Combat Mission: Shock Force 2

this game is old. very old. but its really fun. its like if arma 3 was turned in to an r.t.s game. this game is not for everyone. its based off real combat. you cant just rush in your units. unless you want them all to go home in body bags. the combat is slow and brutal at times. you really need to take your time. urban war is hard. you have to go slow and fight street by street one building and house at a time. not worth the full price but 60% off its worth it. there is really no combat simulation today that comes close to this. its a nice brake from games where you just rush your units in to combat.

Deep tactical simulation of a hypothetical war in Syria.
Not an RTS, though can be played in real time.
If you're serious about your tactical level, company to regiment scale battle simulations, then look no further than this title, and many others by Battlefront.

Safe to say my favorite of the Combat Mission series (I think it's the setting that I like). Requires a little finagling to get the look and feel just right, but it's worth the time investment in the end. Highly recommend watching tutorial videos while you get your hands dirty with this one. Great mod pack here as well:

Modern combat circa 2008 or so that largely features the Stryker IFV in a fictional fight with Syria. It is about mechanized infantry and modern weapon systems. Spotting and using distance weapons (artillery, air strikes) is very important, so a big part of each fight is locating and damaging targets from afar.
It is a somewhat complicated game which you can learn by reading the manual and watching some Youtube vids. What isn't really spoken is that the game has a pace. You need to soften targets and otherwise take your time when you have an advantage. Rushing will almost always result in calamity.
The learning curve for me was 8 hours or so. I am a wargamer, tech savy, and have an infantry background, so this game is a good match for me. The interface is clunky, but it works fine. The graphics are serviceable and utilitarian - not great, but you know what is going on without too much of an issue.
Value for play time? Well, I am in the first campaign and just finished the third mission. There are 22 scenarios in the campaign, so I think it will take me at least 60 and probably more like 85 hours to complete it.

CM is good strategic game that will punish you hard if you sacriface your men..

Urban fights is as in real world nothing you want,, and really hard in this game,, better to bmb buildings

CMSF2 is one of the realistic finest war game i played beside graphic wise, until you discover how to "mod it to your ol liKING, coding with the game program and bypasin without crashing" ;)

Best RTS/sim I've ever played. Should've start playing it earlier.
Pure enjoyment, 0 tilt.
I highly recommended to play it on max difficulty or in multiplayer.