TBS Craving

[StoryKeeper]

I've been reading the erfworld updates (over on the new site), and it's leaving me craving some good tbs action! Problem is, I can't think of anything that really suits what I'm looking for.

I want something with cities (preferably with the option of controlling several of them/player), various factions of a supernatural persuasion, and leader-based benefits. Basically, smething like erfworld would be reat. Oh, and I would really prefer this to be on the computer. So, anyone know of anything like this?

[chiasaur11]

Well, X-Com is excellent, and turn based, but it's Fi-Sci, not supernatural, there are bases instead of cities (and they're not in the turn based parts), and it's insanely difficult.

But it is on the computer. Not much, sorry.

[Woot Spitum]

The Heroes of Might and Magic series may be just what you're looking for. Disciples II is also good, as is Age of Wonders.

[Mando Knight]

The Heroes of Might and Magic series may be just what you're looking for. Disciples II is also good, as is Age of Wonders.

HoM&M (or however you're "supposed" to initialize it) is the closest thing I've ever played to Erfworld. Lacks Erfworld's absurd tone, though...

[StoryKeeper]

HoMnM is looking pretty interesting! I don't suppose I'd be likely to find it cheap at stores or free online? Oh, and I'm still open to other suggestions.

[Mando Knight]

HoMnM is looking pretty interesting! I don't suppose I'd be likely to find it cheap at stores or free online? Oh, and I'm still open to other suggestions.

Good Old Games had it when I checked like last week for around $10...

EDIT: HoM&M 3 here (http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/heroes_of_might_and_magic_3_complete_edition/).

[Johnny Blade]

You could probably find a good deal for HoMM5 + expansions in many shops as well.

In general, 3 and 5 are the only parts I'd seriously consider. 3 for endless adventures on huge maps with lots of battles and the resulting strategic depth, 5 for the tactical combat side of things.

[warty goblin]

Join the faithful waiting with baited breath for Elemental: War of Magic (http://www.elementalgame.com/). It would appear to satisfy all of your requirements, except the one where you can play it right now, which seems to be implicit in your post.

There is the beta, but that's being advertised as 'not fun,' so your milage may vary.

Other than that, as already said Age of Wonders is quite good. The AI is a bit suspect and is a flagrant cheater, but once you spend some time with the game you come to appreciate the wonderful rythm of destroying army after army with your carefully constructed stacks. There's some city building, and upgrading them can be very important to victory, but the mechanics supporting this aren't terribly rubust. Basically each city occupies between one and four hexes on the map, which determines their max level. You pay some money to upgrade them, then a bit more to 'install' a given unit in the city,after which you can build it. Most races' basic units are fairly similar- sword dude, archer schmuck, horse guy, priest Tom **** or Harry, but some of the higher level ones are pretty funky, and overall the different races certainly play differently.

I'd also recommend Elven Legacy. It's more about the battles than the cities though. There are cities, and capturing them gives you money which can be used in mission to replace a unit's dead soldiers, or between missions to recruit new units. The turn based combat is really quite elegant however, in that special way where it has enough believability to be intriguing, but the mechanics are clear enough to interesting to play with. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on routing enemy units as opposed to destroying them outright. You of course do end up killing them all, but often it's profitable to route as much of the enemy as possible, so as to blunt their counter attack the next turn. Be warned, in the tradition of Eastern European games, it's pretty hard. I recommend playing on Easy, which feels more like normal/hard in most other games. Also, all missions are timed, at least in the campaign, but this doesn't really bother me much.

If you're not sold on fantasy, Galactic Civilizations 2 is, IMHO, the best grand strategy TBS ever made. You can play as a race of homicidal, omni-horny space rabbits bent on enslaving all life. Really, I'm not sure what more a person could want from life...

[chiasaur11]

Join the faithful waiting with baited breath for Elemental: War of Magic (http://www.elementalgame.com/). It would appear to satisfy all of your requirements, except the one where you can play it right now, which seems to be implicit in your post.

There is the beta, but that's being advertised as 'not fun,' so your milage may vary.

Other than that, as already said Age of Wonders is quite good. The AI is a bit suspect and is a flagrant cheater, but once you spend some time with the game you come to appreciate the wonderful rythm of destroying army after army with your carefully constructed stacks. There's some city building, and upgrading them can be very important to victory, but the mechanics supporting this aren't terribly rubust. Basically each city occupies between one and four hexes on the map, which determines their max level. You pay some money to upgrade them, then a bit more to 'install' a given unit in the city,after which you can build it. Most races' basic units are fairly similar- sword dude, archer schmuck, horse guy, priest Tom **** or Harry, but some of the higher level ones are pretty funky, and overall the different races certainly play differently.

I'd also recommend Elven Legacy. It's more about the battles than the cities though. There are cities, and capturing them gives you money which can be used in mission to replace a unit's dead soldiers, or between missions to recruit new units. The turn based combat is really quite elegant however, in that special way where it has enough believability to be intriguing, but the mechanics are clear enough to interesting to play with. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on routing enemy units as opposed to destroying them outright. You of course do end up killing them all, but often it's profitable to route as much of the enemy as possible, so as to blunt their counter attack the next turn. Be warned, in the tradition of Eastern European games, it's pretty hard. I recommend playing on Easy, which feels more like normal/hard in most other games. Also, all missions are timed, at least in the campaign, but this doesn't really bother me much.

If you're not sold on fantasy, Galactic Civilizations 2 is, IMHO, the best grand strategy TBS ever made. You can play as a race of homicidal, omni-horny space rabbits bent on enslaving all life. Really, I'm not sure what more a person could want from life...

Building spacebourne Mechagodzillas?

Brilliant AI?

Witty dialog to mock you for playing on easy and using stupid tactics?

Oh, right. It has that too.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Another game I need to get: GalCivII

[warty goblin]

Building spacebourne Mechagodzillas?

Brilliant AI?

Witty dialog to mock you for playing on easy and using stupid tactics?

Oh, right. It has that too.

Yeah, all of those things are good too. But really, they had me when I realized I could build an entire gameplan around '...and then the aliens have lots and lots and lots of sex.' Everything else is just the whipped cream on top of the...whatever that bit is.

[StoryKeeper]

Join the faithful waiting with baited breath for Elemental: War of Magic (http://www.elementalgame.com/). It would appear to satisfy all of your requirements, except the one where you can play it right now, which seems to be implicit in your post.

If you're not sold on fantasy, Galactic Civilizations 2 is, IMHO, the best grand strategy TBS ever made. You can play as a race of homicidal, omni-horny space rabbits bent on enslaving all life. Really, I'm not sure what more a person could want from life...

Elven Legacy doesn't really sound like it would catch my interest to much, but Elemental looks pretty interesting (if the higher-level units really do make the factions different), and I may check out GC2 just for the omnihorny space rabits bent on galactic domination XD.

[chiasaur11]

Another game I need to get: GalCivII

You very much do.

I'm installing that again soon.

[Artanis]

If you want a free one, you can try The Battle for Wesnoth. (http://www.wesnoth.org/)

[warty goblin]

Elven Legacy doesn't really sound like it would catch my interest to much, but Elemental looks pretty interesting (if the higher-level units really do make the factions different), and I may check out GC2 just for the omnihorny space rabits bent on galactic domination XD.

Can't say about Elemental, since it's not out yet. I've probably played as much Age of Wonders as basically any other game, and certainly played it continuously for the longest.

Elven Legacy is a really good game, I encourage you to give it a shot. As I said, it's more tactical, but the tactics are really good, the story is fairly engaging, and it basically boils down to blitzkrieg with elves. Real bastard elves too.

[StoryKeeper]

If you want a free one, you can try The Battle for Wesnoth. (http://www.wesnoth.org/)

Already have that one. Great stuff! Just not enough of a city-upgradign option for my tastes.

[Alex Knight]

there's always Fantasy General or Sword of Aragon if you can find 'em.

[Grey Paladin]

Age of Wonders II and Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic are IMO vastly superior to the original one, and much more strategical. Beside relatively small armies (stacks are made of up to 8 units, but its offset by complex tactical combat) its as close as you can get to Erfworld.

Contrary to what Warty said, most units play very differently, despite 4-6~ units being pretty similar to each other. The way the race plays changes farther depending on your selected spheres of magic and spells researched (Unless you specialize in a school, you can't get them all), giving a huge variety. With 6 spheres, 6 slots (in Shadow Magic you can 'multiclass' between spell spheres), 12-14 races, and 120~ units and 1/3 as much Heroes you're looking at a huge diversity.

[shadowxknight]

The Fall of Heaven 2 mod for Civilization 4 should have what you are looking for.

It's turn based, high-fantasy, and each faction has different leaders that offer various bonuses.

[Grey Paladin]

Fall from Heaven is great . . . online. The AI is totally incompetent and stomping it is very easy.

[Rae]

Just going to chalk my vote in for Age of Wonders II: Shadow Magic. I guarantee you won't regret it.

[Guancyto]

I've never played Shadow Magic, but Age of Wonders II is nifty. The spheres feel really distinct (as opposed to the original, where it only affected your heroes) and the basic units are surprisingly effective.

Also, there's nothing quite like making an army of cannons and then making them immune to fire.

If you're looking for and oldschool feel, you can probably find Deadlock cheaply these days. It's SciFi TBS, but you do get commander units.

[warty goblin]

Age of Wonders II and Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic are IMO vastly superior to the original one, and much more strategical. Beside relatively small armies (stacks are made of up to 8 units, but its offset by complex tactical combat) its as close as you can get to Erfworld.

Contrary to what Warty said, most units play very differently, despite 4-6~ units being pretty similar to each other. The way the race plays changes farther depending on your selected spheres of magic and spells researched (Unless you specialize in a school, you can't get them all), giving a huge variety. With 6 spheres, 6 slots (in Shadow Magic you can 'multiclass' between spell spheres), 12-14 races, and 120~ units and 1/3 as much Heroes you're looking at a huge diversity.

Huh, I tried the demo for AoWII, and it never really rubbed me right. I think it was that the combat seemed so much less punchy than the original. In AoW 1, a couple of guys trying to kill each other was suitably violent, with quick, brutal attacks and the occasional geyser of blood. The second one looked like they were fighting underwater. In slow motion.

And yes, the races in 1 do play very differently. The basic swordsmen and archers are fairly analageous- although the Goblins are fairly unique- but even by T2 there's some differences. With T3 and T4, armies are very well differentiated, and occasionally completely overpowered. The Human Airship comes to mind here, due to its insane firepower and ability to remove entire stacks of enemy units unopposed. Plus, as a Neutral unit, it's pretty easy for any old army to take advantage of, so long as one makes careful and proper use of genocide.

[Lord Herman]

You're complaining about how it's possible in AoW2 to commit genocide using zeppelins? Think about what you're saying here!

I mean, c'mon! Zeppelins!

[warty goblin]

You're complaining about how it's possible in AoW2 to commit genocide using zeppelins? Think about what you're saying here!

I mean, c'mon! Zeppelins!

I wrote unclearly. I was complimenting Age of Wonders 1 for the potential to kill the death out of things with hordes of zeppelin born soldiers. Personally I prefer a few orc warlords, somebody capable of healing, a hero of some sort, and some leveled archers/other ranged dudes. The beauty of this is that the zeppelin both acts as close air support and transport, making up for the absymal speed of the orc warlords.

Unless I'm fighting lizardmen. Then the key to victory lies in copious abuse of the Ladies of Pain, skanky dominantrixes who seduce dudes right on the battlefield. This counts as a magic attack, which means that the opposing unit rolls it's magic defense, not its combat defense. Lizards, of course, are very vulnerable to magic. This means that careful use of the Ladies can allow the entire enemy army to vanish into a horrifying orgy of whips, chains, and scales before emerging, slightly dazed, on your side. It also works with nymphs, but is ever so much less amusing...

[Inhuman Bot]

It's not quite what your looking for, but Advanced wars and Fire emblam are both excellent series.

[StoryKeeper]

I'll look into Advanced Wars, but I'm interested in Age of Wonders now too. Where would I find that?

[warty goblin]

The Take 2 store (http://www.take2store.com/)has Age of Wonders listed for $20, which frankly is daylight robery for a game that old. I'd check Amazon and Ebay first

[Cheesegear]

I vote for the Original Warlords (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlords_(game_series)) series which are TBS, and, I originally thought it was the basis for Erfworld given a lot of the mechanics appear to be the same. Some of the terminology also appears word-for-word. :smallconfused:

The best incarnation is/was Warlords III. But, due to the date (mid 90s), it may not work on newer systems.

The more current (and therefore more revamped) Warlords Battlecry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warlords_Battlecry_(game_series)) series is pretty much the same as the old series, but, is now Real-time rather than Turn-Based.

WLBC is also the original 'Roleplaying Strategy' game, and WarCraft III is heavily influenced by it, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Similar to WLBC is Battle Realms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Realms). In my area, the aforementioned WLBC (up to III, even) and Battle Realms are packaged in 'Classic Games' Boxes and sell for $20 (Australian).

[Smight]

Dominions 3,
cose I just popped ...

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1134/wanda.png (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/wanda.png/)

:smallbiggrin:

[Smiling Knight]

If you have Civilization 4, the Fall From Heaven mod is exactly what you need. All the races are very unique, there is great background, atmosphere, and music, and, of course, it's turn based. There is also a large community to help out beginners.