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Turn-based strategy games don’t appeal to everyone. Like city-building and simulation games, turn-based strategy games have a hardcore loyal fanbase. Players must have a certain temperament and skills to succeed in real-time turn-based strategy games. For starters, patience is the key, and one needs a certain sense of tactical prowess.
An excellent turn-based strategy game invokes the feeling of 'will save after playing one more turn’ in gamers. The breaks offered in turn-based strategy games allow players to pause for a while, strategize and plan the best tactical moves to get out of a precarious situation.
Turn-based strategy games have expansive reach
1) Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
In 2016, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI marked the high point of the once legendary Civilization series that had re-defined the strategy game genre through its turn-based strategy games in the 90s. Similar to previous installments, the ultimate aim of the game is to stand out from the trials of time and convert a humble society into the greatest of all civilizations on the map.
The game introduced many new cultures that were not available in previous editions. Overall, the game received positive reviews due to its several improvements in the technological advancement trees of each culture.
The game also introduced a separate civic tree, where decisions regarding the overall direction of the player’s society can be taken. All these added features make Civilization VI a comprehensive turn-based strategy game to indulge oneself in this August.
2) Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War 2
Developed by Relic Entertainment in 2009, Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War 2 is a fast-tun-based, role-playing real-time strategy game in a vast warhammer universe, where an intergalactic war is raging between ancient races.
Set in the 41st Century Millennial, Warhammer 40000 lets players choose their faction in the universe, build up a formidable force, and fight their way to victory using fast-thinking real-time strategies. The game offers a vast array of advanced weaponry and abilities that can make players addicted to the game.
It has been more than 12 years since its release, and Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War 2 still stands out as one of the best RTS games with superb graphics, sounds, and non-stop action-packed fighting. The overall campaign story of the Warhammer 40k universe is well-structured and heart-touching, making it a fun real-time turn-based strategy game to try out this summer.
3) Total War: Rome
By the beginning of the 21st century, big-name strategy game franchises such as Age of Empire and Sid Meir’s Civilization dominated the genre. Then entered Total War in 2004 with its first launch, Total War: Rome.
Total War: Rome is a turn-based strategy game developed by Creative Assembly that offers colossal real-time battles involving thousands of troops and a turn-based campaign map, on the other hand.
It’s a historically accurate game where turn-based campaigns occur between 270 BCE and 14 CE. Players can choose from various precise historical factions of the bygone era, including Rome, the Parthian Empire, Ptolemaic Egypt, and barbarian factions such as Gaul, Scythians, Germanic tribes, and many more.
Each faction has unique, historically accurate army units with unique skillsets, base morale, and many other parameters. For instance, taking the Spartan faction lets players build the Elite Spartan Hoplites – a unit that fights till the last 2 to 3 men in a 120 men unit before routing.
Taking the Parthian faction lets the player control one of the most irritating units in warfare, the Parthian Horse Archers, which uses a hit-and-run tactic to barrage enemy formations with arrows, making it impossible to pin them down. Likewise, each faction has its unique unit, including war elephants, chariots, headhunters, and druids.
When it comes to real-time battles, this is where the Total War franchise turned the tables. Battles can take place anywhere on the campaign map. Once a battle is initiated, the user is taken to the battlefield itself. Total War: Rome offers siege battles, open field battles, river crossing battles, hilltop battles, ambushes, and basically wherever in the campaign map players are fighting.
Regarding actual battles, players can use whatever tactics they feel like. They can hide some units in forests and initiate a surprise attack from the flanks or rear. Players can have a weak center and let the enemy lines overextend themselves before finally cutting them off from the flanks.
This is where Total War: Rome stands out among all other strategy games. Any tactic conceivable on the field of battle can be practically done in the game.
Additionally, in Total War: Rome, players can replay historically accurate battles and re-write their fate for that day. As a result, Total War Rome was critically acclaimed by the gaming community, and many consider Total War Rome the best strategy game ever made.
4) Total War: Rome II
After the overwhelming success of Total War: Rome, the Total War franchise released a couple of expansion packs of the original game and seven other standalone titles. After almost a decade, developers Creative Assembly finally released Total War: Rome II in 2013. It became the eighth major title for the strategy game franchise.
Total War: Rome II took the historical accuracy and level of graphical detail of the first Total War game one step further. The campaign map now features smaller political entities such as client kingdoms and vassals, adding an extra layer of diplomacy to the game’s pallet.
The diplomatic system on the larger campaign map has been completely revamped, with much smarter computer AIs. This makes diplomacy in the game a bit challenging, adding an extra layer of fun. Players cannot just outright attack a neighboring small kingdom if, for instance, the small kingdom is the client state of a larger, more powerful empire.
Although, the first release of Total War Rome II was criticized due to some technical glitches in the battles. Creative Assembly developers rectified it quickly with subsequent mods. The Divide and Conquer mod of Total War: Rome II extends the map up to the north-western region of India. As a result, the Mauryan Empire faction is also playable, which lets players control Bindusara in the grand campaign. Something to cheer for the few loyal Indian fans of the Total War series.
Total War: Rome II offers a total of 117 factions in the game, where 10 are playable. The game represents all political entities of the Classical Era on the campaign map. The map is a larger version of the previous Total War Rome edition. It extends from Norway to the north to the coasts of Gujarat in the south and from present-day Siberia and Central Asia in the east to the western Saharan coast of Africa in the west. Total War Rome II is the most accurate historical strategy game to try out this August.
5) Total War: Warhammer Trilogy
After the monumental success of several of the Total War franchise’s historically accurate strategy game titles, they decided to merge the real-time battle mechanics that worked so well in previous titles into the fantasy world. As a result, the Total War: Warhammer series was created in 2016.
Developed by Creative Assembly and published by SEGA and available only on the Steam platform, Total War: Warhammer replicates the massive real-time battle scenarios of the historically accurate editions of the Total War game into the fantasy setting of the Warhammer universe.
Built around a similar system of city and unit building, army maneuvering, and diplomacy with other factions in Total War: Warhammer, players get to control heroes, monsters, and warriors in addition to well-organized army units. Total War Warhammer features four playable factions in the fantasy world's campaign map: Humans, Orcs, Dwarfs, and the Undead.
The first Total War: Warhammer was so well received at launch that the game went on to sell a million copies in the first few days. Inspired by the positive response, the developers of the Warhammer series delivered two more Total War: Warhammer titles, making the series a trilogy by February 2022.
Disclaimer: This article reflects the opinions of the writer.
