What RTS game should I start with?

[BestRTS]

Starcraft II is a good one because it separates people into leagues of their level, so if you're a newbie you should be playing against other newbies while the pros can just fight other pros.

Dawn of War II's campaign is barely an RTS, that might give you a good grasp of using different squads of units without having to worry about base management (although base management is a pretty significant part of RTSing)

IMHO I think Starcraft II is good but if your starting out it would be best to start right from the beginning in order to enjoy the entire Starcraft story so the original would be a better option & then progress through to 'Brood War' & SCII. This way you would be able to learn the basics right from the beginning & grow through with the story : )

http://www.BestRTS.net

 

[squeekenator]

Being a Relic fanboy, I'd strongly recommend getting one of their games. They make RTSs more focussed on the combat and general strategy than being able to manage fifty builder units at once. They also tend to make the games much more realistic and intuitive than, say, Blizzard - you can't blow up a tank by shooting it with a rifle in Relic's games, for instance. Dawn of War 1 is cheap and the closest to the standard RTS, it's an amazing game. Dawn of War 2 is very different, and is the least RTS-ish of all their games. It's much more fast-paced, with the first skirmishes usually occuring around thirty seconds in if not earlier, and the idea of base-building is completely removed. Company of Heroes is the most realistic of the bunch, being the only one in a real-world setting, it has a big emphasis on tactical use of supressing fire, cover and other tactical elements.