TBS-Games with less Battle focus

[Radoras]

Hello guys, wanted to ask for 1 or 2 suggestions to TBS/ Global strategy games

Tried out different stuff, like the total war series, warlock: Master of The Arcane, Crusader Kings 2, Endless Space, Age of Wonders III, Might and Magic Heroes V, Eador: Masters of the Broken Worl and Sword of the Stars II, but still nothing that fully caught me....

What bores me most in some of the above mentioned games is that, after a relatively short time, the game focus shifts from exploration, founding new cities/ outposts and researching technologies to nearly battle only.

e. g. it was very enjoying for me in Endless Space, Warlock or SotS II to explore the Universe with its different inhabitants, threats, grand menaces in SotS II (for people who don`t know it: for example armadas of self-reproducing AI-led swarms of automatic ships that "infest" more and more systems and can be at least as threatening as other players because of their huge numbers") and adapting my strategies to the surroundings and the conditions I find near my starting point.

But it starts getting boring most of the time as soon as I meet other factions, player or AI driven...

In one game, I found a planet full of primitive natives I could have explored...if I didn't have to put all my resources and attention to the invading enemy...

End of the story: no exploration, surprises or anything for the rest of the game, instead just repetitive build fleet ---> attack ---> conquer ---> build bigger fleed ---> conquer more ---> End of game.

Liked Warlock and Eador, because for a while you of couse had to fight, but against gargoyles, independent cities and stuff like that; enemies that were combined with the exploration-aspect...but warlock isn't THAT complex, so not much to explore - except for new creep camps - even if you didn't have to go on a full scale war with every oponent on the map, thus ending the game.

The latter had the same problem as SotS II; when you finally found an enemy, he would just attack you, and the exploration aspect didn't give you so much advantage or benefits that it was a working strategy to keep scouting and developing if you could instead just destroy the already habitable enemy areas, which was more easy and rewarding strategy-wise.

The rest of the games I mentioned, and the ones I forgot to mention, had the same problems; either no real depths out of the combat area or it was just a sightseeing tour without any mentionable impact on the game.

Any ideas for a strategy/ tactical game I could try with a bit more options than gathering resources for units and throw them into the fight?

Greetings

Radoras

[Cathulhu]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/12/24/best-pc-game-2014-endless-legend/
Take a look at this 4X game, from the same guys that made Endless Space.

[Radoras]

thanks for the quick reply :)

Thought about getting it...my present Computer can't run it, but new quadcore incoming^^

only thing that worries me is the a bit uncontrollable battle you encounter, a little weakness of Endless Space, but if the rest is fine that won't bother me ;)