I stopped buying RTS games when they stopped making them with llisences for a couple of multiplayer installs. I am going to buy a game twice just so i can play it at home with my wife?? Over my dead body,,,, please pass the console!! (Console games know how to let several players engage with the one game copy)

Other than the first Dawn of War and its expansions (which are indeed classics), I'd suggest the following:

1. Rise of Nations (plus Throne & Patriots expansion): excellent history-based RTS game, with well-done strategic maps.

2. Battle for Middle Earth 2: best use of the Tolkien license that I've seen in any game.

3. Universe at War: huge fun and very diverse factions.

Honorable Mentions: Dragonshard, Dawn of War 2, Dungeon Keeper 2,

They haven't aged well.

As corney as it may be, I have been really into Red Alert 3.  Picked it up when we got it in Impulse, and it brings me back to the days of staing up 'til 3 AM fending off waves of Prism tanks.

Haven't tried the Homeworld series.  Talked to a few people who said it was pretty hard cause the units carry over to the next level or something like that.  I've kinda been on the fence about getting it but it's worth it, huh?  I've got the other two though and you're in the ballpark. 

I just got my first computer a year ago and feel like I've missed alot as far as rts's go and that's always been my genre of choice.  You're pretty much screwed from the get go trying to play something similar on a console you know?  But if the graphics aren't semi up to date it kinda ruins it for me.

I'd heard the camera angles made this game pretty frustrating but this one is another that I was considering.  Guess I'll have to try it myself.

I'm a fan of the whole series except this and the fps.  Seriously something about the cut scenes and the humor with the units is just too over the top for me.

Get Empire :Total war and just play skirmish games...seriously, and multiplayer.  Good times.

Also he said he had played SC already SyD.

Definitely one I'm looking forward to.  That, Starcraft 2, and C&C 4 are all on the horizon but still too far off.

I heard this was really buggy but I assume it's been patched sufficiently?

And again any info is much appreciated.  I'm hurtin' for something new and most of my friends are into fps's.

Right - Age of Empires III is an RTS I can reccomend, its all very well made.  The home-city mechanic can be a pain at times, but that's bareable.  Don't bother with the Warchiefs expansion, go straight for the Asian Dynasties, that's the good expansion.  Its also the only RTS game that I know which recognises the role trains had in the industrial revolution.  Everyone other RTS avoids them like the plague...why?

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Although...Command and Conquer 3?  You actually got this to work?  To everyone else who might think about buying this game, please try and playtest it on your computer before you actually buy the thing.  It has this brutal error which causes the game to CTD every ten to twenty minutes from some kind of memory leak...an error which EA blatantly ignores despite there being hundreds of posts on their forum about the thing...very angry posts.  Please, be careful.  I managed to wrangle my money back, however you may not be so lucky

[/rant]

Otherwise, it looks like you have a good base to work from...although Dawn of War goes totally over my head

I love just WATCHING Empire:Total War battles, let alone playing multiplayer etc.  I hardly play the campagin these days, should be a 1.4 patch very soon *(Havnt signed onto steam in a while so it might be out).  All depends on what you like.  AI isn't super awesome, play online is though.

I also cannot stress how good Homeworld was - Good times had by all.

I was in the same boat - looking for a new RTS to tide me over, and this is what lead me to Stardock.  I was an addict of Starcraft and Warcraft 3, and played a bunch of other RTS titles along the way.  Once Sup Com 2 and Starcraft 2 come out I'll be in heaven, but until then I've looked at:

- AOE 3 was a lot of fun single player, but the graphics are a little dated now.

- Company of Heroes is a great RTS, but after a few plays I grew tired of the World War 2 setting and feeling like I have to watch everything all the time.  The flag capturing just gets annoying.  Still fun to screw around with, though.

- Red Alert 3 is interesting, but the camera was way too zoomed in for me to play consistantly.  I spent a couple hours trying to edit files to fix it, which I know can be done, but just gave up on it.  It really didn't feel as cool as Red Alert 2 did.

- Warhammer looked interesting, but in the end it felt like Warcraft 3 but less fun.  I might go give this a shot, but the demo really didn't have me interested at all.

- Universe at War is a lot of fun to screw around with!  The graphics aren't great, but its a well designed game and pretty cheap.

- Sins of a Solar Empire was a blast, but feels more like civilization than your standard RTS fair.  Definately worth looking into, but don't expect it to play as fast as Starcraft.  Theres a community that plays SOSE regularly, but its not the competitive ladder system you see in COH and WC3, etc.

- DEMIGOD is the game my group picked.  It isn't your standard strategy RTS, but it is fast paced with games usually ending within 30 minutes.  The amount of crucial decisions you make every minute is hard to match.  The game is all strategy.  The connection issues are gone, there is a steady online community.  And the game is gorgeous.

- Majesty 2 just came out, and plays a lot different than your standard RTS.  If you didn't play Majesty 1, this is definately worth a look.

- Rise of Nations is one of those legacy games everyone needs to play, just because it was so unique...but I'm not sure I could get as into it now that its aged a bit.

On the Demigod front, give the demo a try.  Zig's right, it does have a strong action RPG influence in how your hero unit gets stronger and you select abilities, but it definately is nothing like Morrowind, Diablo, or any other RPG game.  It plays more like a class based FPS, where you are fighting to control a few key points on the field.