I get goosebumps listening to that over the top fantasy bass voice "worship fire", "worship earth"...

Lol, i checked internetz for "onemoreturnitis"... took me a while, i should go to sleep probably :D

Lords of Magic is definitely less beginner-friendly. There are LOT of mechanics that don't get explained at all and are really crucial to success. I recall as a kid always trying to mass up the level 3 temple creatures because they were better than my level 1 follower units, blindly mass selecting and clicking on one enemy in combat.

Oh, and PARRY. The function is mentioned in the manual briefly but not given nearly as much attention as it deserves. In-game it's hard to use, requiring multiple clicks (even worse if you only want one man of a 3-man unit to do it) but it's vital to winning fights without losing units.

Lotr 2 along with Knights of Honor are the best strategy games ever...

Btw. what does the MOO2 stand for?

Master of Orion 2

http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/master_of_orion_1_2

I love this game with a passion.

As others have said, the battles are fun, but it's the economic management that really keeps the game interesting. I love any game that makes you raise an army, as in, pushes you to actively sacrifice your economy to recruit soldiers, and LOTR does that brilliantly.

The more soldiers you raise, the less serfs you have to mine resources and produce weapons, the less soldiers you can raise in a few seasons. Raise too big an army, and everyone starves. Don't raise enough of an army, and watch your counties get overrun by your enemies.

That's the tension that keeps me coming back for more.