I've also only played the original SH and SH:C games. I heard SH2 was not much good at all.

As to SH/SH:C, to be honest I liked the artwork, the sound effects and the overall design of these games. The big part that ruined these games was the AI. Much like any RTS basebuilding game it simply trains units and sends them at you in batches with no real co-ordination.

It is very easy to outsmart the AI by building a honeypot trap:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
You simply leave an opening in the walls and line it with about 4 large towers - do not build a frontal gatehouse - to form a kind of open barbican. It's then just a case of filling the towers with archers and the walls with crossbows. The enemy will always come via that route and will be systematically shot down every time. They won't bring much if any siege equipment because they think they can simply walk in.


In all honesty you're better off with a game like MTW.