Crusader Kings II
Crusader Kings II is a political strategy game. This wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio 2012 is a small killing spree. It’s as much a question of who your stupid niece is getting married to as it is of leading armies to fuck themselves over. Each simulated character has its own goals and desires. His simulation plunges you into desperate situations and encourages you to make excruciating gestures to keep power. Once I executed a newborn so that his elder sister could rule in his place, I still weep at night.
Warcraft III
More known today for being the forerunner of the entire MOBA genre, Warcraft III is also an original and ambitious strategy game as such, which has taken the genre beyond what was proposed in the field of fantasy. The RPG elements add a specific degree of depth to the various combatant units. The campaign is of good duration and delivers a fantastic story!
Age Of Empires II: Edition HD
We had to put it there! Age Of Empires II always draws so much attention to PC thanks to its HD Edition! Its remake is supported by new extensions such as Rise of the Rajas, released in late 2016. Not bad for a game that was released almost 20 years! Build huge armies, upgrade them, operate farms, and enjoy a series of entertaining campaigns in this mythical sure. Also, if you get tired of the many campaigns of the game, have fun making your mash-ups in the script editor! We’ll never get tired of it!
Rome: Total War
The transition from Total War to 3D marks a turning point in the series. The first Rome presents a simple yet fascinating image of ancient warfare. It is an excellent introduction to one of the most interesting periods in military history, and the game remains very playable today.
Battletech
True adaptation of the cross board game with the XCOM design, BattleTech is a deep and complex turn-by-turn game with an impressive campaign system. You control a group of mercenaries, trying to balance the books and improve your line of mechanical warriors and battle mechs! In combat, you target specific parts of enemy machines, taking into account the armor, angle, speed, and environment, you have to make tough choices when the fight does not go in your direction. It can be raging at first, and it is undeniably a tough game, but if you like difficulty or if you like this universe, it is an excellent choice!
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
The temptation was great to put the first Dawn Of War on the list, but the formula “box-select, right-click to kill” is already well represented. Instead, we will appreciate this more or less test suite, which replaced the large units with a handful of space bastards, each with a pléiade of deadly capabilities. In combat, you micromanage these armed forces, time the air attack of your Assault Marines and the shooting power of your scouts with a heavy machine gun cover (which are well effective in defeating the hordes of Ork). The Last Stand cooperative mode also kicked us!
Sins of a Solar Empire
Sins capture the scope of a 4X strategy game but operate it in an STR framework. It’s a game about empires rising, stabilizing and falling all in one afternoon. A diplomacy is an option that the game offers, but above all, it offers gigantic spaceships that destroy everything. Play the expansion of the Rebellion to enlarge the said spaceships to monumental proportions!
DEFCON
DEFCON’s sinister Blue map of the world is the perfect scene for this Cold War horror story about the outbreak of nuclear war. First, you manage stockpiles and position missile sites, nuclear submarines, and develop a plan for armageddon. This organizational phase is an interesting strategic challenge in itself, but DEFCON is even more stylish when missiles fly from everywhere. Once dust replaces cities, victory is just a technicality. It’s nightmarish and quite brilliant in multiplayer!
Company of Heroes
Some games try to get away from the emotional side of a war, especially if it happened recently. Not the company of Heroes. It’s horrible, difficult, and brutal. Of course, its methods are purely Hollywood, the muddy artillery plumes could have come directly from “Saving Private Ryan,” but the result is there it’S the most intense STR ever realized, brilliantly capturing the tactical impasse between the asymmetric forces of World War II.
Xenonauts
It’s deep strategic systems, and exciting turn-by-turn battles make the Xenonauts one of the best reboot there is. If you’re an old fan of the X-COM series, don’t try to find your old installation discs and support 20-year-old graphics: playing Xenonauts is the best way to relive the days of glory of the series. And if you want to discover X-COM, no need to replay old games, this game will allow you to explore the classic roots of the series with much more depth and detail.