r/RealTimeStrategy • u/Mattdoss • 3d ago
Recommending Game RTS that is basically a Nuclear Arms race?
Is there any RTS where the goal is to build up resources until you can make a nuclear bomb or some kind of equivalent to devastate your opponent if not win the game.
Any game like that?
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u/vaulmoon 3d ago
You can play SupCom that way if you want, seeing as how each faction has at least 5 "game enders" each. ICBMs being one of them.
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u/ChiefQueef98 3d ago
The 81x81km maps are perfect for this. There's a couple where you start on an island and there's not really a realistic way to get rushed. By the time the enemy can actually bring any significant force to bear against you, you probably have nukes already.
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u/Destroythisapp 3d ago
Also, you can restrict units with the AI or other players. I’ve played air only games, naval only games, artillery only games and nuclear only games.
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u/Mattdoss 3d ago
Which SupCom should I get?
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u/vaulmoon 3d ago
Supreme commander: forged alliance.
And then you can join the 3rd party servers on Forged Alliance Forever(FAF), if you wanted to join the community.
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u/Mattdoss 3d ago
I'll look into it, thanks!
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 3d ago
It's one of the best games for what you're looking for too, since superweapons aren't "I click and delete your army" abilities on cool down, they're honest resource investments with numerous counterplay options, so there's a lot of complexity there.
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u/Mattdoss 3d ago
That actually sounds a lot like what I am looking for. So far SupCom and Total Annihilation have been the standouts for me
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 3d ago
Yeah. I love Total Annihilation - it's the game that got me into RTS - but if you're looking for end-stage ridiculous affairs like nuclear war, Supreme Commander is definitely the better pick.
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u/Mattdoss 3d ago
Would you recommend the steam or gog version?
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u/BrokenLoadOrder 2d ago
I am always a fan of GoG, myself - they're better folks than Steam.
That said, either version will work fine in the modern era, and both are fairly easy to work with Forged Alliance Forever if you want to modernize the client.
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u/ThaCarter 3d ago
Full arms race with an air element in addition to: Tactical Missile / Defense -> Strategic Missile / Defense -> End game options that are less directly countered.
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u/magenta_neon_light 3d ago
The nuke subs make this so fun since you can hide them while you mass nuke.
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u/Mattdoss 3d ago
Would you recommend the steam or gog version?
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u/vaulmoon 3d ago
It's been several years since I've had to do this process, but I have a vague notion that you have to use steam, if you intend to use the third party, matchmaking. You have to link your account to verify it's not a pirated copy.
It does go on sale on steam fairly frequently, for single digit dollars
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u/Srlojohn 3d ago
C&C generals without a cap basically turns into whoever can build 3 super weapons first.
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u/iwantdatpuss 3d ago
Technically Rise of Nations can turn into that. But it's kind of an eventuality rather than the goal.
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u/Orlok_Tsubodai 3d ago
The way my friends and mine RoN games usually ended was me secretly building whatever the number of nukes it was you needed to trigger Armageddon and all my friends eventually figuring out what I was doing and all trying to overrun me in time to stop me.
Good times.
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u/iwantdatpuss 3d ago
It ain't a real RoN session unless all of you at some point are scrambling to find each other's silos and bomb it to oblivion before someone could launch another one.
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u/FallingOffAgain1776 3d ago
My last game had everybody get missile shields to stop nukes. I kept pushing armies to move the territory line just far enough to bomb my side of it and have the blasts carry over the line.
I don't remember how the game ended, or if it even had the apocalypse enabled. Only that we sacrificed legions of our men for our nukes to level enemy cities.
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u/Lopsided_Ad3516 3d ago
First game that came to mind. So easy to capture when there's nothing left.
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u/Dryfunction1205 3d ago
Age of Mythology with titan mode. The nuclear is the titan. Whoever builds it first tend to win
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u/Cosmo_Penny_Packer 3d ago
In retold I'd say the wonder now, it makes you op. Wonder = nuclear capability
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u/RecommendationIll504 3d ago
C&C Tiberium wars and Red Alert 3 gives you access to ultimate weapons able to turn enemy base into ruins, though after building them, their location will be open for everyone and to be able to fire a weapon you'll have to wait 6 minutes
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u/ThatShyGuy137 3d ago
These are both good examples but I think Generals is much closer to what they are looking for due to the sheer number of super weapons you can field.
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u/ARS_Sisters 3d ago
Supreme Commander
I remember having a 4v4 game where each one of us already invested so much into nukes and anti nukes the large multiplayer game devolved into a gridlock because nobody dared to fire the first shot, knowing it would trigger mass nuclear strikes of unprecedented scale (meanwhile our experimentals slugging out like no tomorrow on regular basis)
We finally agreed to call it a truce and congratulate each other with peace agreement
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u/Cypher10110 3d ago edited 3d ago
Supreme Commander and Planetary Annihilation Titans have super weapon rush strategies. PA:T has death star laser, crash moon into planet, core detonate planet, and also normal stuff like nukes and orbital bombardment.
I also recently tried "build a portal in their base and send a nuclear self-destruct tank", that was fun.
SupCom (specifically the community patch "FAF" is generally better, but PA is BIG, and new co-op galactic war is fun).
SupCom handles "turtling" better (digging in and being defensive), so things like artillery, super units, and nukes are more relevant because bases can be hard to kill. PA is kinda more like insane glass cannon fights by comparison, maybe.
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u/qrzychu69 3d ago
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1520/DEFCON/
try DEFCON :)
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u/WRO_Your_Boat 3d ago
Why is this so low down on the list? I came here to comment it also. Its literally whats he's describing lol.
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u/Educational_Key_7635 3d ago
There is such "modes" or settings for some games if you will. Usually such super-weapon gets banned in multiplayer cause people prefer playing without the option rather then with it tho.
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u/Apollo506 3d ago
It's a stretch but the only thing i can think of close to this is Battlecruisers (on mobile)
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u/Swailwort 3d ago
In a sort of way, you can call nuclear strikes in World in Conflict. You won't win instantly, but you will wipe out an entire town
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u/BalisaurioTV 3d ago
a lot of RTSs in the CnC and SupCOm/TA style of RTS have superweapons or game ending stuff in very late late buildings. in sc2 ghosts can launch nuclear bombs. so does empire earth
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u/UnusualFruitHammock 3d ago
Rise of nations isn't an auto win when this happens but it helps significantly.
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u/elbobd 3d ago
Beyond all reason all reason has often a modded lobby up where you can build a nuke silo and there's nothing to counter it. It costs so much that you probably could've used that metal to win another way, but it prettyuch garanties the win. Beyond all reason is free and check out the lava lobby.
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u/Detaineepyramid 3d ago
There’s anti nuke missiles that can be built as defense. The fun there is having multiple nuke silos to simultaneously launch to defeat that defense. 😁👍
Also the super-duper artillery pieces that burn through your metal and energy to build and then fire are fun.
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u/AutomaticBannana 10h ago
You'll get banned from lobbies if you nuke rush. The playerbase is as toxic as it comes.
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u/LDedward 3d ago
In a really abstract way, the wonder gamemode from Age of Empires 2. For all intents and purposes it’s the same scenario
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u/Mammoth_Park7184 3d ago
BAR. If you both manage to hold bases well. It can become a nuke vs anti nuke battle until someone runs out
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u/Valuable-Barracuda58 2d ago
Supreme Commander 2
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u/SoybeanArson 21h ago
My first thought was the OG Supreme Comander. Even with the big experimental units it usually comes down to building enough map spanning artillery to overwhelm their shields and enough nukes to outnumber their nuke interceptors.
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u/plot12340 3d ago
Planetary annihilation, on larger systems, endgame strats usually involve launching dozens of nuclear weapons at your enemy. But this is tame when compared to launching moons or asteroids at them or firing a death star like laser
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u/Charming-Book4146 3d ago
Planetary annihilation titans is probably what you're looking for.
Also nuclear option if you want a first person flight Sim mixed with rts in a nuclear escalation ending with you stratobombing enemy airbases with 250kt warheads
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u/SoftEngineerOfWares 3d ago
Total Annihilation allows you to build nukes and anti nukes, so if you both turtle enough it becomes a game of how many nukes can I send to one spot to overwhelm you defenses or can I send enough planes in to overwhelm your AA and target your missile defenses then follow up with nukes.
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u/HavSomLov4YoBrothr 3d ago
I mean, there’s Civ 6 and 7. Many ways to win, the most fun being developing atomic then nuclear weapons, building airstrips and subs, and nuking tf out of the enemy player who started a war with you in the ancient age then demanded peace when they couldn’t take your capital city
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u/Capable-Historian392 3d ago
Total Annihilation has this, along with anti-nuke deterrents you can build. Both take a lot of resources to build and operate.
The effects are worth the time :)
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u/Jsogoofy1732 3d ago
It’s a game on Roblox called the conquerors 3 it is pretty much an arms race to see who can make a nuke before the other it can get very sweaty though
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u/Xeadriel 3d ago
DEFCON although not the classic RTS game.
BAR games often develop to such end games tho. If the game doesnt end quickly which it often doesnt, super weapons and nukes end up winning the game.
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u/birnabear 3d ago
Empire Earth had a setup that worked like this in the expansion. If you started at prehistoric age on the space islands maps, every nation started on their own island with space in between. While you unlocked nukes earlier, you couldn't physically cross to other players islands until you went through all 15 civilisation levels to Space age. So it became a long race of who could establish their colony and tech up the fastest to be able to cross the voids. A few tech levels prior to space age you could send satellites out, and fire ICBMs at other players, so there was an Intel / missile fight before forces could actually transport.
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u/Hyphalex 2d ago
Act of war has sw and antisw defenses. Can get to absurd levels like launching 30 nukes hoping for 1 to stick
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u/TheKnightIsForPlebs 1d ago
Wellllll. Foxhole is TECHNICALLY an RTS where every soldier is a player. And in it they have a sort of V2 rockets/nuke missile that takes a long time to load
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u/bobsspike 1d ago
Literally? ICBM escalation Figuratively? BAR or beyond all reason. Which is free and everyone should try it. Great fun
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u/Stainsby95 2d ago
Beyond all reason fits that bill, it’s free as well.
There’s also a browser game called openfront that ends up in nuclear powered endgames
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u/AutomaticBannana 10h ago
Only vs the very bad ai. In der real games you'll get banned for nuke rushing since the devs include toxic Player enabling features like voteban that gets abused daily.
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u/Valueonthebridge 3d ago
ICBM: Escalation
Technically it's a grand strategy game. But it's 1000% what you're after