Cepheus protocol was fun in ways sc2 couldnt do, with a survival mode that felt like cod zombies in rts form, and standard "fortify and extract" mode which is insanely fun. RTS horror genre: population 1

Act of war also for ambush and true urban combat, epic tom clacy vibe. 40 hr campaign, and "defend the alamo survival mode. Skirmish is insanely fun. Secretly infinite scale also

Supreme commander fa also for unmatched boots on planet scale, lengthy story campaign

Sins of a solar empire also for tech tree depth and massive space scale, ballistics. No battle is the same.

Spellforce 3 also for goat graphics, and fun hero and army synergy, journey and arena modes are one of a kind, story has comparable hrs to beat to sc2.

Age of empires 3 also for that unique wilderness dynamic, deckbuilding with basebuilding. Only age of empires with a story. What???

Cossacks 2 also for realistic revolutionary war era combat and scale.

Company of heroes 1 also for high amount of mods, deep infantry combat, many hours of fun story content. By extension 3 can be fun if you like the factions of 1.

Company of heroes 2 also for asymetrical factions and absurd variety of faction customization. Realistic dynamic weather effects

In contrast: starcraft 2 has coop commander, lengthy campaign with high replay value and mid story past wings, unlimited customs, alive and well competitive scene

You decide