I'm new to the genre, so I can't really comment on why people think FW is crap. But you're missing King's Bounty series.=p. Also, what's PG?

Panzer General?

I agree....you can pretty much take any TBS game ( or practically any strategy game for that matter), and it has at least some elements that mirror or mimick other simillar type games...that's why they are labled *STRATEGY* games, Dang Nabbit! Anyway, so the fuk what? I often find games I enjoy, that may share a lot of elements with other type games I have played, but have different twists, takes, controls, stories, NPCs, weapons, spells...the list goes on and on, That's why we research games and decide if it's something we might like to play. Just because someone labels a game a "rip-off", doesn't turn me off from it...quite the opposite. If it's a "rip-off" of a game I like, I definitely look into it, and more than likely, I am going to enjoy it. It's really all relative to our individual gaming tastes and likes. That's what makes a game so awesome to one person, but a piece of shit to another. I take all opinions on games with a grain of salt, and make my own assumptions before buying based on some research, and taking in ALL reviews I can find.

Like your top 5 too, AOW (all ot them, esp SM) is a top 5 for me :-)... for a simillar type game, but not turn based, I loved Warhammer: Battle March + Mark of Chaos, yet another game many people thought sucked, but I enjoyed immensely for a RTS, that was basically just a battle/fighting game without a lot of mangement a la FW.

I'll begin by stating that I've done PG(each campaign in each one of them) on all brilliant victories. Now IMHO FW(fantasy wars) is basically a FG(Fantasy General) ripoff. Which is not a bad thing at all.

- The game engine is pretty much ok.
- The computer opponent is at the level of FG.
- Storywise it's ok.
- Graphics are good enough.

I see nothing wrong with this game. I even like the amount of gameplay since I've played the Elven Legacy expansion(sold separately?!?) which felt a little "short".