I will start off by saying that I have played some of the usual suspects - Age of Empires, Civilization, Total War, Risk, Command and Conquer, Company of Heroes, WIC, Stronghold and even those Wego Combat games. Overall, I think that each series has its good and bad. I find the Real time strategy games a bit tiresome after awhile as it seems to desolve into a fastest mouse click fest. I actually prefer the turn based strategy games like Empire better as it allows the player time to see the whole board and plot a strategy without feeling rushed. I like Civ for that reason, but I did not like that the AI was spotty at times, and the constant struggling with the low morale factor as the empire grew was annoying. Risk and Empire were good games, but the AI was pretty bad there as well.
Does anyone know of a game which is turn based, or at least more strategic, with good AI and without the need to constantly fidget with the morale and economic factors? Right now I’ve been reduced to playing chess all the time.
Have you tried Battle for Wesnoth? It’s free, and gets tons of updates. Some people get annoyed by the random nature of it, however, but hey, it’s free, so if you don’t like it, you’re only out the time you spent.
Also, I have to advocate for my favorite RTS ever (which has a much lower ‘clickfest’ factor than most) - Kohan: Ahriman’s Gift which is, as the link indicates, now on Steam. It’s old and not very shiny, but I’ve enjoyed countless hours of battling the AI in custom skirmishes, so it must be doing something right. (Aside: I have a bunch of fan-made AIs that are significantly more fierce than the default ones, so if you do end up picking this up, let me know and I can share them.)
I’m a big fan of the Total War series. The battles are in real time, though, which you may not like. You can have the computer automate the results for you, but the battles are kind of the “thing” about the games.
If you can get your hands on a copy, the old Microprose game Master of Magic is one of the best strategy games of all time. The AI can be dumb as a brick, though.
The OP says he already has Total War. Or at least, that he has played them.
Frankly, I think this game is hugely overhyped. It has a great concept, but the implementation is pretty much trash. As you say, the AI is dumb as a box of rocks, and tons of units are hideously broken, so the gameplay isn’t so much “strategy” as “how can I exploit this broken system”. I can’t recall ever having been challenged while playing MoM.
Do you enjoy squad-based tactics ? If so, might want to give Silent Storm a whirl. Root out that third party mod that un-fucks the skill growth, and it’s a solid game. Funny, too. Just don’t get too hung up on truthfulness to history :). It’s add-on, Sentinels, is also good but very difficult. As for the spin-off game, Hammer & Sickle, I really liked it BUT it’s even harder and buggy as hell. Not for everyone.
If you haven’t played *Galactic Civilizations 2 *yet, run and get it - it’s a space-based iteration of Civ, the big selling point of which is its AI. It’s very good without even cheating. There’s some stuff it still fails at, and it still does some weird shit that you’ll notice once you’ve been playing a long time - but I still guarantee it’ll kick your ass some. Do get the expansions - Twilight of the Arnor introduces race-specific tech trees which make the game even more interesting (but I’d advise you to disable tech trading or at least tech reselling then - else it’s too easy to buy off everyone by brokering low-tier techs from multiple civs, and to set yourself up as the most bestest race by using the best buildings of everyone)
Heroes of Might & Magic V has its detractors, but I liked it a lot, particularly with the Orc expansion that gives a choice of two upgrades for each creature (and streamlines the skill wheel).
The Age of Wonders games are good too, if we’re talking about MoM remakes.
Oh, almost forgot: if you’re looking for a good multiplayer experience, Blood Bowl is where it’s at - either Cyanide’s Blood Bowl Legendary Edition, or the Java app. Find a good league with friendly players and you’re golden.
If you don’t mind a relatively slow pace…say 3 turns a week or so, check out Planets Nu, which is an online version of the great VGA Planets that came out about 20 years ago as a play by email game. You can play for free with limited tech, or register for the full version.
I actually enjoy the squad turn based games. One of my all time favorites was the original Xcom, and Jagged Alliance. I have played Silent Storm as well. For some reason it was quite buggy and I don’t know if I ever finished it. I willl have to look into Galactic civilizations. I’ve heard good things about HOMM, but I haven’t played it yet. Might have to look into it.
I’ve never played I, so I can’t comment on it.
II is the first I played, and is of course my nostalgic favourite, but realistically speaking everything it does, III does better.
III is considered by most to be the bestest of them all. I won’t disagree - but it has some balance issues (esp. in the expansions), some of the mechanics are obscure and the scripting/plot is really uneven. And I can’t say I’m a fan of the “realistic sprites” graphical design decision. Still, it’s probably the one with the best AI - it doesn’t need bullshit maps where the computer starts with humongous armies to kick your ass if you’re not on the ball. Which only compounds the difficulty of those maps where it *does *start with bullshit armies
IV is a complete trainwreck from start to finish. I don’t even know, man.
V started out a bad game, but with patches and expansions it’s now pretty solid - it really captured the feel of III in my opinion, while also having its own character and introducing interesting concepts. Special mention for the cutscenes, which are so bad they’re good :).
VI is the latest and it’s… different. Not that great, not that horrible, just sort of meh all around. The plot is interesting, but the gameplay itself took a step backwards from V IMO, despite some neat little gimmicks. Also the copy protection scheme is a nightmare (basically half of the game’s features require you to be online and connected to an Ubisoft server that is dead every other day :/)
Europa Universalis, a heavy investment to learn, but rewarding. It’s not turn based but I wouldn’t call it an RTS either, perhaps it deeper with economics and industrial output than the OP wants but the diplomatic depth is incredible.
Crusader Kings has a huge following, similar to EU.
*Gary Grigsby’s World at War *is great, he has a line of other periods if you’re interested in something not WWII.
The OP sounds like me before I discovered VASSAL. Since many wargames have rulebooks available online and the VASSAL engine and modules are free it’s a great way to get into a fantastic hobby. There are quite a few that play well solo, but you can always set up a game with someone else online.
Look around at the Matrix Games site if you haven’t heard of them yet. There are any number of good quality wargames there.
By Wego games do you mean Combat Mission? If not, check out Combat Mission. Generally squad or slightly larger scale; you give detailed orders and run a minute off at a time while the enemy does the same.
It’s not exactly what you’re talking about, but you could give the Command Ops games a shot (formerly the Airborne Assault series, now being remade). It’s “real-time” but that actually means it can go down to actual real time for battles that historically several days, and it’s pausable too. The scale is in the middle level, roughly regimental to operational. The AI is very good, too.
Hero Academy for the ios will be out for pc on Steam in a few days. i already have the game and may buy the Steam version anyway, even though it is better suited on a mobile platform.
I’m enjoying endless space a lot right now, though there is some serious economic micromanagement in the game, it’s still an excellent 4x space strategy game.
Been on a turn based strategy kick lately since I’ve rediscovered Civ 5 (thanks to the Gods & Kings Expansion) and I’ve booted up every 4x game I can get my hands on. Even started a game of Galactic Civ II for old time’s sake.
Star Lords and Legend of Pegasus, also space 4x games, are coming out on steam soonish (LoP in two days!)
There is alsoElemental: Fallen Enchantress. The original game was panned and rushed out badly, so I have no idea what state it is in now.
An old goodie is Disciples 2, which you get from GOG. It’s more RPG than HoMM or Civilization, though.
Besides the old standbys, there are also other remakes of classic TBS that are coming out this year or the next. There is Eador, which from its screenshots like a successor to HoMM 3. Then there is Legends of Eisenwald which gameplay reminds me of Disciples 2. You may also want to check out Predestination (Space 4X), Endless Space (Space 4X), and At the Gate (where you play as the Mongol invading Rome)
