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Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2
Developer 2by3 Games
Gary Grigsby's War in the East: The German-Soviet War 1941-1945 is a 2010 computer wargame developed by 2 by 3 Games and published by Matrix Games. It simulates the German–Soviet War of World War II. Two sequels were released: Gary Grigsby's War in the West in 2014 and Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 in 2021. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
179 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Oct 4, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
94
LovedLoved
163 positive · 11 negative
95% range 89–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 163 | 11 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
5 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
435 of 477 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 179 · most liked firstStrategy Gaming Dojo has a quick start tutorial on youtube; it's almost 5 hours long. This is THE game if you have autism and likes WW2 eastern front.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So that's 1000 hours cracked and as usual Mr Grigsby and all at 2BY3 games have done it again, been war-gaming since the early 70s and have followed Gary Grigsby games through all those years and have never been disappointed i can still remember buying Reforger in 1984 i think and was at the time a tank gunner in a BAOR armoured regiment and that game really brought it home about the shear mass at that time of Soviet armoured power with there OMG's, that stands for "Operational manoeuvre…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It’s like playing chess blindfolded in a blizzard, except every pawn has morale, fuel consumption, and a five-page personnel file. You won’t win quickly—or maybe ever—but by turn 43, you’ll know what it feels like to be a stressed-out general with a map the size of Eastern Europe and not enough trucks. Brutal, brilliant, and deeply satisfying—if spreadsheets and suffering are your thing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too often when playing HOI4 as the Germans or Soviets, I longed for a deep and challenging war long, gigantic conflict against a competent AI which that game (imo) fails at. WITE2 delivers on what I wanted. A deep, detailed and very realistic simulator on the Eastern Front of ww2. The game gets across the complexity, vast scale and frankly, the mass carnage of the Eastern Front and it does it well. Despite the huge depth and complexity, the game isn't as hard to get into as I had expected.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In-depth game, could be very fun but due to the nature of it being a turn-based game the AI has a tendency to respond to any attacks you've made by taking the units from the adjacent 8 frontline tiles, massing them in the area where you attacked, before proceeding to counterattack and then place the units back where they originally were. This obviously is absurd because you can't just leave such massive holes in your front for a week and expect the enemy to just sit there, kills the immersion a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The description of the game is factual: "War in the East 2 is the most comprehensive, most realistic, and most advanced wargame modeling Eastern Front warfare in World War Two." But it is also an interesting game psychologically. The feeling of anxiety that the game can impose can be quite the rush, while at the same time you might spend days paralyzed, unable to click the play button. If you are considering this game, and you have experience ladder anxiety, or ELO fear, the experience of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to say first and foremost that this game is awesome. Loved the 1st game and this game adds a number of awesome features and improvements that help to ensure that it isn't just a slightly modified version of the original WITE. I personally think it is the best game in its genre and consider it along with its predecessor one of my favorite games of all time. My only gripe, and one which is true both for this game and WITE 1 is the way the AI cheats in single player. Now, before I go into…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is HOI 4 for adults
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fabulously detailed game covering the entire ground and air war on the Russian front in WW2. The game is not for the faint hearted. I played the main campaign most days for most of a year until, after 162 turns, 70+ opposing units who were trapped in a pocket, simply disappeared. So on the one hand I got almost a year's fun, but on the other a game-breaking bug that means I can never complete the game. On balance, this is probably a win, but I'll give a negative rating so there is fair…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve never played the first War in the East, so I can’t compare this one to it. But from what I’ve read, War in the East 2 has a smoother interface and smarter AI, which sounds like a solid upgrade. Jumping into this series for the first time, I have got to say, the rumors are true. Gary Grigsby’s war games are really complex and a serious time investment. I have sunk about 100 hours into my first grand campaign, and I’m still going (confession: I restarted a couple of times thanks to rookie…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Do any of you actually know how to play this or is it all a psyop?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good, but with reservations. This is definitely the ultimate grand-strategy game on the Eastern Front one can find-but it's got some major quality-of-life problems that make playing it sort of irritating. The user interface is very complicated and both intentionally and unintentionally obscures details that are easier to discern in most other chit-strategy games. Two of the game's most interesting mechanics, the air management phase and Theatre Boxes respectively-are marred by unclear rules and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The hardcore fans will hate to hear this, but the huge majority of the game's "in-depth" mechanics are mostly just smoke and mirrors. A beginner could easily learn this game within a few turns. It's just the horrifically-dated UI and absolute scale of everything that can be overwhelming. But trust me, you get used to it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Perfect boomer game to afk and diligently work on turns with as you're busy doing other things throughout a day, with a good amount of depth. Soviet and Axis depression may respectively both occur in multiplayer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gary Grigsby was given a gift by God to make games for the autistic community
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm in a Facebook group for Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2 and let me tell you, the memes get pretty dank
unlabelledView post →Unbelievably buggy and random still after many years out. The air war broke it for me . . . nearly impossibly to get any sort of consistency without very painful micromanaging the game with thousands of clicks and then that still likely doesn't solve it. Don't believe me . . . read the game discussion boards and then make up your mind.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After a mere 500 hours, I finally managed to beat the full 41' Campaign as the Axis (on the easiest difficulty) If that gives you pause then I'd suggest sticking to Farts of Iron, kid. This is a very thoroughly researched and intensively executed grand-strategic level game, which despite it's scale, offers a lot of interesting decision-making down to the smallest details. Just one example would be choosing whether to issue limited Wehrmacht support units to allied divisions to slightly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →im still a noob
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Superlative War in the East study exhibiting a monstrous amount of research. Pure Ostfront grognard catnip.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gary Grigsby’s, say no more, epic
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played as the russian player for over 299 hours. the air system is opaque and fails to work either on auto or manual. as far as i can tell it has made no difference to to any battle i have undertaken. may as well not be there. the other features work ok. i would not like to be playing as the german player where the air component is crucial. I just installed the dlc and have asked for a refund as it deleted the opportunity to play the full war campaign
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is not for everyone, but let me be frank here. I used to play a lot of League of Legends, but some of my friends fell off, and it became a chore. My friend's group gaming taste changed, and I took more turn-based, and they stayed with shooters. I was searching YouTube one day and came across a YouTuber, @seanblambert, and got into a few tutorials. This absorbed me as my game to play for numbers and strategy. WiTE2 is the cream of wargaming and may even lead you into the physical…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have a couple hours in the game so I think its worthwhile giving a review. Highs (upgrades from WITE1) 1)Automated Air System for those that don't give much of a damn about the air war and can let the AI do a decent job handling it for you 2)That little dopamine hit you get when a soviet unit shatters upon getting smashed by Panzers 3)Historical unit timing as in the first WITE, but now on a lot of units there is a little 'W' for the 'Witepeda' that will give you a short summary of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8hours into the game. Trying to follow the manual and do the "tutorial" which says theres videos in the manual folder but its not. Tutorial videos on youtube say go german which you have to do from the main menu not when youre selecting the mission. Then the first introductory scenario is from the soviets. Even after reading and watching tutorials I feel more confused and lost. No idea what is going on, the price on the game is pretty high and to learn this game seems like it will take a lot of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a beast. Plain and simple one of the more advanced war games on the market. It takes time to learn and you have to do your homework with the manual and online video walkthroughs if you want to get the most out of it. The AI is more than competent, and playing another human can really make this one shine for any of the armchair generals out there. Not a graphical beauty but thats not the point with this one. My only complaint is that they haven't created a version that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →War in the East 2 is a nice and most detailed (but deeply flawed in many aspects) depiction of Eastern Campaign of the main war in human history. 1 The game boasts of listing every Soviet, Italian and Romanian division and even obscure battalion. Patches still appear correcting the 667th anti-aircraft battalion in Grozny. Great accuracy? BUT. Soviets officially mobilized 14 million men by the end of 1941, while the game accounts for only about 5 million. Ten thousand battalions missing... 2…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This could very well be the last war game I ever need to buy that deals with the eastern front of WW2. It wont, but it could be. I don't actually know much yet about the game. My hours are often offline and not tracked properly, but I am an absolute novice wargame general. I'm a tactical idiot, and not much of a historian. A lot of people said the Grisgby Series of games were complex and could be overwhelming. So, I naturally stayed away from them and played other titles. Less complex…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before anyone buys this game they need to research how the AI behaves when playing solo, simply put the AI teleports units wherever it wishes, which in my experience makes playing a solo game after December 41 pointless. Still the best of it's kind against a human opponent however given the games detail and complexity you really would expect a little effort from the AI as opposed to what is a blatant game destroying cheat routine. loved WITE1 really disapointed in WITE2 .
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Personally, I find this game much more approachable than the 502 page manual might lead you to believe. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) There is a lot of explanation of things in the manual that you really don't need to know in order to play. 2) There is a good tutorial scenario with accompanying section in the manual that help get you started. 3) Unlike another wargame that will go unmentioned, I find the interface in this one does a reasonable job with the most common actions…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The AI constantly teleports soldiers across the map to shore up its line. Realistic? I think not.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good afternoon, Writing a review for this piece of art is a daunting prospect. The attention to detail is astounding, game play is diverse and even repeating the same scenario the AI still manages to surprise. It is a joy to be taken back to the greatest confrontation of the modern world. I think i will be returning to try and find the formula to win Operation Barbarossa every few months. I look at the immense effort made to be as accurate with the divisions employed and i confess that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I will say that skipping the guides and just watching YouTube tutorials is way better. Makes the game better to understand 10 times faster. Really fun WWII strategy game. 10/10.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easily the best wargame - computer or tabletop - I've played in my 40+ years of playing wargames.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best, most in-depth and realistic WW2 grand strategy game ever made imo. A big leap forward from the first one. Hats off to the entire dev team, well done.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Complex but deeply rewarding. Played as the Soviets, and those first few hours where you're coming to grips with the extremely detailed and in-depth systems as you simultaneously get completely overrun by a massively more powerful military really drives home the disparity. But it also made the turnaround later in the war more worthwhile - turn by turn as I built up forces in the Russian forest to eventually encircle Army Group Center in mid-42 felt like an amazing payoff. but even with major…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is about as hardcore as you can get for war games at the moment, if you too enjoy having over a dozen turns of pure one sided combat end in your troops being trapped by the Russian winter, weakened by over-strained supply lines, while an endless army of Soviets bites into every remaining bit of hope you have left, then you too will enjoy this masterpiece.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The fact that developers are aware of immersion-breaking AI movement and are completely disinterested in fixing the thing along with their tone-deaf responses is discouraging from playing WITE2
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are no rivals. This is simply the greatest strategy game of the eastern theater ever made. Weeks pass until one can expect to comprehend the basic functions of this simulation. Not for those who like a quick, jump in and go, play style. Rather for those that enjoy sipping a fine glass of scotch and pulling their hair out when no one's watching. Good thing I'm bald.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →When you want to graduate from Hearts of Iron into something more detailed, more strategic, and more rewarding.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have figured out the air phase of turn 1 now. Cant wait to properly learn land combat next.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game defines the genre. Everything else feels childish after getting a grasp of this beast.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have been plaing WitE since it's predecessor released in 2010. Switched as soon as this release came out. WitE 2 is better than the first in nearly every area. I'm an off again, on again player. Will play a few turns, come back a few days later, etc etc. After playing this for several hundred hours (I have many offline hours) I can safely say that I still don't fully understand how to maximize a few parts of this game (Supply, air force) Play mostly as the Germans, with a handful of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's like torture without all the boring small talk
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Atrocious UI, severe performance issues and crashes frequently.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've played WiTe 1 for hundreds of hours prior to this. WiTe 2 is an improvement with better mechanics. Initially I thought the Air War as well as Logistics would be too hard. The AI automation works well although you should take time to learn Air and Logistics. I love the ebb and flow of the game. The AI does a very good job as the Soviet player. You'll probably play certain time frames over and over again. I had the original SPI monster game spread across my basement back in the day and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wait, I've been learning Gary Grigsby's War In the East 2 to meet chicks, have I been doing all of this for nothing?????
unlabelledView post →Simply put, this is the most comprehensive and detailed game depicting the entire Eastern Front of WW2, covering 1941 to 1945. Nothing else comes close. On the surface it's relatively approachable, you can get a game going without too much friction. But don't let that fool you, because underneath it's an incredibly deep and complex simulation. That said, both the logistics and air war systems can be automated, which takes a lot of the micromanagement off your plate. I wouldn't lean on that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →War in the East 2 is truly the deepest, most well constructed wargame I've ever had the pleasure of playing. But despite its enormous complexity, it is also just plain fun to play. As you come to understand more mechanics, it just gets more fun to play.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The definitive hex based Wargame. Period. Release your inner Grognard. Best played in PBEM. Seriously, if I only have one complaint, and it's only one, it's this game's A.I. It's not bad, it's definitely LIGHTYEARS ahead of any Grand Strategy or RTS A.I. I just wish it was a little more refined like the Decisive Campaign series A.I. Other that that, it's still a must buy if you really enjoy Wargames and worth every penny it's asking for.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gary Grigsby games aren't for everyone. They are detailed, in depth, and have a daunting amount of information available for a player. This may intimidate some players but for those who want a turn based WW II wargame Gary's games are a dream come true, a feast of gaming goodness to satisfy your inner grognard.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →1941年苏军AI在防御阶段倾向于形成一条连续的战线，撤退欲望很强。但历史上苏军进行大量不成功的反击以及没有及时撤退导致被包围。这是为增强难度有意为之吗？虽然这并不影响我包围苏军，但是历史代入感有所欠缺。 In 1941, the Soviet AI tended to form a continuous front during the defensive phase and had a strong desire to retreat. However, in history, the Soviet army carried out a large number of unsuccessful counterattacks and failed to retreat in time, resulting in being surrounded. Is this intentional to increase difficulty? Although this did not affect my encirclement of the Soviet army, the sense…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not for the faint of heart, but a brilliant game with enough depth to make this the easily the best WW2 eastern front game of its type.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One tip to succeed in this game is Amateurs talk Strategy, Professionals talk Logistics.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic larp. Pure autism simulator
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Five hours in, thirteen, one hour long videos watched. No idea what I'm doing. Fantastic. Only way to learn is to watch and then play. For $40.00 its a steal when it's normally $80.00; I've been wanting to get into a little more hard core strategy games and this is it. The learning curve is steep, but well worth it. I haven't even finished a single turn. Just remember; each game can go differently depending on how you do things so you can re-play it and do new strategies. (I've restarted about…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not worth the 80$ but still a good game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome game. For me, it is the combination of 1 Intricacy) Arguably THE most intricate depiction of the eastern front - simulating battles down to individual squads and tanks (you as the player only command down to the regimental level - although most units you handle have divisional size) 2 Scale) Hundreds of divisions, thousands of kilometers of map. 3 Realism) - as close as possible for a game - the most realistic logistical system, very good combat simulation system (taking into account…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the gold standard
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have hundreds and hundreds of hours on the Matrix version aof this game and I have just started a new campaign with Mods on Steam. Very steep learning curve, but with Strategy Gaming DOJO and the Manual at hand you will unearth the most comprehensive WW2 ever made!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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