Allow me to exercise my lameness:
There are multiple types of RTS.
Some require resource gathering, some don't, some have some other form of resource. Some are full 3D, some are partially 3D, some - some of the very best - are 2D. I'll suggest.... 3 (that number may change) games which I guess represent a good spread.
1) World in Conflict.
An descendent of the superb 'Ground Control', this game came out in 2007 or something but is arguably to this day the best looking RTS. It doesn't involve base building or resource gathering - you just [augment your steadily building] requisition points by holding key points - so the combat is pretty fluid. The visuals - fully 3D and gorgeous, full of amazing effects - are fantastic, and the gameplay is everything you might expect from a third iteration of a gaming vision. This is without
doubt the single greatest 'modern warfare' simulation RTS out there.
2) Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors Expansion
This is the gold standard high water mark for RTS gameplay. Get the original version if you can - Ensemble's scripting is far superior to any remakes. You just can't go wrong with this game - it includes the OG AoE2, Age of Kings - it offers endless replayability and some really good campaigns.
Edit: the below gif is of a remastered faction, i think, it was the best i could find. Real game looks basically identical apart from building and tree sprites.
3) Homeworld 1+2 Remastered
You have to play these games. I believe they're on steam in HD versions... but they're just perfection. Visually stunning, great gameplay, amazing music, epic stories, they're not super replayable but they are just
titans of the genre. Basic resource gathering that carries over between missions powers a robust gameplay model.
4) Anno 1440/1800
You have to play this Austrian series, and I have to recommend 1800 because it's the most recent and more accessible gameplay model. It's also gorgeous. The reason I include 1440 here is because it's almos equally accessible, and a lot of fun. Older titles are less polished. This game brings resource gathering to a new level with really complex production trees and labour management - it's pretty much the whole game. So only play this if you're into that stuff.
5) Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom
This is the Impressions City Builder I choose. Caesar 3 is probably the best, but this is the most polished, beautiful, and controlled. Set in ancient China, you build cities for independently acting AI controlled sprites that move around, take jobs, complete tasks, and work together to give you a a) pretty city that is b) economically self-perpetuating. It's a really, really, really fun game type that relies a lot on things like city layout planning and such.
6) Majesty 2.
Last but not least (turns out I did 6) this is an INCREDIBLE, hugely underrated RTS game with really unique gameplay. Think of this as being the dude who hands out WoW's quests. You build a town, build guild halls, they spawn AI heroes who wander around responding to your banners (quests you can place on locations, enemies, etc) for gold, experience, which they pump back into the economic buildings of your town (buying potions at marketplaces), which your taxman collects income from for your war chest. You also have god powers on cooldown that you can use to help your town along. It's an amazing gameplay system. You can carry your heroes over into the next mission (for a cost) and by the end of the day you can have high level heroes walking around in epic lootz kicking serious ass. It's also a really challenging game.
Edit: you can set how much gold those banners offer for reward, you need to put up more to attract more/better heroes, this is really cool, especially when you dump 10k gold on a boss and watch every hero and their pet marmot march to their deaths trying to get the duckets.
ps. this is like the only way I could get images of the game, google search got nuthin'
EDIT:
7) Rise of Legends
Just wanna add this in, I posted it on the next page but I wanna let it be more visible. I mentioned this game early - a spin-off to Rise of Nations. They've got some really funky additions to the gameplay, 3 fantasy races with drastically different playing styles, flying units (flying trade carts for example), a cool way of building cities, full 3D and some really nicely detailed units, a pretty fun campaign plot with tons of voice acting, just all in all a really cool riff on the classic RoN formula.
... this video is pretty long , and only really focuses on one race (the ''Vinci"), but it's pretty great. Skip along to the final 3rd or 4th of the video to see his settlement already established, but the extended build-up part is pretty instructive too - if a little slow.
I'm weird
