csmith: How slow do you want it to be?

I thought of various war games like Theatre of War 2 or an easier (more mainstream) Order of War. I really enjoyed Order of War. It's a strategy game but even with greater numbers you can easily get wiped out. You need to determine your path of attack and use your units wisely.

Navagon: That's a tactic, not a strategy. Tactics involve units. Strategy is your overall war plan. Something which very few RTS manage to achieve on a single map. Which I suppose makes calling them RTS seem like something of a misnomer, but there you go.

timppu: Many RTS games with "economy" and base management have also separate missions where you have only a set of units, and no base to make more. I think many Command & Conquer games, Warcraft 1-3, Starcraft, KKND etc.

The problem I personally see with many "fixed set of units, no way to make more" games or missions is that I never know when I'm beyond the point with losing my units that it has become pretty much impossible to win rest of the level, and instead I should just restart the level. This was already evident in some Starcraft missions without base management, where you didn't know that at the end of the level that you had already played for over an hour, there would be yet another Zerg rush that your remaining units couldn't possibly handle anymore.

So, in practise having only a set number of units makes the game more about unit level micromanagement from hell, and constant reload-save-reload, just in order to make sure I don't lose even the first unit. Not fun to me in the long run, just tedious.

Navagon: Total Annihilation and its spiritual successor Supreme Commander offer a huge amount of strategic and tactical options, with a vast array of unit types all suited to different tasks. The maps are large enough to allow for different strategies too.

hedwards: Warzone 2100 probably does the best job that I've seen. The economy is greatly simplified, but with the incredible range of possible units you definitely have to think strategically about what upgrades to do when. And it'll definitely be heavily influenced by how one wants to approach the map and what overall strategy one wants to use.

Narwhal: Hearts of Iron II and Hearts of Iron III.

Stiler: The kind of Strategy game you want is Myth.

Myth I and II, from Bungie Studios.

The games differ from most RTS games. They do not focus at all on ANY base building, or "building" armies up.

Instead it's a story-focused game where you control a set number of troops. You have to make use of each one wisely. you only get reinforcements if the storyline calls for it.

The game's combat is what it's all about, and the combat in Myth is some of the most fun, and strategic, of any RTS game out there.

You have to make wise use of the terrain and environment. Things such as hills give longer line of sight and range. Your archers will benefit highly from it and your dwarves, etc.

The weather plays a role as well. Rain/Snow/water can affect flameable things, such as fire arrows (which you can use on tall grass to set it afire) however in rain/snow fire will go out some of the time.

The game has a great story, boht Myth I and II (though I'm partial to the second one the most).

It also still has a good cult mp community. However since bungie.net shut down you hav eto go around this, most people use marius.net to play it online. (It works with myth I and II).

A video showing gamepla:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB4ITAM_rBQ

and a review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpTw7GiX898

macuahuitlgog: Do you know where I can buy those Myth games? I want them so bad.

macuahuitlgog: Do you know where I can buy those Myth games? I want them so bad.

Navagon: If you like that about it then Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander are games you should check out if you haven't already.

Warzone 2100 is free now, isn't it?

hedwards: TA never really gripped me, not sure why, perhaps I'll have to give it another shot. I just found it to be a lot less accessible, partly due to the tiny view of the area and the annoying controls. Perhaps I'll install Spring and see if that fixes the annoyances.