AI War: Fleet Command.

[frogbeastegg]

I read an article about this on rock, paper, shotgun and that in turn led me to one on crispygamer. The pair have convinced me to try it; the demo is downloading.

How could I not try it after reading the following?

Instead, you have to carefully scout the galaxy. You have to work out the best pattern of conquest, understanding that as you take new systems, you'll have to defend them. You want to slowly but discreetly build your economic base, and you want to keep your holdings in as defensible a position as possible (remember the tower defense aspect!). You might simply cripple some systems and conquer others. You might leapfrog more heavily defended areas or maybe roll up a weak galactic flank. It's a 4X game in which you have to devise a grand strategy other than "conquer everything." It's about tough strategic choices.

The AI is meant to be extremely capable too.

The game's currently 30% off as part of gamersgate's weekend offers. £8.25 is pretty tempting if the demo's decent.