another good one but for a land war.

I have Plan Orange from Avalanche Games. This covers a hypothetical war between the US and Japan but is set before WWII and I think it cover the situation if the Washington Naval Treaty had never happened.

That's right. The scenarios are set around 1930 in the Western Pacific on a map that includes Japan, the Philippines, and the coast of mainland Asia. Fleets include ships that were never built due to Washington Naval Treaty limits.

While both the IJN and USN have some aircraft carriers (and the USN has dirigibles -- Macon, Shenandoah, and Los Angeles) -- two of which carry fighter aircraft internally), the fleets have lots of battleships, some of classes that were never undertaken due to the Washington Treaty. The USN even has a couple of battle cruisers.

Air/ Sea/ Land: 7th Fleet (Nuclear Depth Charges!)

Air/ Land: Flashpoint: Golan, highly interactive game turns, and all combat is resolved via 1D10 and one CRT!

Schettler's Pas de Calais, same system and linkable with To The Far Shore and Tide of Fortune.

Cheers Roland

There's one! Thanks for the find.


Cheers,
Jason
www.wargamedepot.com

Panzer Grenadier: Iron Curtain depicts a hypothetical war between the US and the Soviets after WWII, giving each side the very heavy tanks produced immediately after the war.

My favorite hypothetical games are the 80s west Europe Soviet-vs-NATO games. My favorite so far has been MBT, but I've very interested in the new World at War: Eisenbach Gap .

Second Front Now! is about a Pas de Calais landing in 1943, using a version of the acclaimed Victory in Normandy system.

Kingmaker combined with Gammarauders.



Historians have debated for centuries whether the Duke of Somerset could have won the Battle of Tewkesbury through the timely intervention of a giant mutant kangaroo (subsequent implications for Edward IV's restoration, etc.) The scholarly arguments have run in endless circles, and exploring various alternatives in a simulation is more refreshing than reading yet another pedantic rehash.

I haven't actually played one, but I'd love to find a good Operation Sealion game--that campaign fascinates me.

And I can't remember the title, but someone (Avalanche maybe?) has a game about a hypothetical war between the U.S. and Canada in the '30s--now *that's* an interesting and offbeat topic!

War Plan Crimson - actually a fairly conventional wargame after you get past the concept.

Sounds better than SPI's old game Dixie about a 2nd American Civil War set in the 1930's.That was the worst!

Oh, don't get me wrong, it's a GOOD game, but buy it for the concept, the mechanics aren't outstanding.

And I'm sure there was a Command magazine with an Alternative ACW theme, with 3 possible time periods.

Best Hypothetical Games I have played:

Air & Armor

Nordkapp

The Next War

Invasion: America

SPI's The Next War is outstanding!

This is (other than the American Civil War, of course) my favorite wargame genre.

Current favorite: Sword of the Prophet

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/265139

"A poor thing, but mine own."