Mostly just having a small number of troops that you train and command individually

Dozens, not hundreds and definitely not thousands

Warcraft is a great example but so is homeworld

stronghold is a classic and you're not the first to recommend battle for middle earth so I feel like I should see about giving it a shot some time :3

Never played that one now I’m curious 👀👀

I think it's bc we associate photos with "real people" in a way that tapestries don't really convey how bad pre-industrial life was, so people swinging swords is cute and funny... but wearing red armbands takes us back to 6th or 7th grade learning about the holocaust and taking it all VERY seriously

...shit that seems goofy in pure fantasy becomes grim af

even ATLA gets way with like "and then the bad guy lit his kid on fire" because it's a silly bop

but if you have someone mention socialism, even as a bit, folks see other scenes like "holy fuck. he lit his kid on fire" like it's real life

There's just something about it

I started writing a side story while I was unemployed that was all furry charas and it immediately became the darkest thing I've ever written

You can take sugar candy like redwall or suikoden (which were the two inspirations) and as soon as you make it modern...

I just want socialist animals without literal cannibals you know

for some reason that's so hard to find I might have to make it myself LOL

lmao I never played this one and forgot the name but I KNEW it was gonna be the one with the...you know... "themes"

I have a weak stomach for these kinds of stories but being a modern 2D love letter to a certain kind of game I might just have to try it

In Ember Hearts you play as a bunch of characters who are caught up in momentous events; there's magic and combat but it's driven by a dozen or so people. The big conflicts are a backdrop – you're not leading armies and the characters wouldn't want to.

An RTS is extremely unsubtle but liberating!

yeah I've accepted at this point Ember Hearts is going to be a long, "lifes work" type project so I'm excited to explore the world through something I might actually uh...ship LOL

(not to mention the genre shift puts light on things that Ember Hearts character-driven narrative RPG format doesn't)

lmao I should have known you would have references, let me go thru this list :3

Oh yeah that looks sick as well

Armies of Exigo I just watched the first half of a very entertaining review - it may not end up being one I play (mostly because the mac limitation) but I'm glad it exists

ohhh now this is almost precisely what I'm looking for !!

Yeah I was just thinking Dawn of War 2 has a great scale but similarly pared down in a way I appreciate but is missing a key component of what I'm hoping to build

Dune 2 I should absolutely find a way to play; I spent many hours on the OG Command & Conquer and even more in RA and Tiberian Sun so...

Looks sweet! Not a bad price either.

lol this occurred to me

yeah I'm installing it - design wise it's probably closer to what I need for inspo but I was looking forward to getting back to the 2D days since they were literally the blueprint

Dawn of War is probably the closest thing and I should try firing that up if it runs on Mac

but I'm open to ones I've never heard of too

bout to fire up a dos emulator ffs