Best Strategy Game (Round One)

[This Old Neon]

Round One of the “Best Strategy Game” side-event includes 3 polls of 11 games each.

• You can vote for UP TO FIVE (5) games per poll, or skip a poll entirely.
• The top 5 games in each poll will advance to Round Two.
• You can’t change your votes once they’ve been submitted, so click carefully. Voting closes on Saturday at midnight ADT.

VOTE HERE

Poll 1 of 3
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (2003, GBA)
Crusader Kings II (2012, PC)
Europa Universalis III (2007, PC)
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017, 3DS)
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (2006, PC)
Herzog Zwei (1999, Genesis)
Master of Orion (1993, PC)
Panzer General (1994, PC)
Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, PC)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
Total War: Warhammer (2016, PC)

Poll 2 of 3
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M (2015, 3DS)
Command & Conquer (1995, PC)
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics (2003, XB)
Fire Emblem Awakening (2012, 3DS)
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Hogs of War (2000, PS1)
Medieval II: Total War (2006, PC)
RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999, PC)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (1991, SNES)
SimCity (1989, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Poll 3 of 3
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, PC)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996, PC)
Dark Wizard (1993, SCD)
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (2008, DS)
Master of Magic (1994, PC)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, SNES)
Pikmin 3 (2013, WU)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (2006, PS2)
Sid Meier's Civilization V (2010, PC)
Warsong (1991, Genesis)

[Kong Wen]

Poll 1 of 3
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (2003, GBA)
Crusader Kings II (2012, PC)
Europa Universalis III (2007, PC)
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017, 3DS)
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (2006, PC)
Herzog Zwei (1999, Genesis)
Master of Orion (1993, PC)
Panzer General (1994, PC)
Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, PC)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)
Total War: Warhammer (2016, PC)

Call me old-fashioned, but in this poll, it's going to be Master of Orion (brilliant), SimCity 2000 (the best SC game), and Sid Meier's Civilization II (the first great Civilization game).

Poll 2 of 3
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M (2015, 3DS)
Command & Conquer (1995, PC)
Dai Senryaku VII: Modern Military Tactics (2003, XB)
Fire Emblem Awakening (2012, 3DS)
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Hogs of War (2000, PS1)
Medieval II: Total War (2006, PC)
RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999, PC)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (1991, SNES)
SimCity (1989, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Awakening is the most serviceable modern portable Fire Emblem. It's not console/Radiant-great, but it's not Fates-level trash.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms III is the last of the great retro strategy games in the series (4 is OK, 5 didn't come west, 6 is OK, 7 and 8 and 10 are RPGs, 9 is the warm-up round version of 11).

Poll 3 of 3
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, PC)
Command & Conquer: Red Alert (1996, PC)
Dark Wizard (1993, SCD)
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (2008, DS)
Master of Magic (1994, PC)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, SNES)
Pikmin 3 (2013, WU)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (2006, PS2)
Sid Meier's Civilization V (2010, PC)
Warsong (1991, Genesis)

Dark Wizard is a great retro tactical game that does some things you don't see much in the genre anymore (creating generic units from scratch and turning them into powerful uniques, good hex maps).

Ogre Battle is a brilliant real-time tactics game with a fantastic hidden alignment system and great design.

Ah, I mentioned this above! Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI represents Koei's return to RTK's quality strategic roots. Being able to have wars raging on several fronts in pausable real-time makes the whole map of China somehow feel tactical on a granular, local level. Fantastic game. Probably the best overall "grand strategy" in the RTK and Nobunaga series.

And yeah, I'm voting for Warsong in a bracket that has two Fire Emblem titles. The music alone gives it an edge.

[The Shoemaker]

A lot of different styles of strategy here. Very hard to put a vote down.

[Sharecrow]

I voted for Warsong. I play very few strategy games because I’m not good at them. I guess I lack the patience and finesse of a strategist.

[This Old Neon]

Here are the winners of the expansive and generous opening round. These games will all advance to face the next wave of higher-seeded contenders in Round Two:

Poll 1
Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords (2006, PC)
Master of Orion (1993, PC)
Panzer General (1994, PC)
Sid Meier's Civilization II (1996, PC)
SimCity 2000 (1993, PC)

Poll 2
Fire Emblem Awakening (2012, 3DS)
FTL: Faster Than Light (2012, PC)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny (1991, SNES)
SimCity (1989, PC)
SteamWorld Heist (2015, Multiplatform)

Poll 3
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings (1999, PC)
Fire Emblem (2003, GBA)
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993, SNES)

[Sharecrow]

No Warsong

[Kong Wen]

No Warsong

Warsong was in a 3- or 4-way tie for the remaining spots in one poll in the opening round of a side-event that let a ton of games advance. RIP.