this post was submitted on 09 May 2025
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I've been getting back into the classic Close Combat games, and they're some of my very favorite of the wargame genre.

I'm curious what retrogaming's favorites are. I'm not too particular on what constitutes a "wargame," it could be anything from Final Fantasy Tactics to Steel Panthers.

To throw a couple more out, I really enjoyed Rome: Total War for the 4x strategy and the Combat Mission games for their simulation systems as well.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 29 minutes ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 26 minutes ago

Oh, I'd forgotten about that game. I actually liked it better than Age of Empires.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

I loved close combat games! I still want think and look for similar games. It left a void I haven't quite filled.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 16 hours ago

Rise of Nations: Extended Edition

[–] [email protected] 5 points 17 hours ago

Historyline: 1914 - 1918

[–] [email protected] 16 points 22 hours ago (3 children)

Command & conquer: Red Alert

[–] [email protected] 3 points 16 minutes ago

There is even an open source version

https://www.openra.net/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 17 hours ago

Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge

[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I'm more of a Tiberian Dawn person myself

[–] [email protected] 5 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

It's a close second, but red alert has the better balancing in my opinion

[–] [email protected] 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I just don't like the style of RA as much, and I'm usually a campaign-only player for C&C anyway

[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Fair. I get that. I had the same problem with red alert 2. It could be the better game, but the style just doesn't interest me. For the later games mainline c&c has the better style. Including c&c3 and ra3.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 21 hours ago

Rise of Nations

[–] [email protected] 10 points 22 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 22 hours ago

That soundtrack chefs kiss

I loved just loitering on the main screen for that lovely white noise/cave sound/immortal machine music vibe.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 16 hours ago

If war-themed FFs fit in, and if people accept a 19 y.o. PS2 game as retro, Final Fantasy XII is pretty good, and points for the story going more the infiltration and diplomacy routes instead of protagonists buldozing everything like in previous games.

And on a more classic sense of war, Outlive is pretty good but hard. Also wasn't expecting the units' quotes (at least in the Portuguese dubbing; haven't checked it in English) to be as silly/amusing, but it helps cracking up some smiles here and there.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

I was having a blast playing through Combined Arms recently. It's a mod (or revamp) of OpenRA which provides a story an campaign that involves factions from all C&C and RA games, including the Scrin.

And best of all: Since it's based on OpenRA it's completely free. I highly recommend check8ng it out. It's well balanced, it involves a cool story, and while I'm mostly a tiberian dawn kind of guy, I'm sure it'll appeal to Red Alert fans as well.

Ever wanted to see how the mammoth tank fares against a tesla coil? Or a scrin carrier against a Yak? Well now you can try it.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Man I haven’t played Close Combat in probably 27 years but I instantly recognized that screen shot. Great game!

I still play C&C Generals and Supreme Commander fairly often. Not sure I’d call them retro but they are pretty old!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago

Generals:Zero Hour is still a great play, especially with mods.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 19 hours ago

Sudden Strike 2

[–] [email protected] 3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Warlords 3 Dark Lords Rising, Age of Wonders a close second.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I played so much Warlords 2 multiplayer with my siblings when I was a kid. I should check that series out again.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 19 hours ago

I never really played 2, but the art and music in 3 are amazing. Very fond of that era in fantasy art.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 22 hours ago

Fallen Haven