I need to check out some of the games mentioned here but as of now, feeling rather delighted to be back to Heroes of Might & Magic V (both expansions) after Age of Wonders 3 just doesn't feel finished and sub-par (although their way of tactical combat system is a bit superior to HOMMV but the magic sucks big time -.-)

No one has mentioned it so perhaps it was just a timing thing for me but I have very fond memories of Battle Isle 3. Probably one of the first games I completed the single player campaign on. I think a lot of people preferred 2 but I was too young/wasn't aware of the series then so only went back and dabbled in it.

For best ever I guess it would have to be one of the Civ iterations. I spent most time in 1 and 2 probably (as was very young), and 4, but, except for Civ V, all have been enjoyable. I miss the throne building from the original

I have to go with Sid Meier's Civilization II, but part of that may be that I can no longer play it (it won't run in Win8-8.1).

Honorable mention in my case goes to MOO2 and Civ V BNW.

number one is ? HoMM 3 ( still play it with friends once a week or so )

i cannot forget though many great games

xcom the original series 1-2

civilization the whole series

master of orion 2

alpha centauri

no love for Warlock out there?  I got a lot of hours in that game.

at the moment..

1. Heroes III (sometimes II)

2. Age of Wonders III, Pandora First Contact

3. Sorcerer King, Legendary Heroes (with Demons & Wizards)

i might pull out tribes of the east for eternal essence, but aside from these no other strategy games get played any more.

I played a lot of it too, good fun without a doubt but just a few too many flaws to be one of the greats. Plus might not be hardcore enough for many but yeah, good times. Never got the 2nd one though as it looked so similar to the first and I really wanted simultaneous multi-player like in Civ 4 but it still doesn't have it sadly.

My Evergreen is Heroes of Might and Magic 5.

On Second Civilization 4 and 5.

Warlock/Warlock 2 is sort of a disaster on many fronts.  It's AI is laughable, it's almost entirely PvE even at the hardest levels because the environment is the only real challenge to surmount.  The races are in no way even marginally balanced, nor are the spells.  Most of the challenge is also random, and as such is unreliable.

It's a wonderful player side design, streamlined and intelligent 4x features with good diversity, but it's entertainment only because 90% of the difficulty is random spawns that may or may not be a problem for a particular player.  I rate it fairly low as a strategy game, even if I do have fun with the idiocy that it is.

the best way to play warlock imo is with a huge supercontinent, max ai opponents, min extra worlds, Armageddon mode.  the challenge is to take out the other ai players before the dreanor do.  I also limit myself by not using raise/lower land spells.  otherwise its too easy to make choke points or steer the ai.

Sword of the Stars 1 with all the expansions.

Heroes of Might and Magic III with HOTA and HD mods
King's Bounty Legions (online game)
Lords of War and Money (online game)
Might and Magic Heroes Online

oldies:  
Defenfer of the Crown
Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc)

Moo2, Alpha Centauri, Galciv2, HoMM2, Civ2/4, Stars!, Final Fantasy Tactics, X-COM, XCOM.

No such thing.