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Which Matrix Games title should I get?

Dayyālu

Arcane
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
4,465
Location
Shaper Crypt
Achtung Panzer: Operation Star is the older and crappier version of Graviteam Tactics.

AI War is a very nice game in theory, and I appreciate what they were trying to do (build on the basics that a AI can't fight a human player properly so they built it have completely different gameplay) but I could never "get" into it. Apparently it's great, but to each one his own.

Alea Jacta Est is a no-go for me. I found it clunky and boring.

Battle Academy is a casual turn based game. It's relaxing tho, I kinda sorta enjoyed the Eastern Front ones as cheapo strategy games for when you don't want to go too deep.

Check Your 6 I know as a tabletop rule system, and I can't recommend. maybe it's better as vydia.

Chariots of War is shovelware built on the old Legion system and the only thing that it has is the Near Eastern theme. It's cool but limited.

Close Combat is Close Combat, and you love or hate it.

Likewise, Field of Glory II. We have a LP on the Playground and a thread praising it, and I admit that the ruleset of FoG is good and without having to bother with the RL rules it should be nice. Didn't play it in digital form, tho.

Gary Grisby's War in the East and in the West are almost Dominions-esque in scope. I can recommend, tho. War in the East, I mean, never played War in the West. They are fairly less autistic than people often think, but they require a good time investment nonetheless.

Hannibal: Rome and Carthage is great. It's a fun little well-designed game. It feels like a great adaptation of one of those old tabletop games, it has charming yet simple graphics and the ruleset gives you enough variety (with the Senate and the Events) to keep you on your toes. I would recommend.

Legion is kinda bad, Order of Battle is mediocre....

Pandora: First Contact is a competent sci-fi Civilization clone, far better than Beyond Earth even if likewise soulless.

Panzer Corps is crappy, being shittier Panzer General (worse graphics, worse balance, worse campaigns, worse everything, tons of DLCs).

Revolution Under Siege is one of those "heard it's great, never tried it".

The Operational Art of War IV is a classic, but it's easier to simply pirate it, it's a baseline for operational strategy games with a tons of scenarios and variety

Vietnam '65, I think I played it ages ago and was completely unimpressed.

That's it, I guess. Why don't you simply replay Fantasy General :)?

they are all shit

Helpful.
 

agentorange

Arcane
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Aug 14, 2012
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rpghq (cant read codex pms cuz of fag 2fa)
Codex 2012
Hannibal: Rome and Carthage is by far one of the best historical strategy games ever made. It should be the gold standard for how to make a strategy game that focuses on a single campaign. Very easy to get into but also has significant depth and with a very challenging AI to go up against. And it even has an attractive and fitting visual style to it, which is a real rarity for these types of games.

Field of Glory 2 is excellent as well. I've been playing it a lot recently. I'd get it only if you want to do multiplayer though; not that the single player campaigns and battles are bad, but the game really shines when playing against other people.
 

Beowulf

Arcane
Joined
Mar 2, 2015
Messages
1,963
Ther's no good fantasy-themed tactical battle game in Matrix's/Slitherine's offer sadly.

I concur with FoG II reccommendation for MP.
Close Combat titles are also fun, but you could be able to get them cheaper on other sites.
 

passerby

Arcane
Joined
Nov 16, 2016
Messages
2,788
If you like 4x:
Distant Worlds: Universe
Pandora: First Contact
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Developer
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Middle Empire
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Pandora: First Contact is a competent sci-fi Civilization clone, far better than Beyond Earth even if likewise soulless.

Pandora is bland but has a very good AI. Drums of War is the predecessor of Warbanners, and although not a Steam game, is pretty good, and would match most of your requirements:
It is a linear sequence of battles (well two, as you get two campaigns), with carry over troops.
It is a bit heavy on the RNG, but it has:
Day and night (aka light that matters), catapults, siege ladders, terrain manipulation (digging ditches or building barricades).
 

McPlusle

Savant
Joined
May 11, 2017
Messages
319
John Tiller's Campaign Series is a classic. It's not fantasy, though. It's a WWII series that bills itself as tactical but also has support for larger-scale scenarios. It also has Time Units!
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Apr 24, 2015
Messages
19,109
Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
What CryptRat & Galdred said about Drums of War is correct.
Other fantasy games that I recognize from the list are Hell and Ravenmark, but I haven't played those.

Star Hammer: Vanguard Prophecy is sort of fun space ship combat game.
 

Galdred

Studio Draconis
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Developer
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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Ravenmark is WeGo with an order phase and an execution phase. I played it on tablet, and didn't like the UI, but it is probably much more convenient to play on PC if you like WeGo.
Hell is basicaly Fantasy Pike and Shots. But it lacks the ton of scenarios of its historical cousins (at least Field of Glory 2. Not sure about P&S).
 

coldcrow

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1,649
Pandora: First Contact is a competent sci-fi Civilization clone, far better than Beyond Earth even if likewise soulless.
I have to correct Dayyalu there. It only looks like a Civ-clone, but is a wargame. Everything you do is to get stronger and to crush the planet, your neighbours and see them driven before you.
 

panzertoter

Arcane
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Messages
628
Location
Poland
War in The Pacific, Admirals Edition - land operations (mainly in China) sucks, but Air/Naval battles are great. And the absolute freedom and scope of the main scenarios are just fanstactic!
 

vonAchdorf

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Messages
13,465
What about Advanced "Hardcore Wargamers this is for you" Tactics Gold?
 

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