Been in the mood for RTS games recently, they're an excellent genre and I know I haven't really scratched the surface with them. So if you guys have any suggestions to series or individual games that and RTS-lover would like, share them here.

I've already played:

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle Earth Two ( Wondering if the expansion pack is any good as well )
2. Halo Wars ( Eww. )
3. Starcraft 2
4. Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and Kane's Wrath ( Which is my personal favorite RTS )
5. C&C 4 ( Awful. )
6. The complete SupCom series

I'm looking at Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 1 and 2 along with Sins of a Solar Empire.

Have you not played the older C&C games? If not, play them.

Does the Total War series count? If so, play them.

Idk... Dune 2?

Warcraft & Warcraft 2?

Starcraft 1 & Broodwars?

Have you ever considered Grand Strategy? Few people have the stomach for it but it's a lot of fun: Total War, Europa Universalis, Crusader Kings II, et cetera. As for regular RTS' I recommend the Stronghold games; they're old but they're good. Company of Heroes is fantastic as well if you haven't played it. Finally, there's Dawn of War and DoW II if you like WH40k and perhaps even if you don't.

The only thing for me would be graphics. Normally I don't pay much mind to them but with RTS's I do.


What in that series would you say to start with? I've wondered about Shogun.

As for 40k, I don't have much experience with the games, I've heard they're great and the concept is interesting to me.

I'd say start with Rome or Medieval II.

Broodwar, Warcraft III, Red Alert 2.

Depends what kind of warfare you wanna mess around with. A lot of people would say that Rome and Medieval II are the masterpieces of the series, but I've always been a man for gunpowder warfare and line infantry, so Empire was by far my favorite game.

Shogun is extremely difficult due to the nature of the game, what with so many provinces in Japan. And I get the feeling that Creative Assembly just made the game harder in general.

+1 for Company of Heroes, one of the best RTS ever made.

Well, if graphics are to be a problem, I recommend nothing. I only know what games are actually good and don't really know what to recommend to someone who is limited by their taste in graphics... especially when it comes to strategy.

I do love history. The Crusades in particular, I suspect Medieval would encompass factions like the Knights Templar or the Hospitallers. The Total War series is turn-based, correct?

I don't want every game to look spectacular but I don't think I could transfer back to the old 90's graphics, early 2000's might not be so much an issue.

Total War is turn-based on the strategic map but you have the option of fighting real-time battles which are kind of the focal point of TW. And yes Medieval II begins just before the Frst Crusades and one of the ex-pacs focuses exclusively on the Crusader States and the Eastern Romans. The Greeks even get flamethrowers!

Well, Missionforce: Cyberstorm, Dune 2, and Warcraft 1 were phenomenal. Leisure Suit your Larry self.