Airborne Commander: 2nd Edition 2026

Airborne Commander is a solitaire WW2 paratrooper deck building game depicting the 101st Airborne Division's actions in support of the D-Day landings.

Beginning with a starting deck of just a few men, a couple non-coms and a lieutenant, face off against the German deck while trying desperately to recruit more cards from the drop zone in order to build up your force for assaults against objectives. Points are earned for defeating enemy cards and taking objectives, but combat can result in lost cards and the dilution of the deck with disorganized cards providing a tense "deck survival" experience.

Combat includes small arms fire, suppression fire, bazookas, gammon grenades, anti-tank guns, indirect artillery support and air strikes. German cards represent the actual forces and terrain present including personnel from Ost battalions and static divisions, armored cars, STUGs, blockhouses, Rommel's asparagus and flooded fields. The objective cards represent the actual causeways, locks, artillery positions, headquarters and other locations that were assigned and have features unique to each.

Assign your airborne cards to one of three areas: The Battleground, Support Area, or the Reserve. Weigh the cost of buying time with your troopers against suffering reverses in order to get more and better equipped men. Do you take the mortar from the drop zone for its firepower or a high ranking officer for his additional actions? Only the airborne commander can decide.

—description from the publisher