I have AOW SM but before I start playing it I wanted a few opinions on what would be the best way to get into the series (which game) keeping in mind that I'm not really that big on TBS to begin with but I feel like I'm missing something here because everyone seems to adore these.

EDIT
I posted this question in another thread but for some reason my pc didn't show it as having gone through, until just now so I made it here. :P Odd.

Anyway sorry about doubling up but I'll keep this thread open for opinions because you can never have enough. :D

If you want a campaign with more difficulty then play one of the previous games.
Play them anyway.

[i]
I'll repeat here what I said in the other thread (it's better here anyway :) )[/i]

Depends. AOW 1, 2 and SM stories are completely separate and can be played independently, although they have a lot of characters in common (since mages are practicaly immortal demigods in AOW, you find the same ones in pretty much all games). I have mostly played their campaign modes, so I will answer in that capacity.

AOW1 is harder. It includes 2 full length campaigns (Good and evil fighting each other, more or less), with some optional paths, that will have you use different magics, races, heroes... You will carry some stuff (heroes, weapons, some troops) from one map to the next.
AOW2 is more lean. In the course of the single campaign (a human mage trying to become the next mage lord), you will get to play with most races and all type of magic.
Many say the best of the lot is AOW:SM (pretty much AOW2 with some new races and a new campaign), but I didn't play it, so I caan't say much about it

I love AOW1 for its continuity feel, but I find AOW2 better as a game, more refined. I struggled to get to the end of the "good" campaign in 1, while I completed 2 twice.
So, if you're "not big on TBS" and not a completist, I recommend AOW2 : Easier, more streamlined, prettier, with a more diversified campaign, while keeping the qualities of the first... Overall it simply plays better.

But anyway : Those are good games! :)

Four words for you:

Play
By
Electronic
Mail.


No need to worry about campaigns. :-)

I think AoW1 had a really neat and tight balance. AoW2 introduced some research trees that could sort of inflate the metagame more than it needed imo (as well as the ability to create and grow brand new cities, yikes). Sometimes it wasn't even necessary to go that extra mile to win maps, but as a n00b, you don't necessarily know which tools at your disposal are actually necessary.

However, AoW1 had pretty wonky balance. They gave the bots cheater bonuses to make up for the fact that making good AI is hard, and the result is that sometimes you just have to fish for exploits to finish unbalanced campaign levels.

That's probably why people suggest playing by email, but I haven't tried it yet. I'm too intimidated, both by the commitment involved, and by the prospect of horribly unbalanced skill matchups that will make me look like a big derpwad. X-D

Seriously though, I think AoW would be a damn near perfect game if it had better AI (and there are also balance issues both with magic and with heroes that could use attention). AoW2 and AoW2:SM added extra stuff that, as an AoW1 player, I found a little bit suffocating and unnecessary.

EDIT: I should add that the AoW1 AI wasn't really *that* bad. It's just a lot dumber than someone who's gotten used to the game. If you play on easy (no cheater bonuses), then it can still probably beat someone who's brand new and doesn't get the game flow, and the in-battle decision making is moderately decent as well. If you're making good progress on the level map, but you give them a chance to assassinate your leader in a siege, they very well might do so and then it's game over.

You wouldn't have to worry. I am always around to make people look less derpwad. :-)
If you saw how I am playing PBEM games, you would fall of chair laughing. Yeah, spell and skill (and partially unit) balance is one of the niggest with AoW. Some of them are incredibly useful and no-brainers while some other are never worth picking. AI in later games isn't much better and honestly, in lot of areas it is actually worse. You can often see AI running in circles doing absolutely nothing and it is easy to fool it with some tricks.

I'm fooling around with SM right now between FPS binges. I'll be sure to pick up #1 if it goes on sale but until then I'll just sail a little. :D

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. This remains the friendliest forum on the planet, not that I've been to all of them, and the fact is you might not be very friendly at all when compared to all the forums I've never been to.

But I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. :D

I prefer AoW1 since the focus is more on units rather than spells. You must carefully plan your troop movements and protect your cities, especially since you need flyers or siege equipment to take over walled towns. The later games seemed to detract from that a bit with the ability to build new cities and allow any unit to knock down gates. Plus, I didn't like the way there was so much focus on your leader casting from a mage tower. There were too many functionality issues, especially if you were casting a multi-turn spell and got attacked. I am sure there are many who disagree with me, and that is fine, since both versions are still very fun. As far as PBEM games go I am sure we all feel pretty derpy at times, so don't let that deter anyone. I've been playing since the game came out and I still get my leader killed in the first few rounds occasionally.

If you are interested in the story, then I'd always suggest playing them in order :)

AoW 1 has the best campaign, with different paths and endings.

AoW 2 changes the focus by making the player character a wizard sitting in their tower. A god game, but slightly different.
AoW Shadow Magic is pretty much the stand alone expansion for AoW 2. As such, it takes what was good about AoW 2 and elaborates on that. So if you aren't interested in the story, you can skip AoW 2 and play Shadow Magic without missing anything gameplay wise.