Games like Fantasy General: the best fantasy hex wargames on mobile

Updated 2026-10-26 · IncrediApp

If you spent the 90s moving knights and wyverns across a hex map, you have probably tried searching for "Fantasy General on Android" or "a Fantasy General clone for iPhone" at some point. The short answer is that the series has no official mobile version, but the genre it helped define is alive on phones. This roundup covers the fantasy hex wargames worth your time on mobile in 2026, what each one does best and who it suits.

Disclosure: IncrediApp makes Banners for Hire, which is included below. The other games are made by other developers, and we have no relationship with them. Fantasy General is a trademark of its owner, and we are not affiliated with it. Descriptions of other games are based on their store listings and official sites as of October 2026, and features can change with updates.

First: what about Fantasy General itself?

Fantasy General was released by SSI in 1996 for MS-DOS. It used the structure of Panzer General with fantasy armies, a campaign of linked battles and a core army that carried over from scenario to scenario. Today it is sold for PC and Mac on GOG and Steam, running through DOSBox.

A sequel, Fantasy General II: Invasion, was developed by Owned by Gravity and published by Slitherine in 2019. It is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. If you have one of those, it is the most direct continuation of the series. Neither game has an official iPhone or Android version, so on a phone you are looking for games in the same tradition rather than the original.

What "like Fantasy General" usually means

When players ask for a Fantasy General–like game, they usually want most of these:

• Turn-based battles on a hex map, where terrain matters
• Fantasy armies: humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, undead, monsters
• A campaign of linked battles rather than one-off matches
• Units that gain experience, and an army you care about keeping alive
• Depth without a wall of rules

No mobile game matches every point, so we note which ones each game hits. For a deeper explanation of the genre itself, see what a fantasy hex wargame is.

Quick comparison

1. Battle Fate

Battle Fate is a solo-developed, premium dark-fantasy hex strategy game for iOS and Android. Its listing describes it as inspired by classic hex strategy games and board games. You get turn-based combat on a hex grid, three factions with their own signature units and a narrative campaign of 12 story missions with primary and bonus goals. Units can fall permanently, and survivors gain experience and become veterans, which is exactly the "protect your core army" feeling many Fantasy General fans miss.

It is mobile-first, with no ads, no data gathering and no microtransactions: one purchase for the whole game. The listing suggests around 5–8 hours of play, so it is a tight campaign rather than an endless one. A great pick if you want a focused, well-made experience.

2. Warmasters

Studio Bastion's Warmasters is a hex-and-dice fantasy wargame between the High Kingdom and the Ork Horde, for iPhone, iPad and Android. Its official site describes two rulesets: a fast, card-driven Classic mode and a Tabletop mode with morale, charges, shield walls and alternating activation. It includes two hand-authored campaigns with 19 missions, opt-in persistent warband rosters, skirmish battles with weather and time of day, offline play and pass-and-play on one device.

It leans closer to a tabletop miniatures game than to a computer wargame, with visible dice rolls deciding fights. If you enjoy that feel, it is a strong option. It is one purchase, with further armies sold as add-on packs.

3. Age of Fantasy

Age of Fantasy is a free, retro-styled turn-based strategy game for iOS and Android, built on the engine of the developer's earlier Age of Strategy. Its listing promises a huge amount of content: more than 390 campaign maps, over 300 skirmish maps, over 1,100 units and buildings, six races including humans, orcs, elves, undead and dwarves, a map editor and online multiplayer.

It is closer to a classic build-and-conquer strategy game than a pure scenario wargame, and the developer is upfront that it uses simple 8-bit-style graphics. In-app purchases are described as optional support. If you want quantity, community maps and multiplayer, this is the one.

4. Battle for Wesnoth (with caveats)

The Battle for Wesnoth is the best-known free fantasy hex strategy game, with many campaigns, factions and a huge add-on library on PC. On mobile it is complicated. The official iOS app is still on the App Store but is unmaintained and stuck on an older 1.14 version. The Android port is an alpha build of the development branch, distributed through F-Droid, and the project notes it works best on large tablets. If you are comfortable with that, it is a deep and much-loved game. If you want something polished for a phone, look elsewhere on this list.

5. Banners for Hire (ours)

We made Banners for Hire for players who loved the 90s fantasy wargames and also enjoy the company management of modern mercenary games. You inherit a company of hired swords and lead it through a three-act, hand-written, fully voiced campaign. Three patrons, the Crown, the Thornwood and the Ironhold Compact, all want your banner, and your choices lead to one of six endings, one of them secret.

Battles are turn-based on hex maps with terrain, line of sight, zones of control, flanking, charges, support fire and morale. You see an honest forecast before every attack, with no hidden dice, and you can undo moves, rewind a turn or play Ironman. Fog of war and rain, snow and mist change how fights play, and the enemy AI plays by the same rules with vision limited by fog.

The part that makes it different from a straight Fantasy General–style game is the company. Every banner has a name, gains ranks up to Legend, earns traits and carries scars. You pay wages, build a camp with a forge, barracks and chapel, research new troops, and promote a captain and two lieutenants. Fallen soldiers go on a memorial wall. Beyond the campaign there are daily and weekly contracts, a skirmish mode, a scenario editor with share codes, company runs of ten contracts with one life, Notoriety tiers and New Game+.

It is free to play through Act 1, skirmishes, contracts and the editor, and one purchase unlocks Acts 2 and 3. Rewarded ads are optional buttons you can hide, there are no energy timers or paid currencies, and it plays offline. The honest downsides: it is brand new, so it has no long ratings history yet, and the iPhone and iPad version is still on its way to the App Store.

How to choose

• Want a tight, premium hex campaign with permadeath? Battle Fate.
• Love tabletop wargames and dice? Warmasters.
• Want endless maps and multiplayer for free? Age of Fantasy.
• Want the classic open-source campaigns and don't mind rough ports? Battle for Wesnoth.
• Want hex battles plus a mercenary company that remembers every soldier? Banners for Hire.

Want tactical RPGs, 4X and roguelikes too? See our broader list of the best fantasy turn-based strategy games for Android, and if settings like text size or colour-blind modes matter to you, our guide to accessible strategy games.

Most of these let you try before you commit, so the easiest approach is to install two and see which one you keep opening. If you pick Banners for Hire, our hex tactics guide will help you win the first few fights.

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