Caesar, help me out here

[ping111]

Salutations!

I am interested in trying a Grand Strategy game like the ones Caesar15 and Ascensiam always rave about.

Can anyone point me in the way of a couple cheap-to-free, Mac-friendly, and possibly Steam-based games of that sort? Thanks!

[Ydoow]

What game do they rave about?

I love large strategy games...

[ping111]

What game do they rave about?

I love large strategy games...

Eu3, whatever that is.

EDIT: It\'s Europa Universalis III. Anyway, they\'re real time conquest games, and I want in. I\'m all for historical fiction!

[Radion]

Eu3, whatever that is.

EDIT: It\'s Europa Universalis III. Anyway, they\'re real time conquest games, and I want in. I\'m all for historical fiction!

I rave about them too (just not to you). I would recommend one of the Total War games, which combine real time strategy (for battles) with turn-based (for the map view). During the battle, you can see extremely detailed items, and each soldier is individually animated. You get access to historical battles, campaigns, and other goodies, or you can do your own Grand Campaign. Empire Total War (my favorite, mostly because I like the 18th century, and you get excellent oceanic battles that you don\'t get in earlier titles) costs 19 USD on Steam. Great, not for Mac.

Civilization V, another one of my favorites, is available for the Mac, and costs 29 USD on Steam. It features excellent map graphics, new diplomacy options, redefined GUI, new civilizations, 3D animated world leaders that operate in a 3D environment and speak in their native language during diplomacy (I wonder when they translated Ancient Mongolian?), and other goodies. Of course, its not historical, per say, as you don\'t recreate real history, but you do get several historical civilizations.

Europa Universalis I can\'t say much about, as I haven\'t played it.

Now, if anyone could make a coded game out of the RP Forum, I would be much obliged to pay 50 dollars for it.

[Caesar15]

Oh boy ping

Eu3, steep learning curv, and to me wasnt that addicting, but easily mddable, i made a mod for it too, so this is goodm make sure to get the expansions though(that work for mac ofc)

Rome total war: It goes for the mac, and it still has mods like pc version, and, well...THE BEST GAME EVER

Also, age of empires 3 is good, new world conquest, so muskets, if you want medieval then get aoe2

Other games...i cant think of any other mac games.

[Ydoow]

I wouldn\'t suggest Civ5.

I enjoyed my first 2 games, and they themselves lasted a good 30 hours total, but after that they weren\'t too appealing.

The biggest issue is a bug where the more engineers there are the map, the longer the AI\'s take for their turn.

Towards the end of games, expect full 1 minute waits between turns. It doesn\'t sound as annoying as it really is.

It slows gameplay down considerably.

If that one issue was fixed, I would highly recommend the game, but that one issue is rather game-breaking after the initial luster wears off.

[Ydoow]

World of Tanks is kinda historical, and actually does involve a bit of strategy.

Definitely not the same type of strategy, but it has strategy. And it looks cool.

[Kryten]

But it does get boring after a while, and progressively more blatant about trying to get you to give them actual money.

[cardgame]

I frequent a Civilization forum and have over 7500 posts there. Civ V is widely considered as a large dumbing down of the series and an overall meh game at best. Civ IV Beyond The Sword is incomparably better.

Not available for the Mac, though, as far as I know

World of Tanks is great once you stop regarding the grind as a grind, but also not for Mac.

However, good news; EU3 and HOI2 are both available for Mac OSX. I\'ve played them both and they are both incredibly fun. Admittedly I spend most of my time cheating and never actually finish a game, but those few times I played a while without cheating, I also had a lot of fun. It\'s quite challenging, and EU3 has quite the learning curve - less so for HOI2.

[GOOMH]

I\'ve never played EU3 myself but my I\'ve seen my friend playing it and well it has a lot to it. I personally loved Civ 4 and wish I still had my install disks for that game. AoE 3 was amazing fun once I stopped using cheats and what not along with trying online, which I sucked at. Does anyone here know any good RTS games or even RT&TBS games like War Leaders: Clash of Nations (Good TB but terrible RT component)?

[Ydoow]

I\'m still waiting for a giant RTS game that is on a true solar system or galactic scale.

A mash up of Civ 4, Empires, and Spore.

Being able to micro-scale invading armies per city, per country, per continent, per planet. Control fleets traversing inter-galactic paths while avoiding enemy satellite defenses.

Just imagine being able to do everything you do in any Empires Game but on a super huge grand scale that may arguably require several people to manage one civilization.

Oh and it looks beautiful.

That is my dream RTS.

[ping111]

HoI2 looks very interesting. I love WWII, despite being Jewish. I\'ll be sure to check it out.

[Kryten]

HoI2 looks very interesting. I love WWII, despite being Jewish. I\'ll be sure to check it out.

It\'s broken. The AI is frankly retarded, and laughably easy to beat; most reasonably skilled players end up with world domination with nations like Germany, and taking over half of europe with nations like Yugoslavia.

[cardgame]

I\'m laughably skilled in terms of grand strategy, so it fits just fine for me on Normal difficulty xD

[Ascensiam]

To be honest, this is a matter of what game company you go for.

There\'s a great deal of difference between the RTS games.

If you go for the Total War games you need to be adept at commanding your armies at ground level.

If you go for Paradox games, it is not as much fighting (although knowing how to defeat other armies correctly is a bonus) as it is administration. Currently, i have a game going with Byzantium, 130 years in, i have half of the mediterranean and is currently westernizing it, this is all due to good administration.

It comes down to what you want, if you are a tactician and a general, go for Total War, if you are a politician and administrator, go for Paradox.

I have hundreds upon hundreds of hours of experience in both series, and whichever you choose i can get you started quite easily.

[nibula]

World of Tanks is kinda historical, and actually does involve a bit of strategy.

Definitely not the same type of strategy, but it has strategy. And it looks cool.

World of Tanks, strategy are you kidding me?

[Monkthespy]

World of Tanks, strategy are you kidding me?

WoT Strategy: RAM, SHOOT, RUN THE HELL AWAY, CAMP.

There you go.

IE THERE IS NO REAL STRATEGY.

[Luigibro606]

As a fellow WoT player, I can say there\'s not much strategy behind it.

Games I\'d point out would be the Dawn of War series, both I and II. (Warhammer 40,000 lololololol)

[Ascensiam]

As a fellow WoT player, I can say there\'s not much strategy behind it.

Games I\'d point out would be the Dawn of War series, both I and II. (Warhammer 40,000 lololololol)

Actually, Luigi, i think DOWII is ridiculously easy, all you need is to put the dreadnaught in front, divert attention, throw some bombs, wreck some stuff, and win the mission.

DOWI is another matter, but it\'s a tie between that one and C&C 3.

[mincespy]

As a fellow WoT player, I can say there\'s not much strategy behind it.

Games I\'d point out would be the Dawn of War series, both I and II. (Warhammer 40,000 lololololol)

DoW II is easy...

Unless you\'re fighting against a Baneblade, that is...

Glory to Chaos!

Actually, Luigi, i think DOWII is ridiculously easy, all you need is to put the dreadnaught in front, divert attention, throw some bombs, wreck some stuff, and win the mission.

But dreadnoughts explode easily...

---

I\'m actually considering getting Eu3 now, so I can beat Caesar at it!

[Luigibro606]

Real men play Guard instead of Marines. And try that on online multiplayer.

[Ascensiam]

I\'m actually considering getting Eu3 now, so I can beat Caesar at it!

If you do, please consult me, i can get you past the steep learning curve, in this game, the most important stuff is done in the beginning of the game. I can spell properly too. :L

[mincespy]

Real men play Guard instead of Marines. And try that on online multiplayer.

Yeah, but REAL REAL men play Chaos Space Marines.

[cardgame]

As a tanker with a 54% win rate over 3900 battles, there is plenty of tactics in it, but strategy is nonexistent unless you\'re in a good clan and in a position to command a squadron or army group.

[Ascensiam]

As a tanker with a 54% win rate over 3900 battles, there is plenty of tactics in it, but strategy is nonexistent unless you\'re in a good clan and in a position to command a squadron or army group.

I think he is referring to grand strategy, what you are doing with tanks is down to earth tactics.