Europe · 1939–1944

World War II: Europe: The History Behind the Game

The deadliest conflict in human history, fought across every corner of a continent. Era of Warlords covers the European theatre from the opening invasion of Poland to the eve of Overlord, with every neutral and occupied nation playable as its own faction.

Blitzkrieg

Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 introduced the world to Blitzkrieg — fast-moving combined arms warfare using tanks and air power to shatter defensive lines before they could form. Poland fell in weeks; Britain and France, bound by treaty, declared war but could do little to help in time.

The following spring, the same tactics broke France in six weeks. German forces bypassed the Maginot Line through the Ardennes, split the Allied armies, and forced a stunned France to surrender in June 1940 — leaving Britain alone against the Axis for the next year.

Two fronts, one turning point

In June 1941 Hitler broke his non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and launched Operation Barbarossa, the largest invasion in history. German forces advanced hundreds of miles in months, but — much like Napoleon before them — were stopped short of Moscow by Soviet resistance and the onset of winter.

1943 was the hinge of the war: Stalingrad broke the Wehrmacht's offensive capacity in the east, while Allied victory in North Africa opened the way into Italy. By the scenarios set in 1943–44, Germany was fighting a two-front war it could no longer win outright — setting the stage for the Allied invasion of Normandy that would open the final chapter.

88 territories, playable from any of the scenarios above, against AI rivals with their own diplomacy and ambitions.