Total annihilation (except i have lost my disk so can't install :()
Age of empires II (with expansion)
Civ III

Advance Wars for the Gameboy Advance. I can't think of a more addictive strategy war game.

Anybody else looking foreward to Age of empires 3? Gonna kick ass!!!!

Command & Conquer

THE defining RTS game. All others bow before it in supplication and worship it in its glory!

i cant believe no one else has mentioned close combat.

the best and most realistic rts military strategy game yet. phenomenal.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned Heroes of might and magic, great games!

Some favorites of mine are...

Close Combat: Invasion of Normandy
Blitzkrieg
Rome: Total War
Starcraft
Rise of Nations

:thumbsup:

Civ3, although I have never experienced the excitement when I played Civilization back in the days. Guess I'm getting old..

Steel Panthers: World at War
 

Have you tried playing Steel Panthers? Give it a try. It is available for free here:

http://www.steelpanthersonline.com/

You won't find a more detailed World War 2 strategy game, in my opinion. Even moreso than Close Combat. SP looks dated, and it is, but give it a whirl and see how you like her. I've been playing this game off and on for over 10 years now. It never gets old and I keep going back to her. The amount of community support is incredible. Like nothing else I've ever seen.

Did I mention it's free? :D

yep, i was a big follower of SP for a while ;)

but i just prefer the real time aspect of cc.

I tried to get into it. The level of detail in terms of content is phenomenal, like Coppertop says, but I needed the pretty graphics to stimulate the other side of my brain.

Full Spectrum Warrior is my favorite. It's so realistic... it's almost like playing Black Hawk Down or something lol

I can understand that. I keep wishing for a good WW2 RTS to come out that is basically a real time Steel Panthers. I buy just about every game that tries to fulfill this niche (Sudden Strike, Panzer Claws, Codename Panzers to name a few) but they always disappoint me. Codename Panzers has come closest, but it's just not the same. I just don't think it's possible to make a game like SP real time and mantain the same flavor. Maybe one day...

C&C
starcraft
homeworlds 2 ~ currently playing :D

I'm actually gonna go to a friend's house later today to play StarCraft and kick some ass.

Medieval and Rome: Total War

Adding Starcraft and Rome:Total War to my list. Both are great strategy games.

Rome: total war and Civ II were my all time favorites. Total Annilation is up there as well.

Myth and Myth 2: Soulblighter, were freaking awesome. They were way ahead of their time in terms of 3d strategy. First game where terrain was everything and you could blow up zombies with molotov cocktails and satchel charges. Freaking kick ass.

Civ 3
Total Anihilation
Dawn of War

In order, man I love Civ 3, I still play it every now and then.

Civilization 2! That, or StarCraft. Or Command & Conquer. ALL THREE COMBINED!

i also REALLY liked alpha centauri

I've never like anything better than starcraft, I played WC3 a bit when it came out, but it just wasn't the same. The upkeep system seemed like a cop out, like they needed to keep the armies small so they threw that in there. Doing so made it like you needed to not make units and hoard up a bunch of money, upgrade and then produce the units...

Anyway I like starcraft because of the speed of the play, the great dynamic between the 3 races and the endless strategies you could come up with.

Warcraft 3 is a godsend though Warcraft 2 will always have a special place in my heart.

Age of Empires 2 is a classic.

I'd like to try the new LOR game and star wars battlefront though.

DITTO!!! C&C is the best...any of them...Generals + Zero Hour is killer!! :thumbsup:

I agree with Gortexfrog. Advance wars is probably my favorite. I still play the first one while on the throne. Warcraft 2 comes in a close second.

Europa Universalis II. I bought it four years ago, and still play it on a regular basis. Paradox Entertainment rocks!

Age of Empires 2: The Conquerers - I lost a lot of time to this game, and am not concerned over the loss :thumbsup:

I agree with MPower, Axis and Allies is the best strategy game available. I'm talking about the old one like the board game, not the new one. I only wish the AI was a bit more creative and less predictable.

Civ2/Civ3.

What do you guys think about the new Act of War? Kinda diggin it.

i like the classic war craft 2...i also like age of empires 2 a lot

I think the game is called Ages of Mythology or something like that. It's got the same style as the warcraft games but it based more on mythology. It's not as good as warcraft but its a pretty cool game.

In the RTS genre StarCraft is the best ever, hands down.

For pure strategy (turnbased) everything pales in comparison to Panzer General. One of the best games ever.

--jaded

Starcraft Commited ownage on somanny levels.. It hurts me everytime i go back on battlenet to find the place flooded with annoying 12yeaolds and retarded scrip kiddies. Anyone want a game sometime :D?

starcraft and warcraft 2, i hated three i hated the speical character thing. It's too much work for me and theres a lot of lag in their b.net games

i love Command and Conquer.
i used to play it on playstation1.
its much much better on PC =)
so damn slow on playstation now that i've played both.

Age of Empires 2 (expansion, the whole nine yards), Warcraft III (ditto), though Civ 2 will always hold a special place in my heart, and Civ: Call to Power was a fun take on the civ games.

Notable mentions would include Warlords II (I think that was the one) and Lords of Magic. The only thing that really held Lords of Magic back when it came out was it's immense bugginess. And how long it took for them to bring out any fixes for those bugs.

Etherlords wins my goose-egg prize though. Ugh.

warcraft 3 the frozen throne hands down best strategy game i have ever played, i still play it today online, if anyone else play and is on azeroth send me message with ur name

Myth 2! Nothing beats modding it for the screaming iron assault dwarves.

As for bigger things, Combat Mission kicked arse on so many levels.

This could be a looooong list, but I'll stick with the best:
- Civ 2. Tried 3, but it just wasn't the same.
- Medieval total war. Rome was nice too, but I prefer the medieval theme.
- Steel Panthers - minefields rule.
- Panzer General - just great, end of story.
- Hearts of Iron 2 - currently playing it, and love it. a lot.
- Masters of Orion. The original was great. The latest in the series is a bit too steep, though.