4 – Iron Harvest

What do you get when you mix Company of Heroes with dieselpunk mechs? Well, you get Iron Harvest. And you know what? It works surprisingly well. While the infantry and vehicle combat is pretty much a 1 to 1 recreation of what goes one with Company of Hereos, the introduction of different types of mechs, some of which are absolute behemots does add enough flavor and gameplay variation and tactics that turn Iron Harvest from a cool, but safe homage to CoH into a real-time strategy game that can flourish on its own and is an experience worth having.

3 – Ultimate General: Civil War

Ranked 6th on my Best Wargames of All Time, the absolute masterpiece that is Ultimate General: Civil War is a strategy experience unlike any other (if you discount Ultimate General: Gettysburg, which is similar, but not as great!). Players will manage a persistent army across a series of historical and alternative-history battles, where every loss impacts their future strength, build up their army, and decide the fate of the American Civil War. Ultimate General: Civil War has some of the best tactical AI of any game ever, a distinct artstyle, and quite possibly the best user interface of all time, making the management of tens of thousands of soldiers feel way too effortless. It’s a masterpiece, and a game I dearly love and replay often. 

2 – Starship Troopers: Terran Command

I have said it before in my review of Starship Troopers: Terran Command, and I’ll say it again, this is one of the best strategy games of the last decade. Period. It perfectly encapsulates the Starship Troopers franchise, both thematically and mechanically. Look at it, and tell me it doesn’t sweat Starstrip Troopers from every pore. Now, go and play it and see a masterclass unfold on how to turn a book/movie and adapt it into mechanics that make sense within the universe. Since most of the combat against the arachnid menace is done as a line, the combat in Terran Command is all about maximizing the fields of fire of your units and bringing the most guns to bear on the bugs. Use angles, elevations, and different equipment to ensure that your troops have enough weapons pointed downrange that, even if thousands of bugs suddenly crawled from their caves, they would survive.

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