Best RTS you can recommend me.. what you got?

[lightingbird]

I'm looking for a new or upcoming RTS. Usually when I'm in front of the plasma, I'm now enjoying Red Dead Redemption. Although, I still need that RTS kick to fill my other void. So I'm looking for recommendations. Not to mention, I just finally canceled my DAOC mmo account after several years so its like I don't game on my laptop anymore. So, I have played many RTS games over the years like:

All of the command and conquer games including the horrible recent version.
The first sudden strike. (loved that game)
Company of Heroes.
All of the age of empires.
All of the empire earths.
I loved rise of nations.
I didn't really care for World in conflict.
Total Annihilation was good for the time.
All of the Total wars but for some reason I don't really like them all the much. I have the napoleon one but just installed it, tried a few times, and uninstalled it.

I'm sure there are more but I can't really think of them all. Now I was seconds away from buying Dawn of Discovery because it looks amazing. When I did some research and watched vids on youtube, it appears to be a sim but very weak in the military part of the game. So if I could find a game with that same caliber but with a great military aspect to it. I'd be all over it.

Any suggestons?

Also, is there a way to set up for some sort of email notifications to this forum? I hate checking up on it myself and like how most other forums work.

 

[razormint21]

Starcraft Classic. Lots of players to pat around with in battle.net and Garena...

 

[Nyan Cat]

Well, obviously the Starcraft 2 Beta.

 

[Jazzyjazz2323]

Warcraft three reign of chaos/the frozen throne and of course the dawn of war series Burn the heretic!

 

[IBlackKiteI]

Dawn of War is damn great fun, outdated and a little different but bloody beautiful, the Dark Crusade expansion is one of the best expansions i know of.

DoW 2 is unfortunately pretty much Company of Heroes with a Warhammer 40k makeover, but its still awesome.

The other RTS games I really like, you have already covered, so there ya go then.

No im not a 40k fanboy, I still hardly understand what a tabletop wargame exactly is.

 

[octafish]

Hmmm my recommendation isn't going to be to your taste, but my favorite RTS is Freedom Force and Freedom Force Vs The Third Reich. It's getting long in the tooth now, and it isn't military, and it has a lot of RPG elements... wait... OK, so it isn't really an true RTS, but it's a cool game none the less. I've played Dark Crusade and it was fun, for a while, but I guess I just didn't "get" it..

 

[Mr.Black]

- DoW
- DoW2
- Starcraft
- Warcraft
- Supreme Commander
- Supreme Commander 2

Personal favourite is DoW2 and original DoW a close second.

 

[Zannah]

Dow / DoW 2 is a must have;

Also, if you're in for the tactical challenge, rather than the zerg rush, go for the Heroes of Might and Magic series - they're turn based, but still great fun, if you have some time to spare.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance. Particularly good if you like creative mods

 

[lightingbird]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Dawn of War - I've debated trying this in the past but I've heard its not that tactical but maybe I'll give it a try.

Starcraft 2 Beta - Yea I have some friends that play it. Is this a full game?

Starcraft Classic - Entirely too old ha.

Supreme Commander - I've actually played the first and liked it but the didn't care for the second.

King Arthur: Role Playing Game - I don't know much about this one. Isn't this a rpg and not a RTS?

 

[Melion]

Dawn Of War.

'nuff said.

 

[OrdinaryGuy]

I've heard good things about the Dawn of War series, but I've never actually played them. Give Starcraft 2 a shot I guess.

EDIT: Didn't read the first post entirely, my bad.

 

[AhumbleKnight]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Dawn of War - I've debated trying this in the past but I've heard its not that tactical but maybe I'll give it a try.

As a mad fan of DoW, and somebody who played it almost exclusively for over two years I can happily say, that it can be very tactical. It all depends on how you play.
I harass, use small forces and gorilla type warfare to keep them busy while I flank/tech/resource stave them. Unit counters are important (more so in the original than the expansions) and holding strategic ground can win the game. It is no RUSE but then, sometimes RUSE isn't either

 

[Megalodon]

Really I'd have to say go back and play Red Alert 2/Tiberian Sun again. Those two games are pretty much the peak of the genre.

Dawn of War is damn good fun though.

 

[Layz92]

C&C: Gold, C&C: Generals, C&C: Tiberiun Sun, KKND: Krossfire, Dune 2000

 

[HK_01]

World in Conflict. Seriously, it's one of the best RTS games out there.
(Edit: Forget about it, I didn't see that you already mentioned it in the OP and don't like it. Sorry.)


Also, if you have Medieval II and like Lord of the Rings, check out the Third Age mod.

If you don't mind the game being a little old try Rise of Nations.

I got bored of WiC because of how terrible the multiplayer community was.

How about:
Supreme Commander
King Arthur: Role Playing Game

Yeah, it's terrible. They won't give you any advice on what to do but constantly complain.

 

[bificommander]

Since you mentioned Total Annihilation, I support the recommendation for Supreme commander, preferably SupCom Forged alliance (a stand-alone expansion, so you don't need SupCom vanilla). I wouldn't go for SupCom 2, but you already said you didn't like that one, so we have the same taste.
King Arthur, despite the name, is like the total war series. I haven't been able to play it due to a technical problem on xp64, and because I only have access to a laptop right now, not my desktop.
For new recommendations, I'd suggest two oldies, Empire earth (The first was fun, the second was ok, the third is buggy as hell), or Sacrifice (a pretty fun RPG/RTS hybrid, where you walk among the your army of weird summoned creatures, and cast increasingly devastating spells. Not your typical RTS, and not perfectly balanced or anything, but quite entertaining to play). Both those games are available for a very low price from Good Old Games.