grand strategy games for beginners
- Thread starter dudycat1
- Start date
I myself recently found Empire: Total War in a bin at the store and gave it a go. I think it'd be worth your time.
It's grand strategy, and is very forgiving on the lower difficulties and with the fiddlier stuff automanaged. It's a nice way to get into the swing of things. It's turnbased, so you won't be hurting for time to think.
You play as a selected, powerful faction (Great Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, Hindu India, Russia, Poland, Sweden, Ottoman Empire and so forth), manage your regions and cities, build armies and so forth. Again, very forgiving on the lower difficulties.
The neat thing about Total War in general, however, is that when your armies does go to battle, you get to control your army directly in real-time, like most other RTS-games. It's very neat, and if you play your card rights, you have a chance to win even if the odds look poor on paper.
It's set between 17-1800, however. I'm one of those who really like that period, but I understand full well that many don't... But trust me, it's awesome once you get in to it.
Another option is to just buy Hearts of Iron and get playing, learning by trial and error. It's really the best way. I was still a kid when I figured Europa Universalis I out, it's all about practice.
Good luck on your bid for world domination! :3
It's grand strategy, and is very forgiving on the lower difficulties and with the fiddlier stuff automanaged. It's a nice way to get into the swing of things. It's turnbased, so you won't be hurting for time to think.
You play as a selected, powerful faction (Great Britain, France, Prussia, Austria, Hindu India, Russia, Poland, Sweden, Ottoman Empire and so forth), manage your regions and cities, build armies and so forth. Again, very forgiving on the lower difficulties.
The neat thing about Total War in general, however, is that when your armies does go to battle, you get to control your army directly in real-time, like most other RTS-games. It's very neat, and if you play your card rights, you have a chance to win even if the odds look poor on paper.
It's set between 17-1800, however. I'm one of those who really like that period, but I understand full well that many don't... But trust me, it's awesome once you get in to it.
Another option is to just buy Hearts of Iron and get playing, learning by trial and error. It's really the best way. I was still a kid when I figured Europa Universalis I out, it's all about practice.
Good luck on your bid for world domination! :3
Yeah like baddude said.
Total War and Civ 4 are great series for getting into strategy games.
You could also try Chess? harhar
The game I first got into strategy videogames is Warcraft 3. I loved it and even to this day is a great play. It isn't really a GRAND strategy game, but you have have a large 12 player game that could last for many hours. I lurv it.
A Total War game will keep you busy for weeks and monthes even if you play it slowly.
I reccomend Medieval II. It plays well on most PCs/Laptops these days. Shogun II is a game that is still out of a lot of peoples reach in terms of specs.
Total War and Civ 4 are great series for getting into strategy games.
You could also try Chess? harhar
The game I first got into strategy videogames is Warcraft 3. I loved it and even to this day is a great play. It isn't really a GRAND strategy game, but you have have a large 12 player game that could last for many hours. I lurv it.
A Total War game will keep you busy for weeks and monthes even if you play it slowly.
I reccomend Medieval II. It plays well on most PCs/Laptops these days. Shogun II is a game that is still out of a lot of peoples reach in terms of specs.
If you can find it, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI. Most addictive game I ever played. It's turn based, so you can think about each action as much as you want before making your move.
Great music too. Really easy to pick up (you can download the demo which has the training levels with some decent dialog between the main characters).
Great music too. Really easy to pick up (you can download the demo which has the training levels with some decent dialog between the main characters).
I have to give another recommendation for Civilisation IV. It's got a good range of difficulties, a good depth to its strategy, and it's just a lot of fun.
Well i would say the Civ games are a good bet but if you want to try Paradox i would go EUIII its still a steep learning curve but less so than their other games and once you have the hang of it its quite simple.
Civilization V with the newest expansion would be my choice. Some argue that it has some flaws that Civ IV was void of, but it's not about "perfect" game, right ?
Also, you could try your strengths in "Heroes of Might and Magic", or even better "King's Bounty". They are "strategy" games of different sort, but they aren't that demanding in terms of comprehension, planning and stuff - which is good for beginners i suppose.
Also, you could try your strengths in "Heroes of Might and Magic", or even better "King's Bounty". They are "strategy" games of different sort, but they aren't that demanding in terms of comprehension, planning and stuff - which is good for beginners i suppose.
Well, that somewhat depends on what you're looking for.
Absolute beginner? Try Civ Revolution. As has been said earlier, its quite watered down compared to other Civ games.
Working your way up, Civ V would probably be the next most simple to learn the mechanics of. It doesn't have the same depth as Civ IV in a lot of aspects, and the combat is easier to recover from if you make a mistake [In Civ IV if you attack something too powerful without thinking, you'll either win {By a miracle}, or lose your unit. If you're using a unit with a withdrawal chance you might have a 10% chance of running away, but that unit is basically dead. Civ V attack something too strong by accident and you're unit will be damaged, but you'll be able to run away and hide in the same turn, and that single attack isn't necessarily the make or break for your unit].
From there Galactic Civilizations 2 is alright. Somewhat different to the other games mentioned in my post, but its still quite good. The campaign can be brutal, even on Cakewalk, however normal matches against the AI are piss easy {On cakewalk} if you have even a basic idea of what you're doing. The ability to design your own race and ships is an added bonus.
Next, my personal favourites: Civ IV and Medieval 2 Total War.
Civ IV is the predecessor to Civ V, but is more complex in a number of respects. Get the Beyond the Sword Expansion for it, and it gets even deeper, but is still manageable if you know what you're doing. Beyond the normal researching, founding cities, managing religion, being a part of the UN, choosing your civics and building a military to pound your enemy into Oblivion, you now have to worry about Espionage [Not a lot, but it can be useful for you or your enemies], Religion based UN for early game [Forgotten what this was called
] and Corporations. On top of that there are many amazing mods for BTS including the Fall From Heaven Series [Age of Ice included on Disk, FFH2 available for online download and install].
Medieval 2 is a bit different. No research. You don't have to worry about it. Technologies will just appear as the game goes on. You cannot found cities, only conquer ones already existing. However, each of the buildings you build in your city has the effect of a technology tree [For that city], the battles occur in real time, and you command your units using tactics [Which hopefully you are good at] and you have the Papal states to worry about [They are your best friend if you're on good terms with them, but if you're on bad terms you're basically f***ed]. You also have your Royal Family to worry about.
Both games include heavy utilisation of your races military resources, diplomatic negotiations that can and will heavily affect how your game goes, economic management that will make or break your empire and political management that can grant you bonuses, or be a hindrance, dependent on how you play.
Absolute beginner? Try Civ Revolution. As has been said earlier, its quite watered down compared to other Civ games.
Working your way up, Civ V would probably be the next most simple to learn the mechanics of. It doesn't have the same depth as Civ IV in a lot of aspects, and the combat is easier to recover from if you make a mistake [In Civ IV if you attack something too powerful without thinking, you'll either win {By a miracle}, or lose your unit. If you're using a unit with a withdrawal chance you might have a 10% chance of running away, but that unit is basically dead. Civ V attack something too strong by accident and you're unit will be damaged, but you'll be able to run away and hide in the same turn, and that single attack isn't necessarily the make or break for your unit].
From there Galactic Civilizations 2 is alright. Somewhat different to the other games mentioned in my post, but its still quite good. The campaign can be brutal, even on Cakewalk, however normal matches against the AI are piss easy {On cakewalk} if you have even a basic idea of what you're doing. The ability to design your own race and ships is an added bonus.
Next, my personal favourites: Civ IV and Medieval 2 Total War.
Civ IV is the predecessor to Civ V, but is more complex in a number of respects. Get the Beyond the Sword Expansion for it, and it gets even deeper, but is still manageable if you know what you're doing. Beyond the normal researching, founding cities, managing religion, being a part of the UN, choosing your civics and building a military to pound your enemy into Oblivion, you now have to worry about Espionage [Not a lot, but it can be useful for you or your enemies], Religion based UN for early game [Forgotten what this was called
] and Corporations. On top of that there are many amazing mods for BTS including the Fall From Heaven Series [Age of Ice included on Disk, FFH2 available for online download and install].Medieval 2 is a bit different. No research. You don't have to worry about it. Technologies will just appear as the game goes on. You cannot found cities, only conquer ones already existing. However, each of the buildings you build in your city has the effect of a technology tree [For that city], the battles occur in real time, and you command your units using tactics [Which hopefully you are good at] and you have the Papal states to worry about [They are your best friend if you're on good terms with them, but if you're on bad terms you're basically f***ed]. You also have your Royal Family to worry about.
Both games include heavy utilisation of your races military resources, diplomatic negotiations that can and will heavily affect how your game goes, economic management that will make or break your empire and political management that can grant you bonuses, or be a hindrance, dependent on how you play.
I'd go along with the previous poster and recomend Supreme commander 1. It's a RTS on an epic scale with a lot of tactical planning required. It's at it's absolute best when you cobble together a few mates and go at it though.
Otherwise, let's give another bump for CIV IV. eyond the fact that it requires a lot of strategic in depth thinking at higher levels, the modding community is absolutely AMAZING and let's you try any number of different scenarios/gameplay changes.
If you're curious, check it out at civfanatics.
Otherwise, let's give another bump for CIV IV. eyond the fact that it requires a lot of strategic in depth thinking at higher levels, the modding community is absolutely AMAZING and let's you try any number of different scenarios/gameplay changes.
If you're curious, check it out at civfanatics.
Seeing as almost nothing posted is actually what you asked for, I'll throw my very uneducated opinion that Europa Universalis III is supposed to be the easiest to get into.
I've got it, and looked at the game for about an hour and have no idea what's going on, but apparently it's the most simple.
I've got it, and looked at the game for about an hour and have no idea what's going on, but apparently it's the most simple.
Sounds to me like you've played the easy games already. Just go hardcore, you know you want to. Buying more beginner games will teach you nothing you haven't already learned from Civilization and Total War.dudycat1 said:
That said, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and Galactic Civilizations 2 are damn fine games.
If you're looking for Paradox style grand strategy, I would start with crusader kings 2. It's not a difficult game to get the basics, you don't really need to worry about the numbers or the tech unless you're trying to do well. This is honestly the reason I reccommend it, the way crusader kings puts the focus on your dynasty just makes for great stories, it's less about success and failure so it's a perfect game to jump right in because you can lose and still enjoy it. Just makes sure you pick an interesting starting location - I'd recommend somewhere in England.dudycat1 said:
A quick skim through the tutorial to get basics of finding yourself on the map (honestly the hardest part of the learning curve is finding out who owns what) and you're set on what's probably my favourite grand strategy game.
Someone else reccommended Galactics civilisations 2 which is also fantastic but more like a better version of Civilisations.
I'd leave Eu3 alone for now, too much to learn.
Also if you can get a few friends into this, these games are amazing for LANs. HoI2 has caused multiplayer experiences so epic that everyone involved still remembers it all 6 years later, we barely see each other anymore (like once every couple of years) so it gets used as an icebreaker
.