Total War kicks ass.
Rome is a classic, and Empire and Medieval II are almost as good. Rome II is also a lot better than the hate it gets, it's underrated, but it's still a bit more restricted than the older games. Also played Napoleon, but not as much. The smaller scale drove me back to Empire.
Besides Total War I think the only other turn-based strategy series I've played is Fire Emblem, but those kinds of games are totally on the opposite side of the genre spectrum and are really nothing alike.







