Looking for game recommendations...

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by Asmodean
Rufus: I can recommend both GalCiv and Warlords IV (and unlike Spikey, I have played both )

Another one you might want to consider is Europa Universalis II. Paradox make some awesome games, and they are in my mind only a hair behind GalCiv (which is my favourite game of all times).

Asmodean

I was hoping someone would mention EU2. I know a lot of people on Poly like it, but in their descriptions it always sounds primarily like a war game (unlike Civ, which balances war with other dimensions). Is that so, or just my mistaken impression?

[vmxa1]

I am enjoying Warlords IV, but it is not as deep as III.
You could look at Disciples II or Age Of Wonders.

[DrSpike]

But not Heroes4?

[Mordoch]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
I was hoping someone would mention EU2. I know a lot of people on Poly like it, but in their descriptions it always sounds primarily like a war game (unlike Civ, which balances war with other dimensions). Is that so, or just my mistaken impression?

Its definately your mistaken impression. Hearts of Iron, another game made by Pardox is more war oriented, given that the game covers the years 1936-1946 this shouldn't be surprising, but EU2 is not excessively war oriented. Its possible to be an enourmously successful nation while just focusing on diplomacy, colonization, and developing your nation's economy, all areas that are quite sophisticated in the game, and never actually go to war. If anything, war is almost an afterthought with how you handled the other aspects of the game affecting your sucess when engaged in wars. If anything, the Civ games tend to give a stronger incentive to be a warmonger than the EU series. I'm a beta tester for the about to released in stores Victoria: Empire Under the Sun, another game made by Paradox where the focus is definately not excessively war oriented. (Its not that the two games don't potentially feature war and conquests, just that the focus is not such that you could really consider either a war game.)

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Thanks for setting me straight, Mordoch.