games to get me into turn based strategy?

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Batou667

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Murrdox said:
I'd recommend Heroes 5 for a modern game, and 3 if you want a more retro, but still incredibly awesome game. Stay away from the others, I haven't played 6 yet, so I can't weigh in on that one.
kebab4you said:
Not all that complex combat but: Heroes of might and magic 3
tme said:
I'd heavily suggest Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
Guys, I can't believe all three of you spelled "Heroes of Might and Magic 2" incorrectly.

OK, OK, 3 is pretty good as well, but for me, 2 just has a lot more charm and the graphics have dated better.
 

puff ball

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i have to throw my hat behind fire emblem too, i know its not quite what you had in mind but its one of my favorite series of all time so i must recommend it.
 

Shadow-Phoenix

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I'm more of a real time strat gamer but I do like some turn based games now and then but not really big on military ones.

Disgaea is more my favourite when it comes to turn based.
 

Vhite

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Dirty Apple said:
I'd humbly suggest Galactic Civilizations 2. I've spent many a "one more turn" night on this time sink. The play is deep, and the customization options are near limitless. And, if you watch on Steam, it'll go on sale every once in awhile.
I second this. Wow, I couldn't believe how addicting that game is. It's like possibilities of Dwarf Fortress were put to blender with gameplay of Civilizations and then it was all painted Mass Effect.

I would also add Battle for Wesnoth when you will feel like playing something simple. Its free, has dozens of good story campaigns already preinstalled, it has active modding and multiplayer community, gameplay is easy to learn but hard to master -ish, looks fancy and for small price you can also play it on your smartphone/tablet.
 

SweetShark

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AAaaa...
I thought you wanted a turn-base strategy game like Disgaea......I am really sad ;_;
 

Hawk of Battle

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Frozen Synapse is a really great game that I recently came across. But, I'm feeling lazy right now so here's Totalbiscuits review of it;

 

GeneralBigG

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BloatedGuppy said:
As you enjoyed Civilization, you might like Alpha Centauri, which is basically sci-fi Civilization. It's a very good game, but also a little long in the tooth (noticing a trend here yet?)
I'm glad somebody else enjoys Alpha Centauri. It's a fantastic game. The expansion Alien Crossfire adds in loads of new stuff, like new human factions, two alien factions, loads of tech, etc. There's also quite a few mods out there to add in loads more stuff.

OT: If you liked Civ 5, Go through the older civs, particularly Civ 4. Though give the original Civilization a go (you'll need DOSbox to run it though), and see all the random mechanics that were put in there for no discernible reason (I'm looking at you, random tech quizzes that cost me half my units when I got you wrong!).

And Master of Orion 2 is a classic, ranked 2nd for me only to Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire.

So basically, Sid Meier games and MoO2. :D
 

Kevianz

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If you have a nintendo handheld or a wii/gamecube you could give one of the games of the fire emblem series a shot.
That were the ones that got me into turn based games and they are fairly easy to learn and get quite complex later on in the game.

Also battle for wesnoth is a great one too, is also available in the app store iirc.

Heroes of might and magic, but loads more fun if you can play it lan with some friends (just make sure you have something to do next to it or are skyping with them or something cause you will be waiting quite some time for them to finish their turn).
 

bananafishtoday

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Personally, I liked Civ4 a lot more than 5. I just never got into 5 (played maybe a dozen hours compared to hundreds in 4), so I can't explain why I like 4 so much more... but yeah, maybe 4 would be something for you to check out.

I don't play much turn-based strategy though, but I do play...

Penguin_Factory said:
So I'm looking for recommendations for military, or partially military focused, turn based strategy games that are more complex than Civ 5 but not quite at Hearts of Iron or Crusader Kings level (keeping in mind I've already played Xcom). Something that I could use as a stepping-stone to those games.
Not turn-based, but I would highly recommend Crusader Kings 2. Seriously marvelous. Thing is, I don't think it's a game you can "work" toward by playing non-Paradox strategy games.

The Paradox grand strategies have a language all their own. While there's a lot of skill transference between the Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, and Victoria series, if your end goal is to develop the skills to enjoy those games, there isn't much you can play to get there besides those games.

On that note, CK2 is the best place to start. It's by far the most accessible of their games--Pdox has done a lot to streamline the UI to make things easier to understand, though you're still jumping into the deep end. I'd say play a few games without caring how well you do and tab to the wiki whenever you see anything that you don't understand but seems important. There's still a pretty steep learning curve compared to most other types of games, but you should be able to learn enough to enjoy it after a few hours of alt-tabbing. Also, the forum community is seriously top-notch, probably the most polite and helpful folks I've encountered on any dev's forums.

Of the "main" franchises, CK2 is probably the most accessible and traditionally "fun" in your impact on the game systems. There's stuff to learn, but not as much as in the other franchises. Its UI's polished way more than the others'. And it's generally good with feedback, in that it makes it easy (again, relative to other Pdox games) to understand what things caused other things to happen. Along the same lines, the feedback makes you feel like you have a lot more control than in some of their other titles.

Vicky2 is really subtle--my first few games, I played through without any trouble, but without feeling like I actually did anything. You don't play it so much as tinker with it, but the game became really enjoyable for me after a lot of reading on how my actions actually affected the game state.

EU3 is enormous (five expansions) and really, really sandbox-y. It takes a long time to learn everything, but once you do, you can basically do whatever the hell you want while laughing at the pitiful AIs as they try in vain to stop you. I play EU3 for the same reasons I play Minecraft, really.

HOI3 is still completely fucking incomprehensible to me, and I treat HOI3 players with quiet reverence.
 

triggrhappy94

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I think the newest XCom would be good.
It's like chess but in chess the sniper's not the best peice.
 

NoPants2win

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GeneralBigG said:
BloatedGuppy said:
OT: If you liked Civ 5, Go through the older civs, particularly Civ 4. Though give the original Civilization a go (you'll need DOSbox to run it though), and see all the random mechanics that were put in there for no discernible reason (I'm looking at you, random tech quizzes that cost me half my units when I got you wrong!).

And Master of Orion 2 is a classic, ranked 2nd for me only to Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire.

So basically, Sid Meier games and MoO2. :D
Those tech quizzes were the copyright protection. You were supposed to look those up in the manual. He did the same thing for Pirates! but you had to identify pirate flags.
 

octafish

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X-Com (original), JA2, and Silent Storm, have been mentioned, so the best three small unit turn based tactical games have been taken. If you try X-Com be sure and download xcomutil, it works with the Steam version just fine and adds a lot to the game as well as correcting a couple of bugs.

Check out the Combat Mission games, which use a similar simultaneous system to Frozen Synapse, and the Kings Bounty series which fuses a real time rpg and turn based tactical game.

Of course maybe you really just want a 4X game, in which case you can't go past MOO2.
 

octafish

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NoPants2win said:
GeneralBigG said:
BloatedGuppy said:
OT: If you liked Civ 5, Go through the older civs, particularly Civ 4. Though give the original Civilization a go (you'll need DOSbox to run it though), and see all the random mechanics that were put in there for no discernible reason (I'm looking at you, random tech quizzes that cost me half my units when I got you wrong!).

And Master of Orion 2 is a classic, ranked 2nd for me only to Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire.

So basically, Sid Meier games and MoO2. :D
Those tech quizzes were the copyright protection. You were supposed to look those up in the manual. He did the same thing for Pirates! but you had to identify pirate flags.
When will the Treasure Fleet arrive in in Cumana in 1560?

That's what I remember it being, not Pirate flags. Or are you talking about something possibly not made for the C=64 or possibly even something not from 1987? Sacrilege!
 

GeneralBigG

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Jun 26, 2012
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NoPants2win said:
GeneralBigG said:
BloatedGuppy said:
OT: If you liked Civ 5, Go through the older civs, particularly Civ 4. Though give the original Civilization a go (you'll need DOSbox to run it though), and see all the random mechanics that were put in there for no discernible reason (I'm looking at you, random tech quizzes that cost me half my units when I got you wrong!).

And Master of Orion 2 is a classic, ranked 2nd for me only to Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire.

So basically, Sid Meier games and MoO2. :D
Those tech quizzes were the copyright protection. You were supposed to look those up in the manual. He did the same thing for Pirates! but you had to identify pirate flags.
How is that supposed to work as copyright protection?!? I brought my copy of Civ in a bundle with the original Worms and it didn't come with a manual. That was a legitimate copy, surely a good pirate would have just removed those quizzes? And all it does it make you lose all your units at the start of the game, and half at the end! Worst. Copyright Protection. Ever.


Sorry for the derail by the way!
 

Pharsalus

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Don't think anyone mentioned Endless Space yet. It's a Turn based 4x game that closely emulates Master of Orion, but it is new, easier to use, and polished to a mirror shine. The battles are much quicker too; using a rock paper scisors, tactical mechanic. As much as I revere MoO 2 the battles were tedious.
I'd also agree with recommendations like X-Com and Heroes of Might and Magic 3.
 

Oroboros

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Feb 21, 2011
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Seconding Maser of Orion 2 and jagged Alliance 2. Completely different focuses (in one you command a space empire, in the other you manage a squad or squads of mercenaries with rpg like mechanics). Also look for Master of Orion's fantasy-based sibling, Master of Magic. While the graphics are extremely archaic, it's easy to get past that quickly once you realise how deep the game mechanics are. If you are up for hybrid games, there are even more. A lot of games have world map management in Turn-based, and real time combat (usually with a pause button) Examples of this would be the Total War series, lords of Magic, the Spaces Empire series and Age of Wonders which also has a turn-based mode, if memory serves). You might also consider one of the many turn-based rpgs, such as arcanum or fallout.