Strategy games for a n00b in strategy games.

I played Xcom and it's a pretty nice and friendly entry to the genre... It's not total strategy.. but I liked the little bit of it.,

Get starcraft2+heart of the swarm expansion. Maybe get c&c red alert2(3 wasn't as good) & warcraft3.

Dawn of War is ok, so is age of mythology as is xcom somewhat; but don't bother with any of these. I also hated Civ games.

Civilization V. Slow and easy, and the only strategy game I enjoy playing.

Warcraft 3 for sure. Can get the Battle Chest for around 10-15$ and it works on modern systems (although isn't 100% widescreen friendly)

Many hours of gameplay for the money, and TONS of custom content to add into it.

I recommend XCOM Enemy Unknown. Fairly easy to get into yet still manages to be complicated in it's own way.

I saw Rise of Nations earlier as a suggestion and that's actually not a bad choice. It offers more depth than any other traditional RTS which are usually just limited to a campaign and random skirmishes because it allows you to wage an actual war and choose your battles as you dominate the world essentially allowing you to craft your own story. It's superior to Age of Empires in just about every way.

Most of the other suggestions here are terrible because they play differently from traditional mainstream RTS.
For instance the idiot shouting Dawn of War 50 times...that's a terrible suggestion because the first few game are your typical RTS games where you have a base and you produce units and try to destroy the other base, but then the next ones turn into squad command type of strategy game and you no longer have the reources of a full base. And then later games in the Warhammer Franchise are based on board games and are nothing alike to the Dawn of War series (and there's an FPS to mix things up some more).

Likewise XCOM Enemy Unknown is very far from your traditional RTS, it's more of a an SRPG or tactical shooter.

Company of Heroes is also more squad based than the traditional RTS formula.

SupCom is too far down the deep end for a beginner and also has a unique trait that it shares with the Stronghold series, you yourself are a unit on the battlefield so survival is tied not just to the base's survival but also the commander's.

Then there's a bunch of hex SRPGs mentioned like Kings Bounty and Heroes of Might and Magic or Disciples which are again something entirely different.

And Total War also is more about battlefield tactics and "squad" control than the typical RTS formula.

Then someone mentioned Starcraft which is also a terrible suggestions cuz you're either playing a really old game or you're buying into a yet to be completed trilogy which is a bit much for a beginner to get stuck into.

Civilisation depending on how you play isn't an RTS at all, it can just be a Sim along the lines SimCity.

Homeworld plays on 3 fudging dimensions and is old.....you're really gonna suggest something a seasoned RTS player can get lost on to a beginner?

Fire Emblem is an SRPG, not an RTS.

My personal favourite of all time is Rise of Nations. You also can't go wrong with a Red Alert/Command & Conquer (other than Renegade and Generals for a beginner) Age of Empires or Age of Mythology though. That will give you the traditional RTS experience. Then you can branch into the other stuff like Starcraft, Supreme Commander, Homeworld,Company of Heroes, Dawn of War etc. And if you like RPGs you can look at stuff like the Hex games like Kings Bounty and SRPGs like Fire Emblem. That's not saying any other the other suggestions are bad, most are brilliant games I greatly enjoyed, but if you don't know nothing about RTS they're gonna give you the wrong idea and mess you up when you move on from them.

If you do decide to go for an old game, that hasn't been enhanced with an HD or Extended or whatever version, then do be aware that pathfinding of units gets progressively worse the older you go generally. What I mean is if you select a big bunch of units and tell them to go to the other side of a bridge or other narrow area ever more of them get stuck on the original side as they can't go through immediately and others run down weird alternate routes going who knows where on the map and only a few actually make it to the other side (there are exceptions though like Conflict Zone...but it's otherwise a bad game).

Whatever you do dont try Supreme Commander its a bitch!

Go hardcore, there is no fun if the adrenaline doesnt flow (just my opinion though).

stronghold crusader ,offline with bots ;)

Begin with the old time classic Rome Total War (not Rome 2).

Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 XD.

But no really, the Total War games are a good way to get into more complicated games like the 2 i mentioned. I would suggest Total War Shogun 2.

If you are looking for less complicated, more build a base, amass an army and wipe out the opponent base. Well Age of Empires 2 HD (nostalgic memories of that game.), And Age of Empires 3, Starcraft 2 and a bit of an older game Warcraft 3.

If you are looking for more of a 4X game, i would suggest Civ 5 with all expansions is really good, easier 4X. Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity or Rebellion are quite good (Rebellion is trinity but with more), is a game i really love and can be considered a 4X, really fun to play and have a space empire.

Some other games you might be interested are Company of Heroes (all of them are really good), XCOM Enemy Unknown and Shadowrun Returns.

There are many other good Strategy games, but those are the ones i love and suggest you try out.

Star Wars Galactic Battleground and Starcraft

try Crusader Kings 2...it's fun :D

Once you are a not a noob anymore,

check out War In The Pacific Admiral Edition, Ageod Civil War 2, Command Air Naval Operations, Gary Grigsby War in The East ( The West is about to be out if you prefer, and both will be linked together into one game later on ), Command Ops Battles From The Bulge, Scourge Of War Gettysburg...

Warcraft 3 and Red Alert 2 - my most beloved strategy games!

command and conquer generals or zero hour