The 3MA Canon

[Procyon Lotor]

I just listened to episode 183 on Take Command 2. This is a game that sounds awesome, like the exact sort of game that I'm looking for.

And I've never heard of it before.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me as a 3MA listener. For example, I had also never heard of Dominions 3, which is now one of my favorites.

The purpose of this thread is to "cut to the chase" -- what are the essential strategy games for a 3MA listener? Discuss!

[riadsala]

Well, some obvious choices (which are easily available from the download service of your choice)

Civ is a no brainer (both IV and V I guess, as they're quite different in terms of design philosophy)

A Total War game (am guessing Rome or Shogun2... probably Rome as it will run on older computers)

Frozen Synapse.

Starcarft 2 (note to self: I should get round to playing this one day)

I'm not sure I'd include Dom3 in a "canon" type list. It's too unwieldy, archaic and niche (good game though, until it descends into micromanagement hell).

[sclpls]

Part of the pleasure of 3MA is most of the games talked about will be things I've never heard of before.

I will add Sins of a Solar Empire, and Risk Legacy.

[Procyon Lotor]

Dom3 is definitely "unwieldy, archaic, and niche", but I'd put it in the "canon" because it's a game you've got to try. Maybe we should have a HoF Canon (Civ, Total War, etc) and a Games of Interest Canon (Dom3).

[Jim Profit]

btw illwinter released a new conquest of elysium a short while back (their latest game now, since dominions 3) http://www.illwinter.com/coe3/index.html

it's incredibly good. probably not a part of the 3ma canon, I just wanted to mention it. since it's great. and it's kind of the single player side of the same coin as dominions is the multiplayer side.. to. great sentence.

but yes dominions 3 should definitely be on there. other than that though, you really need Bruce to write you a proper list if it's supposed to be a 3MA and not just a general strategy canon. hehe.

[Nikolaj]

Dominions 3 is definitely 3MA canon, considering that the guys even had a Dom3 AAR going on the podcast, a while ago. It fell apart after a relatively short while, but still.

And if there's to be a 3MA canon, I think War in the East needs to be on there, considering how often it's mentioned on the show.

Other somewhat obscure games, that I know have been mentioned on the show, and that I personally think more people should know about are (off the top of my head) Armageddon Empires and Field of Glory.

[ulot]

If we are going off of frequently mentioned games, you would be hard pressed to leave out EU.

[Jim Profit]

alpha centauri

[Hell-Mikey]

X-COM. Will be fun to see if XCOM joins the cannon as well.

[spelk]

I would add

AI War: Fleet Command

http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/aiwar-features

Solium Infernum (P.S. 50% off all Cryptic Comet titles using code: OCCULT for the next 10 days!)

http://www.crypticcomet.com/games/SI/Solium_Infernum.html

Unity of Command

http://unityofcommand.net/

Atom Zombie Smasher

http://blendogames.com/atomzombiesmasher/

Sid Mier's Gettysburg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier's_Gettysburg!

Majesty 2

http://www.majesty2.com/

I could go on listing powerful strategy/war/indie titles worth looking at that have been mentioned on 3MA, it's difficult to stop.

[warthurton]

You can't forget

Rise of Nations, the official RTS of 3MA:

http://www.microsoft.../riseofnations/

Imperialism I & II:

http://en.wikipedia....sm_(video_game)

http://en.wikipedia...._of_Exploration

Jagged Alliance

Solium Infernum

http://www.crypticcomet.com/games/SI/Solium_Infernum.html