Mixture of the RPS series of posts on Solium Infernum and the other thread on Strategy Games got me wondering.
Does anyone know of any good 4x games with a fantasy theme and the ability to use magic? Magic as in direct-damage spells/whatever (even if just in the form of an ICBM) or for the traditional Espionage-style thingies of other 4x games. And preferably from pretty early in the game, since non-direct attacks (missiles and the like, for the Civs) tend to be late game, and Espionage sucks until late game in any space 4x (and forever, if your opponents have half a brain :p)
I am preferably looking for something that is available from GoG, Impulse, or Steam (in that order :p), just for convenience. Age isn't too big of an issue, although shiny is always nice :P
Thanks, and a big shiny Answer-flag to whoever gives me something that looks fun first.

Its a good day when I can mention the fall from heaven 2 mod twice. Its a mod for civ4 and takes the game into a fantasy setting. It has all sorts of mages, which can learn all sorts of different spells depending on your tech and what power nodes you control. The magic nodes are just like resource tiles and depending on what type of magic tower you build on them unlock different types of magic for your mages. You can have summoners that summon undead, you can get mages that shoot fireballs, aoe lighting spells. Its completely possible to make a army of spell casters in this game. You even have some races that are geared more towards spells.
The great thing is thats only the magic side the game has alot more going for it, way to much for me to explain here(I'd be typing for about an hour to explain all the features.) so I advise you check the site out.
[url=]http://kael.civfanatics.net/[/url]

Dominions 3
This is easily the biggest game I have ever played, it's a bit pricey, but worth every penny.
Magic? Here's a spell list.
[url=http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Astral_Window]are [url=http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Fires_from_Afar]spells [url=http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Black_Death]described.
Admittedly, there is no download option, but after installation, the CD is no longer required. Plus, it comes with an awesome 300 page manual!

/\ This. It's way too awesome. I have created my own Mordor, complete with a volcano in the middle.
Also, check out King Arthur - the role-playing wargame. Look it up on Steam, there's demo of it. It's kinda like Total war series, only a bit less tactical and way more RPG-ish, even with text-based adventure quests you can send your knights of the round table on. Bought it instantly after finishing the demo.

Fixed. Please don't link to abandonware sites here.

The correct answer is Elemental.
Also considar Majesty.
No, it's actually NOT illegal to download, thanks. Maybe in Denmark it is, but in North America, it's perfectly legal.

I managed that as well playing as the orc race, I had all the land change to evil and a random volcano decided to blow up right in the middle of my moutain fortress.
Playing a game with my friend now as the sea faring race, started off playing as a pirate and then picked up the cthulhu religion and now I'm amassing a huge force of drown to wander across the oceans and crush all. Its awesome on an island map.

Please dig up some documentation of that, would you? US copyright laws are some of the strictest in the world, much more limiting in what you can do than the Danish equivalent laws.

Kalas> thanks for pointing out Dominion 3. Looks very promising, as I'm a huge fan of turn-based strategy. Currently downloading the demo ;)

Can someone tell whats actually good about this mod?
I like CIV 4 but when i tried this mod i found it very overhyped and boring, so i've never finished a game with it on.

I'll admit it can be a little on the slower side, but the races, units are all very well fleshed out. Not to mention the awesome doomsday clock that affects the entire world or the random events you can switch on. The struggle of good vs evil with neutral races caught in the middle. Its got heroes and items you can get them, just alot of variation in what its got going for it. I've probably played this more then Civ 4 now, I just find it to be a really well made fantasy game let alone mod.
What race did you play as and was it on the erebus map? Also what did you find boring about it? was it just the slow pacing of it?

It is a gray area. Technically, I would say it is illegal. However, in some cases either the game is so old, or the actual owner is in so much doubt, that publishers just look the other way. However, the rules Abandonia has for games it lists makes me, personally, comfortable downloading from them [ quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abandonia ]:
* First, the game has to be unavailable on the retail market and no longer distributed by its publishers nor by legitimate retailers in any form.
* Second, official support for the game must have been dropped both by its publisher and developer.
* Third, the game must not be under active protection of any anti-piracy agency, such as Entertainment Software Association, nor directly by the copyright holders themselves. If a legitimate copyright holder for any game requests its removal, any downloads of it (or links to thereof) present on the site and its forum will be subject to removal by site staff (although the review of the game would still remain onsite).
They are a fairly well-known site. Any publisher in the business should know who they are after about a 30 second Google search. Thus, if a game is listed there, it means to me that the owner of the game is not going to act on anyone downloading said property, since if they cared at all they would have asked that the game be removed. So, does a publisher tacitly allowing a person to download their property suddenly make it legal to do so? No, but it certainly makes it a gray area.
That said, if a mod removes or edits my post, I am not going to make a fuss about it. As I said at the top, it is; technically; illegal.

I can refuse to pay my federal income tax and refuse to file a return since people argue that it is actually illegal to force citizens to pay for it, or that theres no clear cut ruling for it. However, I'll get royally screwed up the ass if I neglect to do so and fight a legal battle I have no chance in hell of winning. Don't assume Abandonware is legal because you can't find a clear cut law regarding it. Enough on that though.
Anyways, to answer the post, Looking for a 4x Fantasy game is trying to find a needle in a haystack...or more appropriately, trying to find a needle in the vastness of space where the majority of 4X games exist (outside of Civ obviously)
Your best bet as far as released titles go is going to be Master of Magic, as others have stated.