I still like the first two Age of Empires and their expansions. I would be playing The Conquerors as the Britons or the Byzantines right now, but sadly the VIZIO television that I am currently using as a monitor doesn't support the resolutions of several games, Age of Empires (found a Command Line workaround), Age of Empires II (also found a Command Line workaround, but it didn't work for some reason), Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Stronghold, Stronghold Crusader, and Battlefield 2.

Sins will be my number 1 pick, as no other game has held my attention through masterful game design.  Starcraft 2 was just a gloss of paint and user friendliness on an old idea with a first rate campaign ... Empire total war was fun , yet shogun 2 is the best iteration of the total war formula(which is starting to get old..it needs more).  Company of heroes..looks like a FPS and i'm not interested in games that prepare me to be a good lil soldier.  surprisingly it made it onto this list...

I would have put dawn of war 2 higher on the list, that game has more strategy components then starcraft, and is a lot more fun.

~2 cents

The Total War series (Shogun, Rome, Medieval, Empire, etc.) while good games in themselves are NOT RTS's. They are turn based 4X Strategy mixed with Real Time Tactical battles. Sword of the Stars, and SoTS 2 fall into this catagory too.

DoW 2 should be called "HeroHammer", because it is more RPG than RTS. The DoW 1 series is far more RTS than the latter. DoW 1 should be on the list.

I can see Company of Heroes being on the list. Basically its Dawn of War set in WW2.

Homeworld 1 should be on the list, because it revolutionized space RTS. I agree that HW2 was a step down, and half ass effort compared to HW1.

Funny no one mentioned Total Annihilation....

TBH this list makes no sense. Being that it was supposed to be "Best of 2011" and there are games from 1999 on the list.

SUPREME COMMANDER, waht?

isnt there supremem commander 2, i know because i own it!

Played both. Prefer the first by several factors. It's not just a matter of accessible. The maps are smaller. 'Experimentals' are common. Units boil down both in number and complexity.

I thought so, I know I will enjoy playing SupCom for many hours when I get a computer that can do it justice.

Predetermined bases is always annoying in any RTS, if Empire at War/Forces of Corruption had larger maps, and wasn't so restrictive on the number of land units that could be fielded, they would have got away with it.

There are many types of RTS games. All have good, and bad points in them. It all depends on what genre you like, and how you like to play.

The "Fast Paced" RTS. The CnC/Red Alert series started it. The Warcraft/Starcraft series built upon it. Basically the games boil down to a non stop frantic micromanaging click fest by end game. The DoW 1/Company of Heroes series comes very close to this as well, because they are very similar game play wise to Starcraft. Many enjoy this type of game play, but i personally do not (with the exceptions of DoW 1, and CoH).

The Normal , or "casual" RTS. This is more my cup of tea. Games like Sup Com, Total Annihilation, Homeworld/Cat/HW2, Earth 2150, etc. fall into this category. (So can DoW 1, and CoH depending on how you play them). These types are more for the casual gamer that enjoys taking their time to think about what they do before they do it. They can turn into click fests, but that all depends on the play style of the gamer more than the game itself.

The "Chess Game" style of RTS. This is the game where you have time to THINK about what you are doing, and what you will do next. Sins in a way is the pioneer of this category. Game play is more about "Grand Strategy" than Tactics. Some 4X titles could have fit in here if they were not turn based like SoTS and Total War, but they are not. They are in the turn based 4X category.  Sins is the first 4X type game to base the Strategic portion of the game on "Time" instead of constantly clicking on the "end turn" button. The "turns" progress whether you are ready for it, or not! One minute of time represents a single turn in a turn based 4X, and like chess you position your most powerful pieces (units), and build your empire to gain the most advantage. While your opponent does the same. This is the Strategic portion of the game, and it all takes place in real time. Like timed chess if you chose not to move in the time allotted then the turn is forfeited. The battles in the gravity wells are where the tactical portion of the game takes place (queen takes rook, Pawn takes bishop, etc.). That takes up most of the game time.. Once the pieces are in place.. Then BOOM! Checkmate, or in Sins case "Steamroll".