Sins of a Solar Empire maybe right up your alley. Still supported (a new expansion coming out sometime this winter) so its worth a go. Get the Trinity version as it has everything you currently need.

Yea Age of Mythology is a good oldie'

I got it to work on my new Win7 laptop ok... me and my gf play LAN occasionally and its great fun.

Age of Mythology runs perfectly on my system

E8400 3.0 Ghz

2x2GB DDR2

Nvidia GTX 570

Gigabyte EP35-DS4

Windows 7 Ultimate

Awesome, thanks all! Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder, I have Sins (just the original) and Rise of Nations too, and I agree they are great games.  Sins in particular is awesome in many ways, it's just that I don't like how the AI always runs when I outnumber them, meaning I have to chase their fleet across the entire galaxy and almost never get a fight (unless they attack and destroy my planet)... is there a way to change that?

Trinity... hmmm, looks interesting... should I wait for the expansion first?  Is it standalone?  And I'll take a look at all of them, Age of Mythology, Company of Heroes and Dawn of War.  Is Dawn of War: Dark Crusade better than the other Dawn of War games (Soulstorm and Winter Assault)?

Thank you!

The next expansion is a stand alone with everything else included yes. As for the other x-packs they add a lot to the game. Especially Diplomacy with the AI though it still isn't better than a real human.

I recently got the demos for Dawn of War and its expansions, but am only keeping the original installed because it is as close to a full version as I am going to get without the full version, and I am impressed. Looks like Relic knows what they are doing, first with the original Homeworld and now Dawn of War, so when I get a good opportunity to get Dawn of War on sale, I will definitely not let such an opportunity go to waste.

Rise of Nations:Thrones & Patriots was totally awesome.  That's basically a RTS version of Civilization.   I've seen it run for like $10 at the retail stores now, bundled with the original.

The AI started cheating on Tougher; it was even-steven on Tough.   To not suffer attrition in enemy territory you could bring supply wagons along with you.  A great trick to take out your opponent was to take out his supply wagons.  His only counter would be to build more supply wagons, and that means building less guns.

I couldn't get past the third level (following his path) on the Alexander the Great campaign.  No matter what I did, the computer always had more to throw at me.  And in those campaigns, you tended to have to invade to get a good spot to start your empire.  I'm not sure if you can get access to the enemy's supply wagons.  How were you able to finish this level, and what cards (if any) did you use/need to use?

Best regards,
Steven.

AI wars

I concur with recommendation of Dark Crusade and from older games Command and Conquer Generals:Zero Hour, C&C3 and Red Alert 3, theyre not bad games, although i would say really good is only the oldest of the lot, Zero Hour.

Anyway i am bit disappointed with the recent RTSes, on one hand i have to say, they really progressed as far as the features go (zoom and grandscale, suppression fire, etc...), but they lack the WOW effect for me, some gameplay element or unit or faction, something what will make me want to read forums about the game, watch videos and generally think about it, when i am not playing it.

I have StarCraft2, SupCom2 and RUSE and none of them is like that. 

To me "awesome" and "RTS" are two words that just don't go together, for several reasons due to the surreal arcade "un-strategic" "un-realistic" feelling that a RTS just give me. That said I have player Napoleon Total War and I had lots of fun, I would also try Shogun II if you are looking for a thrill.

Really, AI wars. The only strategy game with an AI worth the name. Check it out.