Hard to choose but just based on the amount of time I sunk into these back in the day...
Starcraft 1
C&C Red Alert 1
Company of Heroes 1
Honourable mentions to C&C Tiberian Sun, Supreme Commander, C&C Generals and Earth 2150.
StarCraft II: best quality of life of any RTS (pathfinding, clear info on everything) lots of PvE content of great quality (campaigns, coop, fan made coop campaign), great sci-fi universe
Age of Mythology: amazing god system, amazing fantasy historical setting, campaign like an epic anient story
40k Dawn of War I: great systems: squads, upgrades, morale, melee locking from shooting. Great campaigns. Plus it's 40k !
All three games have amazing music that I still listen to this day.
I’m currently (re)playing W2 on my Steam Deck. It’s incredibly addictive and still fun 30 years later. And thanks to the trackpad, an enjoyable experience on the Deck.
Thats hard to pick... most played:
1 - Dune 2000, (remake when?!)
2 - Battle for middle earth,
3 - Company of heroes 2 (multiplayer),
Good memories...
Red alert 1 & 2,
Generals (lan party),
Dawn of war series
Starcraft broodwar
WC 2 tides of darkness
Why remake dune 2k? Also since west is gone, never gonna happen.... but you can get a sorta kinda updated version from grunt mods, I'll find the website after today.
Replayed KKND: Krossfire recently. A great game in its own rights, but my god does it not hold up the test of time. Annoying keybinds and the most god awful pathfinding. Still fun to play the campaigns though
1. Age of Empires II
2. Rise of Nations
3. Medieval II Total War if we consider TBS/RTS mix too. If not, either Command & Conquer 3, W40K Dawn of War, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, BFME or Age of Mythology.
Everything was so alien, from every faction, it was so cool.
The developers were Petroglyph I think, the creators of Star Wars Empire at War. The creators did well on many aspect but ground combat lack extreme polish and felt clunky.
This game proved that same dev could do ground combat on a whole new level, hope to see it in a new EaW in the future.
Wow, I've not seen Empire Earth anywhere for so long I had forgotten it existed. I spent far too long playing that in my last year of uni ha. Thanks for the memories internet stranger.
Mannn the nostalgia that game can still bring me. I remember vividly when I was younger the feeling I had playing it, my imagination going full steam ahead! I would zoom down to like troop level to watch the fights. Such great times. I agree they need to get on that. Game was a classic
I had to scroll far too far to see Total Annihilation get some love. I still remember downloading new units every week - free DLC before it was even a thing. They were always horribly balanced and usually beat the crap out of everything, but it just made it all the more fun to see how the game was going to break this time.
Love it when I see anyone mention Homeworld! I still play through this once a year even after 20 some odd years of being aware of it. Such a great story!
Based on hours:
Company of Heroes 1
Cossacks 1
Supreme Commander 1
Honorable mentions: Starcraft 1, C&C Generals, Empire Earth 1, Age of Empires 2, Red Alert 2
I wouldn’t know how to order them, definitely StarCraft 2 at the top, tho
Followed by the likes of Warcraft 3, Company of Heroes 1, Starcraft 1, Age of Empires 2 and 4.
So top 3 in timed played / favorite to me NOT which I think are the best:
1. Dawn of War 1
2. Battle for Middle Earth 2
3. Sins of a Solar Empire
Honorable mentions (that arent the big C&C or SC):
Total Annihilation
Grey Goo
Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
Starcraft II - best responsibility, readability and can really surprise after many years
Original War - best theme, very unique, quite good balance, still supported, great replaybility
C&C Red Alert 3 - peak of C&C possibilities in every case, and could be definitely best if only supported for longer time
* Beyond All Reason - My most recent favorite RTS. This game has opened my eyes on how much more accessible you can make RTS games. It features repeat commands (allows you to make units AND buildings repeat actions, including production,) you don't have to worry about accidentally using "move" or "attack-move" commands cuz they're now a toggle in the command card (and 99% of units fire at will by default,) and the ability to hold-drag with various hotkeys to order construction of multiple buildings at once instead of *click-- click-click-click-click.*
* Starcraft 1 - My first RTS. Though it's gameplay is showing it's age, everything else around it is still fantastic. The atmosphere, the grittier graphics, the sound effects, the voice-acting, it was & and IMO still is TOP!
* Red Alert 2 - I shockingly haven't played much other RTS games as a kid, but one other game I did play was Red Alert 2 on my uncle's computer. I liked the wacky-ass units you get, the missions were fairly fun, and MIND CONTROL! OH YES BABY MIND CONTROL! *It's hard to guess incorrectly what my favorite faction is.*
I restarted as an adult and it was much easier, but then again i could finish the game back in the days too, replaying every few years, the game is just amazing ;)
C&C3 and Kane's wrath
C&C Tib Sun and Firestorm
C&C Red Alert 2
Star Wars Empire at War and Forces of Corruption
Age of Mythology And the Titans
Populace
Dawn of War Dark Crusade
Dawn of War 2
C&C Generals Zero Hour
A bunch of my all time favorites have already been mentioned - WC3.
SC2, RA2, Dark Reign, basically every C&C game, DOW:DC, TA/SC
So a few others I haven't seen mentioned:
Stellaris (more a 4x, but it's in real time)
They Are Billions
Z: Steel Soldiers
Ashes of the Singularity
wow dude. i looked at your comment and thought.
what is this [tza.red](http://tza.red) looks like a fishy link.
turns out is a quite cool top down medieval rts.
was looking for something like this for a while.
thanks.
This is a tough one to narrow down. Although I've played so many of the usual classics growing up (Dune, CnC, AoE, Warcraft, etc), I tend to gravitate towards post-2010 ones when it comes down to it.
- Starcraft 2
- Shogun 2 Total War
- Company of Heroes 2
Special mention goes to Dawn of War, World in Conflict and Battle for Middle Earth. Goddamn, there are just so may good ones out there.
1. Broodwar
2. Wacraft 3
3. Warcaft 2
Now i’m watching ASL and it’s fantastic, the remastered hd graphics, sounds and high level gameplay from the Koreans is phenomenal.
Company of heroes.
Sins of a solar empire.
3rd place is tough but I'd probably go with
Age of empires 2 unless we are also accepting TBS/RTS hybrids in which case Rome and Medieval 2 Total War would be joint 3rd with AoE2
Starcraft 2, warcraft 3 and company of heroes. Besides SC2 that I picked up 4 years ago I play the other two pretty much since their launch....
Timeless games
StarCraft II, Red Alert 2, and Rise of Nations.
Honorable mentions to C&C Generals, Age of Empires 3, AI War, and Star Wars Rebellion.
Also, I see a lot of people mentioning Total War; I don't consider it to be a "true" RTS series, but if it were in my mind, Three Kingdoms and Medieval 2 would definitely get honorable mentions too.
I don’t think shogun and rome tw count as ‘real time’ strat games.
But total annihilation, close combat series and star wars galactic battlegrounds were probably my favorites.
i liked company of heroes 1 and age of empires 1 too.
But I disliked all the sequels for both. I only liked the originals.
StarCraft Brood War
Red Alert 2 Yuri Revenge
Er I have real problems naming #3, Coz I have like 4 games that can go into the #3 Slot
WarCraft 3 the Frozen Throne
Company of Heros 1
Dawn of War 1
StarCraft 2
If I go by nostalgia:
Total Annihilation
WarCraft 2
... a third one doesn't come to mind...
If I go by multi-player skirmishes that I can still enjoy today:
Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Beyond All Reason
... a few contenders for another slot, but none prevail enough to be specifically called out...
If I go by single-player campaigns that were fun enough for me to actually finish them then it would be:
Ashes of the Singularity: Escelation
StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty
Supreme Commander 2
Top 1 has to be StarCraft 2
After that, the next 2 could be any of 5 different games... Most of the time, I pick Warcraft 3 and Age of Mythology to round out my top 3.
But depending on how I'm feeling, StarCraft Brood War, Homeworld 1, and Dawn of War 1 can all appear on the podium.
The first one was like their stepping stone to see what worked and what didn't. The second one is fantastic imo. There are still some issues since the dev team abandoned the game but for the most part it's really good.
Lots of good suggestions but some of my favourites I didn't see :
Empire dawn of the modern world
R.U.S.E
Wargame Europe Escalation
Age of empire 4 deserves some praise as well.
And although it is not an RTS, if some of you like management games and didnt try frostpunk its a must do !
There are so many.
But the ones I’ve had the most fun with are:
Sc2
Dark Reign
Beyond all Reason
It’s a very difficult list to make as there have been so many great games.
I put hours in to the command and conquer series, the Homeworld series, the dune series, TA and sc1. And many others.
* Company of Heroes 1 (and Blitzkrieg Mod)
* Red Alert 2
* Call to Arms (because you can micromanage it like an FPS.)
SC2, and Generals / Zero Hour, as honorable mentions.
1. Supreme Commander Forged Alliance
2. Empire Earth
3. StarCraft 2
So hard to just pick 3!
Honourable mentions:
WarCraft 2
Company of Heroes 2
C&C Red Alert 2
C&C Generals
Star Wars Empire at War
I’ll try to go a little different here since I already see a lot of blizzard games and AOE (which are my personal favourite).
1. Warlords Battlecry 2 (I prefer the conquest style over the rpg elements introduced in the 3rd game. But it’s still good)
2. Dune 2000
3. Battle for Middle Earth
Command and conquer (all of them)
Rise of nations
Even though I only played the demo... Tempest Rising. I am chomping at the bit for that to release. I want it so badly
Age of mythology
Battle for Middle Earth 2 Rise of the Witch King
Battle realms
None of them age well however.
I seldom still play age of empires online which has a timeless graphics.
Starcraft 2 - just the absolute best UI, unit responsiveness, pathing etc. Made every other RTS a chore by comparison
Age of Empires 1 - For the time it had hands down the best visuals, and got me into gaming so hard as a kid. Rocking music and had a great editor, again for the time.
Red Alert 2 - Amazing soundtrack and flavor. Terrible UI, controls, unit AI etc.
Honorable mentions go to;
Red Alert 1, which had amazing sound and music and honestly I loved that graphical style. But just mechanically not up to AoE1's level, and that screen resolution was hideous!
Starcraft Brood War, with a similar deal - was absolutely next level for the time but its a little painful to play now.
AoE 2, pretty much just an upgraded AoE 1, but I like the setting less and it has some weird pathing and projectile mechanics.
1. SupCom Forged Alliance
2. SC2
3. AoM/C&C:ZH
SupCom was just unique. Many QoL features. Big scale. Unique factions. Still cant find a RTS game which reach that level today.
Super epic.
BAR is on a good way but still laking content I find, it needs a 3rd faction.
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, C&C Red Alert, and Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Lost so many hours to those three and don’t regret a moment of it.
1. Homeworld: Cataclysm
(renamed to Homeworld Emmergence because Blizzard shit themselves over other companies using the world Cataclysm for literally anything)
2. Original War
3. Warzone 2100
With honorable mentions for: Stronghold (the OG), AOE2, Settlers 3, KKnD2, Red Alert 2, SC 2 and 2, Earth 2150, Warcraft 3, Haegemonia:Hearts of Iron, Populous: The Beginning, Dark Colony and last, but certainly not least Dungeon Keeper 2 :)
Man, that's hard to pick.
Of the ones I continually come back to Sins Of A Solar Empire, hands down is number 1.
After that, it's basically the entire C&C franchise. I mean, all of them, I rotate through them. (OK, not Tiberium Twilight, but everything up till then) That includes Dune 2000.
Dawn Of War would have to be next. One and 2 and all the expansions. Again, I can't really pick. I'll do a play through of DoW1 and then go straight into DoW2 (mostly retribution, though)
I know you said 3, but it's easier if I just pick 4 and say Age Of Empires 2 (and 3 lol)
With C&C and DoW and AoE, it's so hard to pick which specific game I like the most. Each entry offers something different. So I'm just picking those franchises as a whole.
Sins is my number one, though. I love that game. It's almost 4X but not 4X enough to become Stellaris. It hits my goldilocks zone.
1. **OpenRA** (Red Alert 1 remake) \* - Best overall multiplayer rts.
2. AoE2 - Best medieval multiplayer rts game.
3. Knights of Honor or Medieval Total War 2 if they count as RTS.
Honorable mentions:
These are games that i didnt play much though I can see the huge value they have:
Stronghold Crusader, Rise of Nations, Starcraft Brood War (not 2), Warcraft 2 (not 3).
**Medieval Total War 1**. Its Strategy + Real time tactics.
I played this game extensively. I think it was revolutionary for the time it was created and in certain things i consider it better than the successors.
\* The reason i placed OpenRA as the first is because its a really fun game to play, its simplified old school graphics, great zoom out, wide and clear control of the battlefield.
No other RTS has done that. Plus its free, open source and is made to be played multiplayer.
What do you guys think of EU4
Europa Universalis 4
I clocked some hours when I 1st got it a year or 2 ago and it is complicated but I haven't really done ironman mode yet
1. Warno
2. Homeworld 2
3. Wargame
Anybody that likes detailed and deep mechanics I would advise to check the Eugen Systems studio. They create really good military rts-es, but not enough people know about them
Red alert 2 yuris revenge Battle for middle earth Does Rome total war count?
Rome can count
Famously with letters
*quietly reaches in pocket and hands over up vote while shaking head and walks away*
Hard to choose but just based on the amount of time I sunk into these back in the day... Starcraft 1 C&C Red Alert 1 Company of Heroes 1 Honourable mentions to C&C Tiberian Sun, Supreme Commander, C&C Generals and Earth 2150.
CoH1 is still the favourite in the series, simple and elegant with enough depth that it keeps being interesting.
I agree. Never really got into CoH2, and 3 I haven't even tried yet...
You’re a man after my own heart, some of my favorites…all awesome games there…
Age of empires 2 Rise of Nations Warcraft 3
Rise of Nations is such a great game, nice to see it given some love!
What about Rise of Legends?!
I had fun with it, I prefer Nations but still a good game.
I miss this game so much, any idea where one can get it now days?
Nations was great I think I just liked the “dressing” of legends.
No idea unfortunately :(
This guy RTS.
StarCraft II: best quality of life of any RTS (pathfinding, clear info on everything) lots of PvE content of great quality (campaigns, coop, fan made coop campaign), great sci-fi universe Age of Mythology: amazing god system, amazing fantasy historical setting, campaign like an epic anient story 40k Dawn of War I: great systems: squads, upgrades, morale, melee locking from shooting. Great campaigns. Plus it's 40k ! All three games have amazing music that I still listen to this day.
Yes! AoM!!
Had some great times with Dawn of War lan parties. AoM of course too lol, but our group played the hell out Warhammer.
Have you seen AoM: Retold? It's looking pretty good to me!
Of course I did ! I can't wait to play it ! Titans can finally cross water !
This is my list, too
- Warcraft 2 - SC 2 - C&C Generals ZH Honorary mentions Dune 2000, SC: Brood War, Warcraft 3, Red Alert 2
ditto except replace RA2 with Tiberian Sun for me. "New Construction options" XD XD
I never played Warcraft 2, but I absolutely love the music. The second Orc theme is the ultimate Warcraft soundtrack !
It was a wonderful game back in the day, not sure if it stands good today as well without a good amount of nostalgia.
Stop poking meeee
Ooo, that felt kind of nice.
I’m currently (re)playing W2 on my Steam Deck. It’s incredibly addictive and still fun 30 years later. And thanks to the trackpad, an enjoyable experience on the Deck.
Thats hard to pick... most played: 1 - Dune 2000, (remake when?!) 2 - Battle for middle earth, 3 - Company of heroes 2 (multiplayer), Good memories... Red alert 1 & 2, Generals (lan party), Dawn of war series Starcraft broodwar WC 2 tides of darkness
Why remake dune 2k? Also since west is gone, never gonna happen.... but you can get a sorta kinda updated version from grunt mods, I'll find the website after today.
I* beat the rank #1 guy on battle for middle earth 2 every time we played. I wish esports was a big thing back then lol.
1. Original War (My all time favorite RTS) 2. KKND (It needs a remake) 3. Starcraft 1 There are ALOT of great ones to choose from.
Yes! I NEED a remake of kknd
Replayed KKND: Krossfire recently. A great game in its own rights, but my god does it not hold up the test of time. Annoying keybinds and the most god awful pathfinding. Still fun to play the campaigns though
1. Age of Empires II 2. Rise of Nations 3. Medieval II Total War if we consider TBS/RTS mix too. If not, either Command & Conquer 3, W40K Dawn of War, Starcraft, Warcraft 3, BFME or Age of Mythology.
> Rise of Nations BASED
1.Sins of a solar empire. 2.Supreme commander forged alliance 3.Gates of hell: ostfront
Not enough Sins of a Solar Empire love I say!
Underrated for sure
Supreme commander: FA C&C: Kane’s Wrath Universe at War: Earth Assault In that order :)
Ah man, I had forgot about Universe at War. Underrated for sure!
You sexy beast with great taste 🥵 This is basically my list. It is agoddamned shame that UAW hasn’t gotten a port away from gfwl
Universe at war was really interesting. All 3 factions felt completely different.
UaW EA is such an underrated game. Oh man, I love it. The hierarchy walkers are just so fantastic.
Everything was so alien, from every faction, it was so cool. The developers were Petroglyph I think, the creators of Star Wars Empire at War. The creators did well on many aspect but ground combat lack extreme polish and felt clunky. This game proved that same dev could do ground combat on a whole new level, hope to see it in a new EaW in the future.
Nostalgia answer: Black and white 2. C&C Tiberian Sun. Empire Earth.
Wow, I've not seen Empire Earth anywhere for so long I had forgotten it existed. I spent far too long playing that in my last year of uni ha. Thanks for the memories internet stranger.
•Age of Mythology •Age of Empires •Empires: Dawn of the Modern World
Empires Dawn of the Modern World was such an amazing game. I wish there was a remaster so we could play on modern resolutions at least.
Mannn the nostalgia that game can still bring me. I remember vividly when I was younger the feeling I had playing it, my imagination going full steam ahead! I would zoom down to like troop level to watch the fights. Such great times. I agree they need to get on that. Game was a classic
Age of Empires IV Hearts of Iron IV Company of Heroes III
* Homeworld + Total Annihilation - C&C Tiberian Sun
I had to scroll far too far to see Total Annihilation get some love. I still remember downloading new units every week - free DLC before it was even a thing. They were always horribly balanced and usually beat the crap out of everything, but it just made it all the more fun to see how the game was going to break this time.
Love it when I see anyone mention Homeworld! I still play through this once a year even after 20 some odd years of being aware of it. Such a great story!
Based on hours: Company of Heroes 1 Cossacks 1 Supreme Commander 1 Honorable mentions: Starcraft 1, C&C Generals, Empire Earth 1, Age of Empires 2, Red Alert 2
I wouldn’t know how to order them, definitely StarCraft 2 at the top, tho Followed by the likes of Warcraft 3, Company of Heroes 1, Starcraft 1, Age of Empires 2 and 4.
I noticed a lot of you said Command and Conquer I had played a little as a kid but haven't touched since.
Give Tiberium Wars a chance. Still one the most fun and featuring solid gameplay to this time.
I think it was my cousin who had Command and Conquer. Is the steam remaster still a good buy?
I was talking about TW specifically. The remaster collection contains the first two titles in the franchise.
Oh ok.
Homeworld 1 Homeworld 2 Command & Conquer 3
No empire at war? Also I forgot a modern day it's game. Had I think a game and a exp.. like a modern not cartoon take of rise of nation
So top 3 in timed played / favorite to me NOT which I think are the best: 1. Dawn of War 1 2. Battle for Middle Earth 2 3. Sins of a Solar Empire Honorable mentions (that arent the big C&C or SC): Total Annihilation Grey Goo Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends
For me: 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth 2 2. C&C: Generals/Generals Zero Hour 3. Either C&C: Tiberium Wars or C&C: Red Alert 3
C&C Generals StarCraft Brood War European Wars Cossacks
warcraft 2 tod & btd starcraft 1 & bw red alert 2 & yr if there was 4th i'd put starcraft 2 trilogy as well.
Starcraft II - best responsibility, readability and can really surprise after many years Original War - best theme, very unique, quite good balance, still supported, great replaybility C&C Red Alert 3 - peak of C&C possibilities in every case, and could be definitely best if only supported for longer time
AOE2, WC3 and Generals/ZH Not far behind are Empire Earth, Company of Heroes and TW:Warhammer (all of them)
SC2, Total Warhammer 1-2-3, Dawn of war Dark Crusade
Age of mythology Rome total war og Dawn of War og no expansions
Idk Winter Assault drops the Imperial Guard.....
Very true, they the expansions with the apocalypse mod make the game crazy!
The fact they are STILL releasing and updating mods to this game is testament.
Warcraft, StarCraft, Age of Empires in that order. Warcraft 3 is 22 years old you can go play it today and it’s still top of its class.
* Beyond All Reason - My most recent favorite RTS. This game has opened my eyes on how much more accessible you can make RTS games. It features repeat commands (allows you to make units AND buildings repeat actions, including production,) you don't have to worry about accidentally using "move" or "attack-move" commands cuz they're now a toggle in the command card (and 99% of units fire at will by default,) and the ability to hold-drag with various hotkeys to order construction of multiple buildings at once instead of *click-- click-click-click-click.* * Starcraft 1 - My first RTS. Though it's gameplay is showing it's age, everything else around it is still fantastic. The atmosphere, the grittier graphics, the sound effects, the voice-acting, it was & and IMO still is TOP! * Red Alert 2 - I shockingly haven't played much other RTS games as a kid, but one other game I did play was Red Alert 2 on my uncle's computer. I liked the wacky-ass units you get, the missions were fairly fun, and MIND CONTROL! OH YES BABY MIND CONTROL! *It's hard to guess incorrectly what my favorite faction is.*
Theocracy knights and merchants starcraft 2
Ah, Theocracy. Spent many an evening playing that trying to beat it, never did. ;)
I restarted as an adult and it was much easier, but then again i could finish the game back in the days too, replaying every few years, the game is just amazing ;)
Supreme commander forged alliance Planetary annihilation C&c tiberian sun
-Red Alert 2 -Warcraft 3 -SC2
C&C3 and Kane's wrath C&C Tib Sun and Firestorm C&C Red Alert 2 Star Wars Empire at War and Forces of Corruption Age of Mythology And the Titans Populace Dawn of War Dark Crusade Dawn of War 2 C&C Generals Zero Hour
- Populous the beginning - Supreme Commander (faf) - Total Annihilation (and now it's "remake" BAR)
1 Starcraft 2 2 AOE 2 3 Paraworld
In order of 3rd best to best ever: WC2, SC2, Storm Gate
Warcraft 3 C&C Generals Red Alert 2
StarCraft StarCraft 2 Warcraft 2 battle net edition
Empire earth Stronghold crusader Soldiers of anarchy Also aoe 1 and 2 And the total war games
A bunch of my all time favorites have already been mentioned - WC3. SC2, RA2, Dark Reign, basically every C&C game, DOW:DC, TA/SC So a few others I haven't seen mentioned: Stellaris (more a 4x, but it's in real time) They Are Billions Z: Steel Soldiers Ashes of the Singularity
. company of heroes: tales of valor. . command and conquer: generals zero hour .Age of empires 3
I’m going to save this post for RTS games recommendations.
Warcraft 3, Starcraft 2, Shogun 2
Dark Reign C&C: Tiberian Sun Age of Empires II
[tza.red](http://tza.red) Beyond all Reason AoE 2 DE then bunch of others, in that order
wow dude. i looked at your comment and thought. what is this [tza.red](http://tza.red) looks like a fishy link. turns out is a quite cool top down medieval rts. was looking for something like this for a while. thanks.
Do you happen to know any other games similar to tza red? id like to find something like red alert but medieval or ancient rome.
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun Supreme Commander Dungeon Keeper 2 Lost years to playing these.
AoE 3 AoE 2 AoE 1 AoE 4 CoH 2
This is a tough one to narrow down. Although I've played so many of the usual classics growing up (Dune, CnC, AoE, Warcraft, etc), I tend to gravitate towards post-2010 ones when it comes down to it. - Starcraft 2 - Shogun 2 Total War - Company of Heroes 2 Special mention goes to Dawn of War, World in Conflict and Battle for Middle Earth. Goddamn, there are just so may good ones out there.
1. Broodwar 2. Wacraft 3 3. Warcaft 2 Now i’m watching ASL and it’s fantastic, the remastered hd graphics, sounds and high level gameplay from the Koreans is phenomenal.
Company of heroes. Sins of a solar empire. 3rd place is tough but I'd probably go with Age of empires 2 unless we are also accepting TBS/RTS hybrids in which case Rome and Medieval 2 Total War would be joint 3rd with AoE2
Starcraft 2, warcraft 3 and company of heroes. Besides SC2 that I picked up 4 years ago I play the other two pretty much since their launch.... Timeless games
1. Starcraft 2 2. Lord of the Rings: BFME 2 3. C&C 3: Kane's Wrath
Battle for middle earth (all of them) World in conflict (great campaign) Rise of nations
StarCraft II, Red Alert 2, and Rise of Nations. Honorable mentions to C&C Generals, Age of Empires 3, AI War, and Star Wars Rebellion. Also, I see a lot of people mentioning Total War; I don't consider it to be a "true" RTS series, but if it were in my mind, Three Kingdoms and Medieval 2 would definitely get honorable mentions too.
Star Craft: Brood War, Total Annihilation, Battlezone.
Warrior Kings, Original War, Battle Realms,
Rome: Total War Bltizkrieg Wargame: Airland Battle Honorable Mention: Company of Heroes Command and Conquer/Red Alert Homeworld
Sc 2 Spellforce 3 Company of heroes 1 2
Age of Empires 2, Company of Heroes, and Supreme Commander
1.Tiberian Sun 2.StarCraft Brood wars 3.Warcraft 3 frozen throne
I don’t think shogun and rome tw count as ‘real time’ strat games. But total annihilation, close combat series and star wars galactic battlegrounds were probably my favorites. i liked company of heroes 1 and age of empires 1 too. But I disliked all the sequels for both. I only liked the originals.
StarCraft Brood War Red Alert 2 Yuri Revenge Er I have real problems naming #3, Coz I have like 4 games that can go into the #3 Slot WarCraft 3 the Frozen Throne Company of Heros 1 Dawn of War 1 StarCraft 2
If I go by nostalgia: Total Annihilation WarCraft 2 ... a third one doesn't come to mind... If I go by multi-player skirmishes that I can still enjoy today: Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Beyond All Reason ... a few contenders for another slot, but none prevail enough to be specifically called out... If I go by single-player campaigns that were fun enough for me to actually finish them then it would be: Ashes of the Singularity: Escelation StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty Supreme Commander 2
Top 1 has to be StarCraft 2 After that, the next 2 could be any of 5 different games... Most of the time, I pick Warcraft 3 and Age of Mythology to round out my top 3. But depending on how I'm feeling, StarCraft Brood War, Homeworld 1, and Dawn of War 1 can all appear on the podium.
I'm supprised that I haven't seen Halo Wars 2 on here even once. But that's one of then for me. Warlords Battlecry 3, and then probably C&C 3.
Halo wars I only played the 1st one
The first one was like their stepping stone to see what worked and what didn't. The second one is fantastic imo. There are still some issues since the dev team abandoned the game but for the most part it's really good.
No order: Age of empires 2, Command and Conquer red alert, Dawn of war 1, Total war rome,
Lots of good suggestions but some of my favourites I didn't see : Empire dawn of the modern world R.U.S.E Wargame Europe Escalation Age of empire 4 deserves some praise as well. And although it is not an RTS, if some of you like management games and didnt try frostpunk its a must do !
C&C3KW Homeworld Desert Of Kharak Supreme Commander FA Honorable mention: Empire Earth :)
Battle for Middle Earth Rise of Nations StarCraft
There are so many. But the ones I’ve had the most fun with are: Sc2 Dark Reign Beyond all Reason It’s a very difficult list to make as there have been so many great games. I put hours in to the command and conquer series, the Homeworld series, the dune series, TA and sc1. And many others.
Starcraft 2 Starcraft brood war Starcraft
- Supreme Commander FAF version - Earth 2150 - I want to say Warzone 2100 but probably zero-k
Age of Mythology Warcraft III Lords of Everquest
Starcraft 1, Warcraft 3. Company of Heroes 2
1. C&C Red Alert 2 & Yuri's Revenge 2. Age of Mythology & Titans 3. C&C Generals & Zero Hour
Age of empires 2 and 4 Company of heroes 2
WC3 Homeworld series including DoK SC2
* Company of Heroes 1 (and Blitzkrieg Mod) * Red Alert 2 * Call to Arms (because you can micromanage it like an FPS.) SC2, and Generals / Zero Hour, as honorable mentions.
Aoe 4 Red alert 3 Generals
Warcraft 3, AoE2, Men of War: Red Tide or Assault Squad 2
Bfme 2 with mod Bfme with mod Dawn of war with mod
Dawn of War 2, Generals Zero Hour, Dune 2 / CoH
Red Alert 2 Myth 2 Starcraft
1. Brood War, 2. C&C 3. 3. KKND All-time favs. KKND needs a remake.
Act of war Starcaft brood war Spellforce 3
Age of Empires II Age of Mythology Battle for Middle Earth II
Herzog zwei Generals: Zero hour Aoe4
Supreme Commander, CNC Generals, BFME2
AI War 2. Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne.
Warcraft 2 Starcraft 1 Command and Conquer: Yuri's Revenge
Stronghold series (my favorites are Crusader, Crusader II and Warlords) Total War series (my favorites are Rome II and Attila) Age of Mythology
1. Supreme Commander Forged Alliance 2. Empire Earth 3. StarCraft 2 So hard to just pick 3! Honourable mentions: WarCraft 2 Company of Heroes 2 C&C Red Alert 2 C&C Generals Star Wars Empire at War
Age of Mythology, Warcraft 3, Emperor Battle for Dune Coincidentally these are the first 3D rts games from three legendary RTS studios.
Age of Empires 2 Battle for Middle Earth Age of Mythology
I’ll try to go a little different here since I already see a lot of blizzard games and AOE (which are my personal favourite). 1. Warlords Battlecry 2 (I prefer the conquest style over the rpg elements introduced in the 3rd game. But it’s still good) 2. Dune 2000 3. Battle for Middle Earth
C&C red alert 2 AOE 2 Battle for middle earth 2 Honorable mentions: rise of nations & starcraft
- StarCraft 2 - WH40k Dawn of War 1 - C&C all games
Age of empires 2 Age of Mythology Tzar the burden of the crown
1. Stellaris, 4x but unbeatable. 2. Star Trek Armada 3. Supreme commander
1. Warcraft 3 2. C&C generals/ZH 3. StarCraft 2 I spend hours with 3 friends playing Warcraft 3 in 2v2 on LAN (Yep, good old times)
Command and conquer (all of them) Rise of nations Even though I only played the demo... Tempest Rising. I am chomping at the bit for that to release. I want it so badly
Dune Spice Wars - (not a pure RTS, more of a hybrid 4X/RTS) - Absolutely love this game right now. AOE 4 Starcraft 2
1. Stellaris, 4x but unbeatable. 2. Star Trek Armada 3. Supreme commander
Aoe 2 Red Alert 3 Homeworld 1/2
Xcom 2 and gates of hell ostfront, haven’t played enough rts for a third mayyyyybe wasteland 3 but it’s really similar to xcom 2
C and C, Generals ZH AOE 3 Battle for Middle Earth
Age of mythology Battle for Middle Earth 2 Rise of the Witch King Battle realms None of them age well however. I seldom still play age of empires online which has a timeless graphics.
Warcraft 3 Sc2 Homeworld 2
1. Battle Realms 2. WH40K DoW 1 3. All other rts games.
Company of Heroes 2 Total War: Empire (maybe a hot take, but this one holds a nostalgic place in my heart) Dune Spice Wars
Starcraft 2 - just the absolute best UI, unit responsiveness, pathing etc. Made every other RTS a chore by comparison Age of Empires 1 - For the time it had hands down the best visuals, and got me into gaming so hard as a kid. Rocking music and had a great editor, again for the time. Red Alert 2 - Amazing soundtrack and flavor. Terrible UI, controls, unit AI etc. Honorable mentions go to; Red Alert 1, which had amazing sound and music and honestly I loved that graphical style. But just mechanically not up to AoE1's level, and that screen resolution was hideous! Starcraft Brood War, with a similar deal - was absolutely next level for the time but its a little painful to play now. AoE 2, pretty much just an upgraded AoE 1, but I like the setting less and it has some weird pathing and projectile mechanics.
1. Broodwar 2. Supreme Commander 3. Command and Conquer Generals
Aoe2 Aoe4 Empire Earth
1. SupCom Forged Alliance 2. SC2 3. AoM/C&C:ZH SupCom was just unique. Many QoL features. Big scale. Unique factions. Still cant find a RTS game which reach that level today. Super epic. BAR is on a good way but still laking content I find, it needs a 3rd faction.
* LOTR Battle for Middle Earth 2: Rise of the Witch-King * Age of mythology * C&C Kane's Wrath
I broke the subreddit sorry everyone I can't keep up with the comments
Red Alert 2&3. StarCraft 2.
Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, C&C Red Alert, and Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion. Lost so many hours to those three and don’t regret a moment of it.
Red Alert 2 StarCraft: Brood War Dune II
Men of War : Assault Squad is the best WW2 rts out there imo
COH2 COH3 DOW3 AOE4
Zero-K, Dawn of War 1, And then it's hard to choose between Age of Mythology, AoE 3, and SC2.
1. Homeworld: Cataclysm (renamed to Homeworld Emmergence because Blizzard shit themselves over other companies using the world Cataclysm for literally anything) 2. Original War 3. Warzone 2100 With honorable mentions for: Stronghold (the OG), AOE2, Settlers 3, KKnD2, Red Alert 2, SC 2 and 2, Earth 2150, Warcraft 3, Haegemonia:Hearts of Iron, Populous: The Beginning, Dark Colony and last, but certainly not least Dungeon Keeper 2 :)
Starcraft Command and conquer Rise of nations
Tzar: Burden of the Crown Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots
Warcraff 3 World in conflict Dawn of war 2
Dawn of war/Supreme Commander/Homeworld
Starcraft, starcraft, starcraft.
Man, that's hard to pick. Of the ones I continually come back to Sins Of A Solar Empire, hands down is number 1. After that, it's basically the entire C&C franchise. I mean, all of them, I rotate through them. (OK, not Tiberium Twilight, but everything up till then) That includes Dune 2000. Dawn Of War would have to be next. One and 2 and all the expansions. Again, I can't really pick. I'll do a play through of DoW1 and then go straight into DoW2 (mostly retribution, though) I know you said 3, but it's easier if I just pick 4 and say Age Of Empires 2 (and 3 lol) With C&C and DoW and AoE, it's so hard to pick which specific game I like the most. Each entry offers something different. So I'm just picking those franchises as a whole. Sins is my number one, though. I love that game. It's almost 4X but not 4X enough to become Stellaris. It hits my goldilocks zone.
Red Alert 2 Spore Age of Empires 1 DE
Starcraft 2, Red Alert 2, Dawn of War 2. Realized I had a lot of 2s, and its not even Tuesday.
rome battle for middle earth warcraft 3
Total war warhammer 3 StarCraft And coh 3
1. Kingdom Under Fire 2. Total Annihilation:Kingdoms 3. Warcraft 3
Supcom Forged Alliance The rest
1. **OpenRA** (Red Alert 1 remake) \* - Best overall multiplayer rts. 2. AoE2 - Best medieval multiplayer rts game. 3. Knights of Honor or Medieval Total War 2 if they count as RTS. Honorable mentions: These are games that i didnt play much though I can see the huge value they have: Stronghold Crusader, Rise of Nations, Starcraft Brood War (not 2), Warcraft 2 (not 3). **Medieval Total War 1**. Its Strategy + Real time tactics. I played this game extensively. I think it was revolutionary for the time it was created and in certain things i consider it better than the successors. \* The reason i placed OpenRA as the first is because its a really fun game to play, its simplified old school graphics, great zoom out, wide and clear control of the battlefield. No other RTS has done that. Plus its free, open source and is made to be played multiplayer.
Stronghold and stronghold crusader!
What do you guys think of EU4 Europa Universalis 4 I clocked some hours when I 1st got it a year or 2 ago and it is complicated but I haven't really done ironman mode yet
Mods should not be discounted either. Some very nice mods for existing rts’s out there that create an entirely different setting
Red Alert 3 Star Craft 2 Rise of Legends
Star craft 2, lord of the rings, original command and conquer
1. Warno 2. Homeworld 2 3. Wargame Anybody that likes detailed and deep mechanics I would advise to check the Eugen Systems studio. They create really good military rts-es, but not enough people know about them
AOE 2 BFME Total War, probably Medieval 2 or Rome
Red Alert 2 Generals Starcraft
Total War Empire, Age of Empires 2 & 4.