Game of the day: Warzone 2100

This is a rather old title that received an open source update. I only played the original very tangentially, so I cannot comment on what improvements have been made.

What I can say is that I generally dislike RTS games, and this one drew me in regardless. It's set in a rather generic post apocalyptic world filled with angry military people. You build a base, harvest resources and kill your fellow man.
What sets Warzone 2100 apart is that you have a very complex amount of research to be done, that you can design your own units and that it's one of the few RTS games that actually considers artillery to be important. Rare indeed.

As an example, send forth a little scanner vehicle to detect the enemy bunkers behind a hill. Then level the place with mortar fire. Just hope you aren't in scanner range of any enemy artillery or it's going to be payback time.

Another nice touch is that experience does matter. Battle hardened troopers can outfight their lesser opponents, and you can even "recycle" them into new units, when you move from glorified peashooters to hardcore laser guns.

Warzone 2100 is free, and is included in, at least, the Ubuntu repositories. That version lacked the mission briefing videos, but you can get those from the website. They aren't amazing, but they do help establish the setting a bit more.