| There are several concepts here : - Orders can be executed either immediately (you select a unit, tell it to move to another tile, it moves immediately, which also changes the state of your fog of war, or even starts combat), or during turn processing on the server/host (you select a unit, give it an order, but it will only execute it during turn processing). - Play can be either sequential turns (one player after another), or simultaneous turns (everyone at the same time). - Play can be either in real time, or in hotseat / by transferring saves (either to the next player, or the server/host). All of the 6 combinations are in theory possible, though of course some are more common and make more sense than others, and will be more supported than others. For instance various Civilizations support both sequential or simultaneous turns (Later Heroes of Might and Magic even support simultaneous until players meet, then sequential !), and Space Empires 4/5 supports both immediate or delayed orders. Then it gets even more complicated depending on whether the tactical combat happens directly on the strategic map, or is instanced on separate, tactical maps. Some games even have instanced combat where the game becomes an RTS when unit groups meet ! (Like Total War or Sword of the Stars or Space Empires 5.) I have played PBEM with sequential turns and 1 turn per day, though of course these games then tend to limit the number of players. |