What to play while waiting for Elemental

Yea, got it, played it (single player, I hate multiplayer games and generally hate RTS) and burned out on it.

I'm playing a bunch of fighting games and TF2 right now.

KOFXII is awesome, though the netcode isn't.

Anyone who has not played Dominions 3, and likes fantasy-themed turn-based strategy games, should at a minimum try the demo.  It is absolutely phenomenal, and very, very deep.  You can play for months and months and still discover new things constantly.  I loved Age of Wonders and Master of Magic, and this is sort of like a cross between those and Shogun: Total War.  But much more complex.  Unlike those three, you do not directly control battles, only give troops initial positions and broad orders, then hope for the best - vastly more control than a typical "auto-combat", but nothing like the battles in the Total War series that could take forever and required constant active mouse-clicking.

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/Illwinter/DOM3/DOM3_page.html

Otherwise, for people who DO like action/adventure/RPG games, Mount and Blade is certainly fun, and also has a good demo.

I got Knights of Honor last week off steam pretty cheap (7.50). It's not a TBS, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the most fun strategy games I've ever played. It's likea hybrid of EU lite and total war in medieval times, meaning it's all in real-time but it is absolutely NOT a clickfest. You can slow the game speed and manage at your own pace. The battles are like simplified versions of the total war battles. The game flows very smoothly and the system for managing your rulers is slick. The game is REALLY good. I still can't believe I'd never heard of it until last week. 

If you haven't played them HoMM 3, age of wonders, civ, galciv, and the paradox games (Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Crusader Kings etc.) are as good as ever. And lords of the realm just went up on gog.com, so you might wanna check that out. Happy hunting! 

I'll 2nd Knights of Honor...really well put together game. It's one of those games that's simple enough to pick up quickly, but not so simplistic that you'll get bored of it very quickly (if at all). Hell, the only reason I stopped playing it was that I started played Europa Universalis 3.

And even though they're technically RTS games, pretty much everything Paradox has put out is a large scale strategic longform game...there's nothing resembling a clickfest to be found.

Been playing MoM and will continue.

http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/

If you were a fan of the classic X-Com series, you might want to give this a whirl. I got hooked when I did. It's incomplete, unfortunately.

Well, I've been playing Age of Wonders 2, Left 4 Dead, The Guild 2 Pirates of the European Seas, The Sims 3, and I'm probally going to buy the new East India Company when it comes to my Gamestop on monday.

Try Armageddon Empires. Post-apocalyptic TBS boardgame. Addictive:]

http://www.crypticcomet.com/

You'll find a demo there, it's definitely worth a try.

Hmm...well, what do you like...what do you want to play?

On the impulse store, Kings Bounty is sort of a quirky tactical RPG  that many people enjoy. Its got the same core gameplay as HOMM5, but retooled as a much more appealing turn based RPG like game.

Space Rangers 2 is a good impusle buy, but if you dont like Pirates, you may not enjoy it, as the games are not entirely dissimilar.

If you want *deep* historical  4x strategy (not turn based, but continuous turns, pause and issue orders), with a steep but rewarding leanring curve, there is EU3 Complete. (the vanilla game +the two expansions). I would be remiss to not point  out that Amazon currently has a *significantly* better price on EU3 Complete right now.

If you're assuming not getting to play Elemental until beta starts, Hearts of Iron 3 comes out in a week.

If you want TBS, I assume you've played Galciv 2....

Primarly TBS and the occasional RPG. I hate RTS with a passion bordering on irrationality, so while Knights of Honor has some good mentions here, I know I'd hate it.

I played Dominions 2, but I might check out 3. Played GalCiv I&2 and Space rangers. Good stuff. Sadly, I've already played Armegeddon Empires and now I'm looking forward to Vic's next game later this year. Played a lot of Blood Bowl, probably 60-70 games and finally got sick of beating up on the crippled AI

Maybe I'll go back and break out one of those previous ones for a while. I never did finish Space Rangers 2.

Star Control 2 is vastly better than Space Rangers 2.  And...  it's open-source freeware, now.

If you've not played the original X-COM, you really should.  It's not easy to get running on all computers, though - about as difficult as Master of Magic.

SC2 and X-COM both have VGA graphics.  A more modern alternative to X-COM, similarly good, is Jagged Alliance 2.  That one should run fine on any Windows system.

Hmm, well, Im really enjoying Kings Bounty:The Legend.  It's a turn based (in the battles on a Hex grid) tactical RPG with an appealing presentation, and a sort of quirky addictive charm.  You might enjoy giving that a look in the Impulse store.

As for SR2, the impulse store now has an expansion for it ("Reboot") that I'm told significantly enhances the original game, if you were going to return to that.

As far as "Turn based " strategy, there havent been any really good entries in that genre for a while that I can think of, assuming you've played all the classics.  The most notable one I can think of recently was Empire Total War (Turn based on the Campaign Map, not the battles), and that game has reportedly seen patches to a number of issues that hampered it at release, if you were of a mind to check that out.

 The most notable ones in the "spirit" of TBS games current now (Like EU3 and next week's HOI3) use that "continuous turn based" model that unfold in real time, but arent RTS. (You can pause and issue orders at any time, then start time moving again, so you get to plan strategy at your own pace, like any TBS game)

Civ IV FfH is a pretty good bet.

I am playing Oblivion myself. Not to bad as a game. Does need a monster to run perfectly however...

Sword of the Stars can be quite fun, you could give that a go. 

Or there's always the ourdoors.

Demigod. It's not eactly what you are used to, but it is really fun. Download the demo. It runs fine on my 1.76 dual core laptop.

The Battle for Wesnoth

The Battle for Wesnoth

Actually, that's a good idea. It's pretty much what you are looking for, and it's free. I wasted like 2 days playing it last year. Not bad, especially for free.

Yep, got it, played it a bunch . This thread is both encouraging and saddening. Folks are mostly mentioning games I've already owned and played (sometimes a hell of a lot). Nice to hear the games have some universal appeal. Sad because I'm not seening much new .

Imperium Galactica 2 is a classic and combines 4X and RTS much like Sins of a Solar Empire did. Skip IG3, though.

I recommend hitting the indy scene, games such as Dyson - a very unique take on RTS - can prove to be a worthwhile distraction.

I appreciate the suggestion, but I just say no to RTS in any form. Demigod is the only RTS I've ever been able to stand and that's because you just control 1 guy. I can appreciate what SINS did and how well, but I still couldn't stand it because it's an RTS.

Most new games are not very good, since they are more 'corporate'.  Older games also have the advantage that they could be made by just a few people, which allowed a strong vision and more focus on gameplay.

I can't strongly recommend anything else, but you might try Japanese tactical RPGs such as the Fire Emblem series or Yggdra Union.  They're cute, at least

Oh...  and Disgaea, for PS2.  That's also a tactical RPG, but a couple notches above the handheld ones.  I enjoyed it a lot, and in fact, have around 300 hrs clocked on it...  the game proper is about 60 hours, but there are unlockable levels and bosses that are vastly more powerful, so beating the normal game is basically the beginning of the 'powergame'.

TRPGs are not really much like strategy games in which you control cities, though.

I was going to suggest that you might wanna check out Paradox's stuff despite the RTS tag...you're running a country (which doesn't mean running every single unit and all that crap) over hundreds of years. It might be real time, but it's very slow paced.