Just wanted to point out this sale going on to anyone interested in hard-core strategy games. Games like Gary Grigsby's War in in the East/West series, normally expensive at $80!! are currently half price. Happy hunting :

The sale goes on until January 8th. Here's the announcement for those interested :
http://www.matrixgames.com/news/2106/The.Holiday.Sale.is.here!

Site :
http://www.matrixgames.com/

I recommend "Steel Panthers: World at war" from them. I played it in my old pc 10-15 years ago.

Although they sell it together with all the mega-campaigns for 50€ (20€ on sale), the base game is free, and there are a lot of missions and content for it. You can download it here

For a moment there I thought we were getting Enter the Matrix and Path of Neo on GOG.

Jesus is everybody trying to kill me with the sales.

Might pick up Chariots of War or Legion Gold or Spartan. Was waiting long time for them to come here.

Or Pride of nations. Or Revolution under Siege. Or Soveriegnty: Crown of Kings. Or To End all Wars.

Gah. Kill me.


Oh, wait. The offer is valid till 8th january. Yay, thank you Matrix.

Thanks for the recommendation! I picked that up based on it.

Distant Universe. Within reach :P.

There's a game called Steel Panthers?
*checks online*
Ah, not about a camped up metal band, shame hehe.

Great recommendation!
I was thinking about España 1936 since I'm pretty kooked to Alea Jacta Est, another great game.
No regional pricing makes it all hard, though ;(

War in the East & West series are astoundingly deep operational level strategy games. Expensive, but you can play these games for more than a decade (IE - If you enjoy depth, this's the most you'll probably ever get. You will get your money's worth). I own both will all the expansions. Someday, after I get Hearts of Iron down, I'll take on these 9-headed hydras.

Incidentally, War in the East came in the top 50 strategy games of all time :

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/11/18/the-50-best-strategy-games-on-pc/25/

There's a good writeup/review of it on that page also :

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/12/12/the-flare-path-wages-war-in-the-west/


Lastly, there's this discussion forum on "that other site", though a bunch of threads discuss the price point and why it's ultimately worth it :

http://steamcommunity.com/app/370540/discussions/

Are these games DRM-free? I played Steel Panthers long time ago, that was great game, but large scenarios were pretty overwhelming for me.

They use nothing more than a serial key.

But you can if you want to, register your game serial number and request a steam key.
Best of both world for those that wish it, completely optional for those that do.

Thanks for the link.

Which is a surprisingly painless process. Kudos to Slitherine/Matrix for their system :
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=72513

As DampSquib said, they give you a serial which just may need a temporary internet connection to activate. After that though, I think you could be offline as much as you damn well please! You certainly don't need to log into anything to play them post-install.

I bought Chariots of War and I can strongly recommend it. It is a bit on the simplistic side compared to the other wargames on offer, but it is highly enjoyable and a massive time sink. Plus, the Bronze Age is a shamefully underexplored period in gaming.

As for AGEod titles, I recommend Revolution under Siege Gold, Rome series of games (AJE, Birth of Rome and their DLC scenarios) and Rise of Prussia. If you can only pick up one of their titles, pick Revolution, as it is a pinnacle of their design and engine use in my opinion. Pride of Nations is a generally fantastic game, but may not be as interesting in single player and in my experience, you will need to learn to script a couple of events (not that difficult) to help the AI along.