RTS games with a modern setting

[Mongoose]

I can only think of afew, such as Empire Earth 2 and Rise of Nations, and people have told me that they were kinda mediocre. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Lord Comnenus]

World In Conflict though it will come maybe i dunnoh but it sure looks great!
www.worldinconflict.com/main

[Kekvit Irae]

Command and Conquer: Generals is a great one, though I suggest you pick up the Zero Hour expansion pack if you enjoy playing single player, since the Challenge campaigns are quite excellent. It's essentially the US vs China vs Middle Eastern Terrorists.

Zero Hour allows you to pick one of nine generals that has different advantages and disadvantages, all of which for Challenges and Skirmish.
For example, the Infantry general (China) replaces the standard Red Guard infantry with Minigunners that are much more powerful and can attack aircraft. His troop transports also come with eight Minigunners instead of eight Red Guard. His disadvantage is that his tanks are not effective, and the Minigunners cost more than the Red Guard.
The Superweapon general (US) is basicly a turtle. Her defenses are second to none, as they fire EMP missiles instead of normal missiles, completely disabling any vehicle. Any aircraft that is disabled crashes to the ground and is instantly destroyed. Her disadvantage? Almost virtually no offensive units, having to rely on her superweapons (an upgraded orbital laser) to kill the enemy.
The Stealth general (GLA) can upgrade all his buildings and units to be hidden from view. In a skirmish game with another human, this is the single most annoying thing you can do.
The Nuclear general (China) is just that: he loves nukes. He loves using nukes. He loves using nukes in excess. His tanks and power stations are also upgraded with nuclear fusion, giving them more power.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

So what general would be best, Irae?

[Kekvit Irae]

Depends on how you play. I play a slow defense builder, so I'm in love with General Alexander (in more ways than one :loveg:). I also like playing the Tank General (China) when going on offense, just for the Emperor Overlord tanks.

All of them can easily be defeated, it's like a careful game of Rock Paper Scissors.
The Laser General (USA) requires lots of energy to operate the laser defenses AND laser tanks. If the power plants get shut down, so do the tanks.
The Bioweapons General (GLA) is almost useless against vehicles, so while the Infantry General will be ganked if he tries to rush, the Tank General can steamroll over the Bioweapons General with barely a scratch.

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

So if I want to play a turtle game, I should pick a general that is good at turtling?

[Kekvit Irae]

Pretty much.

The Air Force General (USA) has excellent aircraft, so you've got good defense AND good offense. The Superweapons General still has the best bombers, though.

[Kongamato]

There are also the Act of War games out there, but I have no idea how they work or what the majority of people think of them.

[Geoffrey S]

There's a recent game that's meant to be rather realistic, Joint Task Force. As the name implies the player takes command of a modern task force in asymmetric warfare and I've heard it's quite good, if unforgiving of errors.

[Keba]

There are also the Act of War games out there, but I have no idea how they work or what the majority of people think of them.

I've gotten Act of War back when it was still fresh.

It was entertaining, the campaign especially, but kinda limited. I rate it a nice meh ... it's good enough until you finish the campaign and maybe play a bit in the skirmish, but it gets boring, though, to be honest, I had the same problem with C&C Generals.

Graphics-wise though, I prefer Act of War to Generals. Well, actually, I prefer Act of War in general.

[Husar]

I also liked Act of war and the addon adds naval battles to the campaign and multiplayer(not skirmish). The ships are pretty nice with multiple weapon systems, radars, anti missile defenses etc. Only the gameplay is a bit weird since ship-to-ship missiles move slower than the ships which fire them but the battles are nice anyway.

[Fragony]

Total Annahilation and Starcraft are both excellent scifi rts

[Mongoose]

From the looks of it, most of the Act of War games would kill my computer, so I'll probably go with C&C. Thank you for all the suggestions.