 Avalon Hill 3rd Edition cover | |
| Designers | John Prados |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Avalon Hill |
| Years active | 1974 – current |
| Genres | Grand strategy wargame, World War II |
| Players | 2–6 |
| Setup time | 15 + minutes |
| Playing time | 4–10 hours |
| Chance | Medium (dice rolling) |
| 1974 Charles S. Roberts Award, Best Professional Game Winner | |
Rise and Decline of the Third Reich or more commonly Third Reich is a grand strategy wargame covering the European theater of World War II, designed by John Prados and released in 1974 by Avalon Hill. Players take on the roles of major powers—Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States—from 1939 to 1946.
The game was popular because of the balance between economics, politics, and land, sea, air and strategic warfare. Players can try alternate history strategies (e.g., a German invasion of Spain or the United Kingdom). The game is complex and can take many hours to complete.
Revised editions of the game were published in the 1980s. A further redesign of the game, Advanced Third Reich, was published in 1992, followed by a Pacific theater counterpart, Empire of the Rising Sun, in 1995. In 2003, yet another redesign of these two games was published by GMT Games as A World at War. In 2001, Avalanche Press released a separate new version, more closely resembling the original game, known as John Prados' Third Reich.