THE GREAT FANTASY STRUGGLE SERIES

THE GREAT FANTASY STRUGGLE SERIES

And if the World War 2 setting isn't your cup of tea, the older Wargame series still represents some of the best of both RTS and wargaming, so they're absolutely worth taking for a spin. In multiplayer, though, it's pretty great. The sequel, Steel Division 2, brings with it some improvements, but unfortunately the singleplayer experience isn't really up to snuff. It's got explosive real-time fights, but with mind-boggling scale and additional complexities ranging from suppression mechanics to morale and shock tactics. Normandy 44 takes the action back to World War 2 and tears France apart with its gargantuan battles. Steel Division: Normandy 44 takes its cues from Eugen Systems' exceptional Wargame series, combining the titular subgenre with loads of RTS goodness. You can meander through life without any great plan and still find yourself embroiled in countless intrigues, wars and trysts. And all this soapy dynastic drama just has a brilliant flow to it, carrying you along with it. Getting to grips with it is thankfully considerably easier this time around, thanks to a helpful nested tooltip system and plenty of guidance. It's only going to get larger and more ambitious as the inevitable DLC piles up, but even in its vanilla form CK3 is a ceaseless storyteller supported by countless complex systems that demand to be mucked around with and tweaked. At first glance it might seem a bit too familiar, but an even greater focus on roleplaying and simulating the lifestyles of medieval nobles, along with a big bag of new and reconsidered features, makes it well worth jumping ship to the latest iteration. It's a huge grand strategy RPG, more polished and cohesive than the venerable CK2, and quite a bit easier on the eyes, too. Crusader Kings 3, the best strategy game of 2020, has usurped its predecessor's spot on the list, unsurprisingly.

The great fantasy struggle