Have you played XCOM 2 only at release or with the DLC? I was a huge fan of War of the Chosen. They give your troops more options, certainly.
Eta: and I’d recommend checking out Chimera Squad either way, the changes to initiative make it feel barely like XCOM at all
I would tout the fan mod Heroes V 5.5 [warning link is a very long forum thread, but has links to the relevant DLs and docs in the 1st post], except that the mod maker has made some very questionable decisions along the way (tho he also has had at least a pretense towards game balance and did build a very solid random map generator),
annnd he and another guy who was making a better AI [the one the modmaker uses has some definite issues] had a falling out. [I have suspected that the AI is vaporware, given that he’s been supposedly working on it for over a decade now]
The newest Age of Wonders [on Steam] works pretty well, but it again is let down by an enemy civilization AI which either attacks you [if it perceives you as weak] or ignores you [if it thinks you are strong]. I often would just build a 6 hero stack of doom and basically make it a RPG game.
On the wargaming side we have Matrix Games. Right now I am building a Pacific-only map for Strategic Command World at War, which is a pretty user-friendly title. If you want to control each atom and particle in the world you can give War in the East [new version due next year] or War in the Pacific AE a go.
Now this game looks right up my alley.
Xcom 2 was just okay but Xcom 2 with ‘The Long War’ mod is a completely different game. In addition to being much better it is also much more focused on strategy.
If you like the idea of playing a small guerilla force resisting an seemingly undefeatable enemy you’ll love it. Most of the game is spent sneaking in (you have stealth units), stealing the resources/tech you need, and then running for your lives as the enemy responds with overpowered units which outnumber you 5 to 1. Actual assaults are rare and focused on small wins (and bring high casualties). It still remains the most fun I’ve ever had gaming and my top game of all time.
Still, they aren’t joking when they call it a ‘long war.’ I was well over 200hrs when I finally completed it.
Maybe I just played those games wrong. I would run the game on slow and only pause when something complicated comes up. I haven’t played Stellaris, or any new Paradox game since I’ve been old enough to pay with my own money. That company is just a cash sink.
~Max
The trick is to buy them on sale in a big pack, haha. There’s a lot to buy but there’s also a lot of value there.
And my parents didn’t believe in buying video games, so I didn’t play those games until I was old enough to buy them with my own money, haha.
I loved XCOM 2 as is. Long War is amazing but you kinda need to be a glutton for punishment. It’s pretty amazing but it will kick your ass all over the place. And, as mentioned, it is quite a time investment.
I do wish Long War of the Chosen didn’t get canceled:(
This game is what you get when you ask me “If you could have whatever you want in a computer game, what would it be?”… And then add the ENTIRE list of features I rattle off into one game.
It is on sale now, along with the first, and you want to buy both, so that you have access to Mortal Empires.
Then add in all of the DLC. All together it is expensive but if you could only take one game to a deserted island I’d probably choose this (maybe Civilization V with all DLC but you’d probably get more time out of Warhammer 2).
Yep, and worth every dollar, even when it isn’t on sale.
I can thoroughly recommend Civilization IV: Colonization - Wikipedia.
Yes, it’s an old game (2008), but it’s part of the highly-respected Civilization family. It’s all turn-based (and is available on Steam.)
You choose a map (and other variables), then start as a settler arriving on a new continent.
You need to acquire resources, expand your colony, interact with the natives, trade overseas and gradually head for independence from your parent country.
Once you declare independence, a massive army will gradually appear - and you must defeat it to win.
It has all the fascination of Civilization (‘just one more turn!’), together with a sense of history.
And having made that recommendation, I wanted to play Colonization again! 
So it took me just over 2.5 hours (on medium level and a smallish map) to establish a thriving colony (based around tobacco and cigars), build up my stock of rifles, cannon and horses and finally defeat the King of Spain (who sent a pretty big army 
)
I achieved independence in 1607 (my personal target is 1600, but I hadn’t played the game for a while, so I’m still happy.
)
I guess I’m in the minority here, for me the Civ franchise when down hill after Civ IV with Beyond the Sword. I get that with hexes with only one unit per hex they were trying for a more tactical game, but for me it doesn’t work at this scale (parking a pikeman in a mountain with a catapult behind him?). Cities now have permanent suburbs you can’t change? That and the DLC mods are just naked greed with none of the charm found in the Civfanatics mod community.
For the XCOM fans, Jagged Alliance 2 is available at gog.com for cheap, it may be your thing.
For something slightly different that still fits the OPs needs, A Game of Thrones: The Board Game is a slick adaptation of the popular board game.
Field of Glory II holds up, though I prefer it’s Pike and Shot cousin.
I have to strongly disagree. Maybe it doesn’t make too much sense at scale, but gameplay is SO much better with the hex. In Civ 4, the strategy was simple: build a massive doomstack filled with catapults and melee units. Invade enemy. Suicide your catapults on THEIR doomstack causing tons of collateral damage. Then attack their troops with yours. As long as you amassed a critical mass of catapults, you’d be unbeatable- unless their doomstack got the drop on yours, in which case you’d be the one taking a ton of collateral damage.
Then you send in melee unit after melee unit to clean up.