2025Petr Čáslava
- Videos
- 22
- Creators
- 16
1 - 4 players60 - 90 minHeavy weight

2015Aaron Lauster
Mainly playthroughs and how-to-play. Airborne Commander is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 3 reviews, 4 how-to-play guides, 7 recorded sessions, 2 unboxings, and 1 other video.
From BoardGameGeek
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. Airborne Commander First Printing includes two full color decks each in its own tuck box. The card illustrations include 40 original paintings of men in action, equipment and locations. Airborne Commander Second Printing includes two full color decks and rules in the box. The card illustrations include 44 original paintings of men in action, equipment and locations, including the 4 stretch goal cards from the Kickstarter campaign.
Review
Airborne Commander has 17 videos from 8 creators: 3 reviews, 4 how-to-play guides, 7 playthroughs, 2 unboxings and 1 other video. They date from 2013 to December 2022.
To learn the rules, start with "Airborne Commander, published by Stratamax Games" by Richard Dewsbery, which runs 24 min. For a quicker teach, "Airborne Commander - Strategy and Tactics" by Boards, Bricks & Battlefields runs 6 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Card Game Review of 'Airborne Commander' with Judd Vance from Bonding With Board Games" by Bonding With Boardgames & RPGs. 3 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Airborne Commander (2021 Version) - Playthrough (Mission Deck in Numerical Order)" by Boards, Bricks & Battlefields, one of 7 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Dirt & Dust, Warp's Edge, Conservas or Dragons of Etchinstone, which share several of its mechanics. It appears in convention videos from Gen Con 2013.
2025Petr Čáslava
1 - 4 players60 - 90 minHeavy weight
2020Scott Almes
1 players30 - 45 minMedium weight
2024Scott Almes
1 players25 - 40 minMedium weight
2022Joe Klipfel
1 players20 - 30 minMedium weight
From BoardGameGeek:
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. Airborne Commander First Printing includes two full color decks each in its own tuck box. The card illustrations include 40 original paintings of men in action, equipment and locations. Airborne Commander Second Printing includes two full color decks and rules in the box. The card illustrations include 44 original paintings of men in action, equipment and locations, including the 4 stretch goal cards from the Kickstarter campaign.
Designer
Aaron Lauster
Artist
Lon Brauer
Publisher
StrataMax Games
Mechanics