I think GC has more replayability.

If you get GC don't forget to get the expansion Twilight of the Arnor, it adds alot to the game.

Don't worry about Entrenchments bugs, its still in beta.

You will only be able to get Entrenchment via download until all three mini expantions are complete, whenever that is.

Yeah, the lionshare of the bug issues aren't from the final release.

As far as the games go, that all depends on you.  Do you like TBS, single player only, better than RTS with the option of multiplayer?  That's the main question you need to ask yourself.  If it's one over the other to any degree, you're wasting your time trying to decide.  They're both excellent representations of what they do, but they are not two games of the same mold.

As for replayability, GC2 stock has massive potential, Sins not so much.  Sins however has at least two mods that are sure to make a substantial impact on that, and a third is attempting a running composition of content from across multiple mods that will either make the engine cry uncle, or far surpass GC2 in the replayability front.  I say at least two because the Starwars and Startrek groups have already put out fairly functional versions that are more than just a mesh change and look to be sticking it out to the end.

Assuming they all come to fruition, you have Startrek, Starwars, Battlefleet Gothic, Stargate, Dawn of Victory, Homeworld, Battlestar Galactica...  Some of them already drastically change game play, something not managed by the GC2 mods I checked out.  The BFG proof of concept mod doesn't even resemble standard game play and they hadn't done squat with it yet.  The Startrek mod is also all but void of content, just a basic model and stat change at this point, and still can't be played like the standard game, if less radical a change than BFG requires.

With GC2, I stopped bothering with the mods because none of them were doing anything.  You had different ships and maybe a new research tree, but with the stock setup I can make the ships look just about any way I want too.  Things might have changed by now, but I'm not that motivated.

I'm very impartial to GC2.  Crappy economy model, very silly game balance, and not too elegant colony management.

Sins on the other hand, masterpiece.  Just about everything in this game makes sense.  The economy is very good!  Though you don't design ships, ships provided to you have very defined roles, and fulfil them well.

Wouldn't be a Beta if there wasn't bugs.

Both games are fantastic and again it comes down to what you are looking for right now.  RTS or TBS.  RTS, go Sins...TBS, go GC2.  Both have their advantages and both are great games in their own rights.

And Sins is getting better and better as time goes on.  Entrenchment whould be live around Feb 11, and they are already working on the 2nd micro-expansion.

I love both games and own both games as well.  When the time is right for you, I would definitely look into purchasing both of them.

Spydyr and Ceylin this is a good point you raised on downloading now and I have DSL. But here is a good question and has happened to me in the past with a text sim boxing game I have. Say Windoze decides to take a snooze break and a hard drive with it. Or I get tired of Vista and go to 7. Now I know the license is embedded in a file on the computer and if that gets damaged or corrupt, the game is useless until you get the license to reacquire it which can take a day or so. Now If I had the CD no biggie but this is why I am leaning towards getting a hard copy. Now the problem with hard copy (at leats for me) is that these "game stores" are primarly focusing on redx360 and psnoozer 3 which I have no interest in in either one. So that is why I am looking closer at downloads (and the price is not a fact for here d/l is $44 and store bought with tax is $42) but still a little skiddish of it because of the licensing garbage with it.

That's not how it works with Impulse, mavericka. The serial is tied to your account you've created on Impulse. So you could install the game on one computer, then have the computer stolen, buy another computer, login to Impulse and redownload the game with all updates available.

Mavericka what was said above is correct. Impulse registers your keys to an email address on Stardock's servers when you register a game. The email is the one you use when you create the account (so be sure it's an account you'll probably keep forever).

It appears you've made your decision but I thought I'd share my opinion as I own and love both games.

GalCiv will give you more of that Civilizations feel. With a huge tech tree that is unique to each race (if you get the expansions). You'll have to micromanage your empire like you would with Civ, through developing planets, ajdusting taxes, and what they're spend on with sliders. Gal Civ also has a great diplomacy aspect of the game, as it is almost identicle to Civilization, but with its own features as well. I love creating my own ship designs and wreaking havoc on other empires that dare screw with me.

If you love turn based strats like Civ then GalCiv is a natural fit and an awesome game. It has a large learning curve, and the one thing it fails to match Civ on quality qise is the documentation. I hope in GalCiv3 they have a detailed GalCivopedia similar to what Civilizations has.

Now for Sins of a Solar Empire. If you don't get this now you should definitely get it when ever you can, or later this year when we have some microexpensions out.

Sins of a Solar Empire is quite a unique and awesome game. It is as close to a real time interstellar Civ game as you'll ever get. It is my favorite RTS to date, which was previously StarCraft (with homeworld as a second. Loved the Dune series, Red alert, Dawn of War, etc). This game has a lot of replayability if you like the gameplay. For example Civ4 doesn't really have a campaign but it's still awesome because of the massive random maps that make the game different every time. Sins also comes with a pretty decent map editor that you can jump right in and create some interesting star systems.

Also the Entrenchment beta is already pretty promising. With mines, star bases, and other defensive technologies and structures, you can really make strategic fortification of your empire to a whole new level.

I can't say either game is better than the other. They both do what they try to do extremely well to an almost flawless degree. Sins is winning Strategy game of the year, and the Gal Civ expansions were both expansions of the year, beating most recently Lich King, and before that the Civ 4 expansion.

You have to keep in mind that they've done a lot of rebalancing on some of the issues you've talked about since launch (and well after the review versions). The Vasari jump gates only work in systems they already control so you can't jump right in to someone's system. If mines are laid out correctly they are extremely useful in making it a pain for large fleets to move. If they are set right you can turn what would be a massive loss into a victory if someone loses half their fleet to a well placed mine field. Of course there are ways to get around everything, but starbases and mines, in combination with phase inhibitors and other defensive abilities, you can now make very good use of strategic defense. If you heavily fortify a choking point or 2 you can make it very difficult (in my experience) for someone to move any where in your empire. Unless of course you're totally inferior with tech and fleet/logistic numbers.

If that's the case then they need to make an option to turn off super weapons

I guess I didn't know that though, because most games I play don't come to super weapons. However I would imagine a larger game would come to that.

Vas has been my favorite race since launch, and I think it is kind of OP. Are there any balances with the other super weapons though>

there were some small things done, but nothing like the Kos...you would need to talk with someone that plays those races and ask them the exacts though.