The greatest RTS units of all time, determined by democracy

Almost a decade ago, we published a list of our favourite RTS units. There are some good picks in there. But I want to revisit the topic, and not just by listing some cool tanks. Real-time strategy is competitive. I want to find out what the best unit is, and for that we need a tournament. No deliberating, no debating, just brackets and voting.

Last week, PC Gamer writers created a shortlist, and now I’m pitting them against each other in randomised face-offs. And you lot now have two days to vote for your fave, after which the victors will move to the next round and we’ll do it all over again.

But what does “best” actually mean? That’s up to you! Better in a 1v1 brawl? Better looking? Better at pretending to be a completely normal tree? The choice is yours.

The war begins

Welcome to the first round of our apocalyptic war to determine the greatest RTS unit of all time. We’ve got 16 competitors duking it out, from Peons to the Executor Super Star Destroyer. Hmmm. That doesn’t seem fair. But war isn’t fair. There will be tears. There will be surprises. There will be grudges that remain for centuries.

But for now, let’s meet the competitors. This is also where you lot come in. Underneath each set of two units, we’d like you to vote for your favourite. Now, I can’t make you vote for my picks—that would be incredibly corrupt—but I’d certainly appreciate it.

Since there a lot of units to get through in this round, I’m going to leave the polls running until Sunday evening, and then we’ll kick off the quarter-finals early next week.

One last bit of housekeeping: In cases where these units crop up in multiple games in a series, we’ve just picked one version. So while the Peon features in all three Warcrafts, I’ve gone for the Warcraft 3 version (because it looks extra goofy).

Peon vs Glass Dragon

Peon (Warcraft 3)

The real heroes of Warcraft, Peons are mistreated, disrespected and undervalued by orcish society, but they are the most critical cog in the Horde’s war machine. They get called “dogs” and “cowards”, and yeah, they might enjoy the occasional nap—but they work hard! They deserve a rest!

Orcs are classist dickheads. Without Peons, you’d have no great halls, no barracks, no trained warriors. Peons avoid conflict not because they are cowards, but because they know they are too important to die in battle—that the future of their people hinges on them building a new gold mine or chopping down some trees.

And if it comes down to it, they’ll fight, either directly (which they are, frankly, terrible at) or by holing up in a burrow. They can do it all! Zug zug, my friends. Zug zug. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor

Glass Dragon (Rise of Legends)

Rise of Legends is one of those RTS games that sometimes I feel like I hallucinated from whole cloth. Fraser assures me that he’s played it and it’s rad, so I’m including the Glass Dragon here under the assurances that I haven’t made it up.

Rise of Legends is an incredible game that blends steampunk and Arabian mythology and aliens (!) in a beautiful, messy RTS stew. The Glass Dragon stands out in particular not only for its ability to slag tanks, but its beauty. Just look at those beautiful polygons! —Russell Adderson, Contributor

Mammoth Tank vs Petard

Mammoth Tank (Command and Conquer: Red Alert)

God bless these great, trundling beasts—implacable Soviet strength wrought in steel and pig iron.

Mammoth Tanks are unfathomably costly and painfully slow, but whatever. I’m convinced just one of them could probably win the entire RA1 Soviet campaign by itself. Akh-knowledged. —Joshua Wolens, News Writer

Petard (Age of Empires 2)

Greek infrastructure hates to see these guys coming. I love destroying buildings is what we’re learning here. But can you blame me? The Petard is a unit with a noble and singular goal: to hurl himself at the nearest enemy structure and turn it to smoking rubble. Of course, the Petard dies in the act, but such is the price you pay for glory.

It might be grim, it might be heartless, but it’s certainly effective. Also, it’s fun—producing a horde of these guys and sending them rolling over to the enemy’s nearest base like a horrible circus coming to town is, simply, a great lark. —Joshua Wolens, News Writer

Psyker vs Rohirrim

Psyker (Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War)

I love a unit that’s so powerful it hurts itself. Not only is Dawn of War’s Psyker the best voice-acted unit in a game filled to the brim with fantastic voicework, but he’s the perfect mechanical summary of the setting’s relationship to the Warp. Imagine if, to cast magic, you had to tap into hell, filled with soul-hungry predators and daemons who’d happily possess you given the chance. Hey, or maybe your head will just explode from the strain.

This is represented by the Psyker’s ‘Perils of the Warp’ mechanic, which gives him a small chance of dying anytime he casts one of his powerful abilities. So, while it’s fun to hear him shout WITNESS YOUR DOOOOOOM as many times as possible, abusing his powers will lead to an untimely end. —Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer

Rohirrim (Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth)

The Ride of the Rohirrim is a very influential movie moment for a young lad. I, for example, decided that the only faction I could play in Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth was Rohan. And the only unit I would enjoy playing were the Rohirrim.

I’d get my long-haired horse boys fresh out of the stable, hand them forged blades (made the tips of their spears glow), as much heavy armour as I could afford, then arrange them into a neatly-formed flying V formation. My entire operation was focused on powering through as fast as possible until I could get my horde of superpowered spearmen on horseback. Every playthrough—every damn playthrough.

These Rohirrim were basically a cheat code. They could easily trample Sauron’s armies under hoof. Just line them up, set them off, and watch carnage ensue. I’m rewatching the Ride of the Rohirrim as I write this and it makes me want to boot the game right back up again—goosebumps. —Jacob Ridley, Managing Editor, Hardware

High Templar vs Pride of Hiigara

High Templar (StarCraft 2)

I’m not one for all this lore nonsense, though the High Templars have lore abound if that’s your jam. What I’m into is seeing a mass of enemy Terrans melt under the AoE of Psionic Storm.

Back when I was a wee wannabe Grandmaster SC2 nerd, discovering Templar Storm was game-changing. Previously, I’d based my game around making the sweet and simple Protoss ball of death—an army of smaller units and couple of big Colossus (Colossi?)—then crossing my fingers, but before long I discovered I could tech into Templars for that AoE. Just one or two of these bad-boys pulled in and I could melt my opponent’s entire army of Marines or Zerglings. I’d never experienced anything like it. —Jacob Fox, Hardware Writer

Pride of Hiigara (Homeworld 2)

While other ships are spitting out missiles and other little projectiles, the Homeworld Mothership is spitting out capital ships. It is both a unit and your base—an impossibly huge mobile factory that can carry your whole fleet inside of it. Its direct offensive capabilities are extremely limited, but like I said: It can spit out capital ships.

I’ve picked the Kushan/Hiigaran version specifically because of its iconic design, which for me is right up there with the Enterprise D and Star Destroyers. While it’s largely stationary in the original Homeworld (at least in the campaign), it’s fully mobile in Homeworld 2, giving it an extra dose of utility. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor

Mirage Tank vs Ballista

Mirage Tank (Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3)

Most tanks are performative. They’re like those folks who film themselves in the gym, flexing their muscles, grunting and getting in everyone’s way. But not the Mirage Tank—it’s sneaky. You wouldn’t even notice it in the gym. You’d just be left to wonder, “Who put this tree in the gym?” And then it cuts right through you with its spectrum dispersion cannon.

It was already one of the coolest units ever created in Red Alert 2, but Red Alert 3’s version introduces more disguises and enhances the unit’s DPS capabilities. It can be a sneaky assassin on its own, but a group of them can make short work of an enemy base. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor

Ballista (Warcraft 2)

I edited C&C: Red Alert’s rules.ini file so that attack dogs barked Tesla coil zaps, which was pretty cool. But lightning dogs were not an official unit, so I will instead call into battle the Ballista from Warcraft 2. Iconic, effective, and straightforward: this thing shoots a giant arrow. What are these other units gonna do against a really big arrow? Nothing. —Tyler Wilde, Editor-in-Chief (US)

Attack Cycle vs Super Star Destroyer

Attack Cycle (Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun)

The cheap and cheerful attack cycle is made out of recycled coke cans and implodes when it has a negative thought, but who cares? You can churn them out like paperclips, and a swarm of them will make short work of enemy walls, turrets, and foundries. They are the Nod philosophy crystallised: victory through numbers, speed, and lethal affordability. —Joshua Wolens, News Writer

Executor Super Star Destroyer (Star Wars: Empire at War)

My colleagues have, for some reason, chosen to prioritize things like “funny voice lines” and “subtext” while proposing their favorite RTS units. Sorry, gang: you’re about to get crushed by 19 kilometers of steel and turbolasers.

This enormous Death Triangle is the ultimate wish fulfilment vessel in Empire at War, one of my favorite Star Wars games. It’s not a top-tier RTS, but it is top-tier Star Wars fantasy in game form, letting you move around a bunch of little toy ships and play out the “what if” of throwing Rogue Squadron’s ace pilots up against a Star Destroyer. They’ve got a real chance in that fight, but not against the Executor, Darth Vader’s personal ride.

The damn thing is practically the size of Manhattan, and you can really feel that scale in the game. It makes regular Star Destroys look like Doritos by comparison. It’s swimming with so many turbolaser batteries it can bully an entire Rebel fleet by itself. Don’t even try that A-Wing trick against it—that sort of nonsense only works in the movies. —Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor

Atreides Sonic Tank vs Dolphin

Atreides Sonic Tank (Dune 2)

I couldn’t let a list like this go by without a unit from the absolute goat, Dune 2. It was hard to pick just one, but the House Atreides Sonic Tank is not only an absolute beast of a unit that melts infantry like a pat of butter at the beach, but also represents all of the weirdness and imagination of the source material. —Russell Adderson, Contributor

Dolphin (Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2)

The Dolphin—what a superstar. You could be forgiven for treating these sleek, squeaky critters like nothing more than scouts, with their lack of armour and impressive speed. But you’d be wrong. They are killers.

In a group, Dolphins are unstoppable gods of war, able to deftly take out buildings and vessels with their sonic blasts. They should be feared and respected. Sure, the Soviets think they have naval superiority, but once the Allies start churning out Dolphins, it’s game over, man. —Fraser Brown, Online Editor

Peewee vs Priest

Peewee (Total Annihilation)

In the dystopian future of Total Annihilation’s all-out robotic war, the Peewee always seemed incongruously joyful to me. Though a basic Kbot, he happily marches around the battlefield swinging his arms like a proper soldier, and when the time comes to fight, he lets rip with his arm blasters, machine-gunning an endless torrent of energy balls. Frankly, it looks like fun.

Even the name “Peewee” gives me an image of a cute little blaster bot, which doesn’t exactly fit its role as a warrior in a gruelling 4,000 year war between machine consciousnesses. —Sean Martin, Senior Guides Writer

Priest (Age of Empires)

“Wololo.” I win. —Jody Macgregor, Weekend Editor