Twelve missions a side on Draenor, with named heroes who stay dead if you lose them.
The 1994 original: two campaigns in Azeroth, mouse-driven, before anybody had heard of the setting.
GDI against the Brotherhood of Nod over tiberium, briefed by actors on video; Westwood, 1995.
The eighteenth century with line infantry and naval battles you command yourself.
Crusades, gunpowder and the fan mods that keep it alive twenty years on.
Arthas becomes the Lich King, and the custom maps become DotA.
Gunpowder, home cities and the colonial era; the awkward middle child of the series.
China in 190 AD, with generals who hold grudges; the best-written Total War.
The expansion whose balance held up as an esport for two decades.
Soviet squids, psychic beacons and a full-motion cast having a wonderful time.
Orcs and humans at sea and in the air; the RTS that made Blizzard.
GDI and Nod after the tiberium spread; Westwood's voxel war.
Attila, Montezuma and El Cid; the expansion the competitive scene still plays.
The 1997 original: twelve ancient civilisations, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
Harvest spice, build a base, click and drag; the game that defined the real-time strategy.
Every Warhammer faction on one Immortal Empires map; the biggest Total War.
The 2021 return of the medieval RTS with documentary campaigns.
The RTS esport of the 2010s; Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, Legacy of the Void.
Sengoku Japan on the campaign map and thousands of samurai on the field; Creative Assembly's best.
Normandy squad by squad; the WWII RTS with cover and suppression.
Legions, elephants and the Senate; the Total War that made the series.
Heroes, four races and the custom map that became DotA; Blizzard's RTS peak.
Thirteen civilisations from the Dark Age to the Imperial Age; still played competitively.
Tesla coils, Tanya and full-motion video generals; Westwood's alternate Cold War.
Terran, Zerg and Protoss in perfect balance; the national sport of South Korea.
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