RTS noob recommendations

[Ryuzaki]

I would suggest the Total War games, in particular Rome: Total War if your pc isn't particularly powerful. I consider Rome to be one of the best RTS games out there and it has an entire tutorial campaign that can help you get work your way into the main game. The Total War games are quite different that other RTS games though, in that they separate the RTS battle element from the campaign map where you build all of you troops and manage you city's.
If you want a more standard RTS, then I would recommend games by Relic, such as the Dawn of War series, or the Homeworld series.

 

[Tallim]

Warzone 2100.
It's free and heavily supported as the company released the source and assets. It's pretty old and you should have no problem running it. Good solo campaign that eases you into it although it can get really tough later on.

Only real thing in the "con" column is that the tech tree is insanely large and a bit complicated at time with the way required tech branches overlap with specific upgrades that often don't make sense. But that can be learned with play.


It also still has some of the best sound design. The Hyper Velocity Cannons firing is such a great noise and the steady thud-thud-thud or the rotary howitzers.....