I bought it on steam on a whim (I love Turn based strategy and fantasy so I had to give it a shot) and I am very pleased. It feels like a cross between Civilization, Warcraft, and Fire Emblem... Obviously it is not as good as any of those but it is a very fun game, I would say its a must have for any Strategy game fan, and if you like Fantasy (Warcraft, Lord of the RIngs) than you really owe it to yourself to get this game.

Anyways thought I would pass that along.

I bought it and ran through the tutorial. I didn't really understand the combat, to be honest, and it throws a ton of information at you. I was trying to be all tactical and flank the enemy but I didn't really understand the range icons, so I let the AI take over. It just approached the enemy and attacked and I was like, "... oh."

I'm playing This War of Mine at the moment but I'll get back to Age of Wonders III later.

ya the combat expect you to be agressive. I learned that quick. Its pretty much a battle of fire power and skill does play a part because know what works against certain units is crucial.

I used to play it a lot but haven't touched it in years. I'm all about AOE2HD on Steam these days. It's a simpler but better game.

I enjoy some 3 though, blowing up a group of pee ons with a cannon ball and watching the bodies fly is great stress relief. I may have to buy this again on Steam.

The combat is based on chess or rock paper scissors at its core, with units having an advantage against some and weakness against others. You need complimentary units and you need effective management of them. Deep, heavy strategy.

The xp system is neat in that it encourages aggression and rewards success in combat.

I've heard of it but never played it, I'm not really into turn based RTS games, I'm more into C&C/AOE/SC style real time strategy games.

Looks beautiful though.