KARDS - The WWII Card Game News

Happy VE Day!

On this day, 8 May 1945, eighty years ago, the Allies of World War II accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender. It was at 23:01 Central European Summer Time, and this was 00:01 9 May, Moscow time making it the 9 May for the Soviet Union. It became Victory in Europe Day!

So ended the deadliest war in Europe and celebrations erupted throughout the Western World, especially in the United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, in North America and in the USSR. The long night of war was over.



VE Day celebrations in Toronto 8 May 1945. Photo: John H. Boyd.

People celebrated in a state of euphoria. Celebrating the end of the war and constant danger.

Rebuilding was ahead in Europe and World War II was still raging in the Pacific. But for the Europeans peace had come!



We at 1939 Games wish you a happy Victory in Europe Day celebration.



Avro Lancaster performing a food drop over Ypenburg during Operation Manna. Allied bomber crews completed 11.000 tonnes of food drops to the starving population of the Netherlands. Making it the friendliest air drop by any bombers. Photo: Unknown.



49th Reconnaissance Regiment at the liberation of the Netherlands. They adopted the Polar Bear logo when they were garrisoned in Iceland 1940-1942. Photo: Unknown.

Dear KARDS players, friends, and WWII enthusiasts,

We saw some hard fighting this weekend and these are the top three players in the second 2025 expansion tournament!

First place, earning 1500 USD is

RADISH



Second place, earning 1000 USD is

TWI DCARGO



Third place, earning 500 USD is

ESZEMTESZEM



After each expansion and release we at KARDS hold an eSport Tournament to give you a chance to see the best players fight it out.

There is a lot to be learned, deck builds and game play. Lessons you can take to heart when building your decks and improving your play.

So make the most of it and stay tuned as we bring you more articles on how to use this new intel!

We at 1939 Games, salute the winners!

Eighty years ago on 30 April 1945 was the climatic end of World War II in Europe.

It was a symbol for the victory over Germany. Stalin had issued an order that the symbolic building should be captured before the International Workers’ Day on the 1 May.



The iconic “Raising a flag over the Reichstag”photo by Yevgeny Khaldei.

The Reichstag itself was of little value as it had not been repaired since the great fire in 1933. Yet its symbolic value was unquestionable. The Germans gathered some of their best units they still had while the Red Army amassed a force for the final assault. The War Council of the 3rd Shock Army had ordered Red Banner flags for nine divisions to carry into battle and raise over the Reichstag.



Iosef Stalin II tank - also nicknamed the "Tank of Victory”

The day before, the Soviet 3rd Shock Army crossed the Moltke Bridge. The defending Germans had fortified the nearby government buildings and Kroll Opera house. These buildings had to be cleared room by room before the Reichstag could be assaulted. The first two assaults were attempted in daylight with horrendous losses from fire from the German entrenchments and support from 12.8 cm FlaK 40 guns on the roof of the Zoo flak tower. To make matters worse General-polkovnik Vasily Shatilov, commander of the 79 Corps had erroneously announced that a red flag had been hoisted on the Reichstag and this had carried up the chain of command. The Reichstag had to be captured before the first of May.



The Zoo flak tower and German soldiers during the battle of Berlin.

Since the previous attacks had failed they waited for night time to mitigate the fire of German heavy machine-guns. This time the attackers breached the Reichstag and fierce room-to-room fighting and the staircase battles were some of the hardest that day but before the end the day the Soviet flag had been hoisted on the roof. Fighting continued in the building until 2 May.

The famous photograph was taken 2 May 1945 by Yevgeny Khaldei. It was a staged photoshoot that captured the final victory over Germany.



Soviet soldiers writing graffiti inside the Reichstag after they had captured the building.

Attention KARDS players!

LIVE BROADCAST AHEAD!

April 26th & 27th - Round of 8 Finals @ 11:00 GMT

Tune in to watch the 8 finalists battle it out to see who is the winner of the United Front Expansion Tournament, earning the lion’s share of the 3000 USD prize pool.

This is the second of four Expansion Tournaments held this year, which are tied to expansions and major releases throughout the year. The tournament year culminates in the EPIC KARDS World Championship held in November.

Contestants in Expansion Tournaments are selected from the top players of the Officer Club (24) and tournament leaderboard (8) from the months leading up to each tournament. These 32 then go through Swiss rounds until only the top 8 are left standing!

The 8 finalists this KARDS tournament are:

1. Luo Bo

2. Top Chef

3. Cirno

4. Eszemteszem

5. Nuf

6. Twi Dcargo

7. SIE_

8. YiFang



Our top 8 contenders will battle until there is only one. This is a single elimination bracket, where all games will be a best of 5. All contenders bring 4 of their best decks with one deck ban. In order to succeed, players must prove their skill and versatility with each of their decks.

You don’t want to miss this EPIC broadcast event! Join us on Twitch. Make sure to tune in so you don’t miss any of the top level plays made by our expert players. You can learn a lot from the deck selection to the gameplay.

Deck codes will be available on the stream which you can grab and try out yourself!

TUNE IN ON TWITCH

TUNE IN ON BILIBILI

To all our players and fans!

This is the 5 year anniversary of KARDS which was first launched for everyone on STEAM on 15 April 2020. To celebrate this we have several action-packed events and exclusive rewards. Here's what awaits you:

FREE anniversary gift in the in-game shop!

Anniversary skirmish event!

Special anniversary tournament!

Limited-time shop bundles and offers!

Jump into KARDS NOW and claim your FREE limited-time fifth anniversary gift bundle from the shop, featuring:

A 1-day Medkit to supercharge your progress

2 Card packs, one core and one Blood and Iron to expand your arsenal



Make sure to join our special anniversary events:

The anniversary skirmish event features one of our most popular skirmishes, where each player randomly gets 1 of 5 decks to battle with (one for each main nation), with each deck consisting of 39 copies of the Elite order that adds 1 of 3 random Elite units to your hand. Can you adapt and conquer?

Anniversary tournament event. Climb the ranks and prove your command skills in this commemorative competition!

Both the tournament and skirmish events will be from 11:00 UTC on Tuesday to 18:00 UTC on Friday.





A lot has happened in these five years.

330 million Victories in matches!

(And 330 million Defeats - the two go hand in hand)

In March 2025 we had over 1 Million active players

Over 390 thousand maximum individual daily users

We've also held five epic KARDS World Championships, crowning five World Champions (although we crowned the same one three times in a row):

2020 World Champion: CCMS-031

2021 World Champion: Jking7

2022 World Champion: Jking7

2023 World Champion: Jking7

2024 World Champion: Spoker

We will go on boldly and bravely into the future! Ahead there is the major summer expansion with new twists, and then more releases, expansions and tournaments to look forward to. As we celebrate five years of KARDS, we salute every Commander who’s battled with us along the way - your support has made this journey unforgettable.

So from 1939 GAMES and KARDS, we say thank you and we look forward to our continued journey together!