I am a fan of this series. War in Europe is much more accessible to play than the one where you have to play both Europe and Pacific-I find that a bit too much on my plate. This game has a lot of great options such as Research and Diplomacy. You can pick and choose which countries you play to simplify things even more. You can even play with friends in a hot seat mode. Fog of War and weather is also modeled, as well as key historical "random events" which you can turn on or off individually for a great deal of customization. No two games need be alike, making for lots of re-playability.