Now these games are the heavy hitters in the vintage family. I would stack most of the classic war / strategy games against any of the newer games in existence (though, I'll make exception for the excellent Catan series).

There are too many good war games to mention, including games revolving around specific wars and even specific battles in wars. These are the games that get the adults off of the couch after a big Thanksgiving Day dinner!

Risk, Civil War, Battle of Little Big Horn, Axis and Allies, and many more have a war theme, which is natural, considering the booming popularity of board games near the second World War.