Games that involve recruiting troops

[sirhansirhan]

For reasons I can't exactly explain, last night I was in the mood to play the sort of game that involves your recruiting troops and strategically building an army with them. I dug through all of my games for all of my systems, and only came up with three that I own: Dragon Force for Saturn, Risk for the Genesis, and Herzog Zwei (which only sort-of fits the criteria) for the Genesis. Since this is clearly a type of game that I like, but I only have three, I was wondering if there were some other good ones that you guys can recommend...

And yes, I realize that this isn't really a game genre, and my definition of the type of game that I'm looking for is loose and crappy and open to interpretation.

[Pantechnicon]

Nobunaga's Ambition for Gameboy (presumably the other ports as well, but GB is the only one I've ever played).

For a GB game it's pretty complex. You have to recruit different samurai from a pool of about 100 available to lead your armies into battles. If your fief is doing well, samurai will individually petition you for employment. If your fief is floundering, then the samurai will steal rice in lieu of the gold you owe them and potentially stage a coup d`etat. Each samurai has a unique list of RPG-style stats. You want samurai who are competent on the battlefield but who aren't too ambitious, because they're the ones most likely to lead a revolt against you even in peacetime. Playing the game well can be a real balancing act based on how well or poorly you recruit.

You also have to buy/train/arm soldiers, but this is less of a personal process than what you do with the samurai.

[vaportransmitter]

I guess you could count the Suikoden games, though the actual war battles you use them in are few and far between and not the main focus of the game. You seem to be looking for more strategy-oriented games. Good luck on finding some.

[Gapporin]

Maybe quite not what you're looking for, but Cannon Fodder (multiple platforms) allows you to recruit troops and do battle with them.

[Ed Oscuro]

America's Army, Battlefield series (2 / 2142, squad system)...okay, AA was a facetious example, as YOU go through the recruiting system

[Apollo]

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Op's for the PSP is pretty much built on this concept

[Hwj_Chim]

I believe that Romance of the three kingdoms has you recruiting generals.
I have only seen the game played so I am not sure.

[Blitzwing256]

suikoden tactics sounds right up your alley, has about 60 recruitable charecters (about 30 or so is optional)

if you're going oldschool, inindo way of the ninja is one for snes (somewhat rare i beleive)

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm going to go slightly obtuse with my answer (since most of the ones that came to mind have already been mentioned) and say :

River City Ransom EX for GBA, since, unlike the NES version, you can recruit "gang" members as you go. (I guess the "collect them all" design trend was still going strong when that game went gold.)

[Mayhem]

Depends how far you want to go back... could try (if you are so minded) the classic "Lords of Midnight" and "Doomdark's Revenge" on the C64/Spectrum. Double bonus, they are pseudo based on LotR in a few ways...

[tom]

Many SSI, SSG and Avalon Hill war game/ fantasy war game titles for A8, Apple ][, C-64

[cheshire191]

Command and Conquer is a good one.

I believe it is available for N64 and Sega Saturn (rare though)

I'm sure there are other platforms you can get it for.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Command and Conquer for the PS1; Risk for Genesis; Liberty or Death for SNES/Genesis, thats all I can think of off the top of my head.

[Poofta!]

the game that BEST fits your description would be Jagged Alliance ( 1 or 2 ). it has you build a small tactical squad from people with unique weapons and skills and then use them throughout a small campaign. the game isnt that militaristic in nature... check them out. they are amazing amazing games!!! they are rather old and on the PC with a bridge eye view of the combat.

while im on it, that reminded me of the original commandos games for the pc... 1-3.

the other game(s) i thought about were the original rainbow six games. you build your own squad.

well enjoy, but i recommend Jagged Alliance, its a great game and seems to be exactly what youre looking for. it has better gameplay, depth and strategy than anything else mentioned in this thread so far.

[sirhansirhan]

Maybe quite not what you're looking for, but Cannon Fodder (multiple platforms) allows you to recruit troops and do battle with them.

What's the gameplay like in this game? I read the stock description on eBay, but I still don't feel like I have a good idea what you do in it.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. Keep them coming, if you know any more.

[j_factor]

Cannon Fodder probably isn't what you're looking for. You do recruit troops, but it's more of an action game; there is a lot of strategy involved in the levels, but there's no strategic troop-building. Basically, it's a top-down shooter (like Soldiers of Fortune or Ikari Warriors), except you command a group of 15 soldiers, and you control them by pointing and clicking (like how you control your minions in a game like Warcraft, except there's no resource building or anything). You "recruit" new soldiers by saving civilians.

Gain Ground is another action game in which you recruit new soldiers. But it sounds to me like you're looking for more of a strategy game. Maybe Pocket Kingdom?

[gepeto]

I loved the thing for the xbox. You had to keep your guys comfortable and on your side all while under stress.

[ubersaurus]

Fire Emblem?

[Daria]

Genghis Khan for NES... well ok probably any KOEI title would fit the bill but Genghis Khan is my favorite. You can buy troops or draft civilians (which lowers your troops skill level drastically). Either way it's kind of rewarding to amass huge armies and grossly outnumber your opponents.

Warsong for genesis gives you generals and you have to purchase troops for them prior to every battle. The game gives you like three choices of the kind of units that general can control.

Or if you're into individual but generic soldiers then any Nippon Ichi game would work. Phantom Brave was my favorite, you buy the kind of soldier you'd like, pick a name, and equip them with anything from normal weapons to pretty much anything you could pick up off the ground. I had a bird warrior wielding a fir tree and a cat slapping his enemies with a fish.

[sirhansirhan]

Genghis Khan for NES... well ok probably any KOEI title would fit the bill but Genghis Khan is my favorite. You can buy troops or draft civilians (which lowers your troops skill level drastically). Either way it's kind of rewarding to amass huge armies and grossly outnumber your opponents.

Warsong for genesis gives you generals and you have to purchase troops for them prior to every battle. The game gives you like three choices of the kind of units that general can control.

Or if you're into individual but generic soldiers then any Nippon Ichi game would work. Phantom Brave was my favorite, you buy the kind of soldier you'd like, pick a name, and equip them with anything from normal weapons to pretty much anything you could pick up off the ground. I had a bird warrior wielding a fir tree and a cat slapping his enemies with a fish.

Odd, I own both Warsong and Phantom Brave, but have never played either. I'm an idiot. I've held out on starting Warsong because I got a boxed copy cheap about a year ago and I've been trying to find the instructions on eBay or something--it looks like it will be confusing to learn how to play that one. Phantom Brave I don't have a handy excuse for--I even have the strategy guide for it already.

And yeah, the gist of what I've gathered from this thread is that I need to play more Koei games. Incidentally, the only one I've ever played so far has been Gitaroo-Man!, which hardly counts.