Silent Storm has Allied and Axis squads with parallel campains and, of course, it's a great game. I'm playing the Axis campaign and my character is a German scout.

As said above, pausing during battles and planning your attack is key. The battles are somewhat strategic for an rpg.

Crafting often produces better weapons than what you kind find or purchase. I found that I did not accumulate a lot of gold during the game, so crafting out of gathered loot and resources helped. Make sure you invest some skill points in the craft weapons and armor skills.

I recommend checking out character builds as it's a fairly complex system. Creating a bad character can really effect the gameplay.

The game engine and gameplay has some similarities to KOTOR.

I enjoyed the game and the story is fun. The ending is odd and a downer - prepare for that, but the new expansion will continue it.

Oh wait, if you love city-building games, why not try Civilization 4? It's the best game I've ever played.r4v3gl0ry

I have to agree that CIV 4 sounds like it's right down your alley. Also, make sure that you get The Longest Journey and Dreamfall as they go together. I think you'll like these adventure games even though you didn't list any adventure games. Great stories with female main characters, but guys enjoyed the games too.

For some reason I want to list Tomb Raider games, but I guess they really are more guy focused despite the female lead. Half the reason we play is to watch Lara run around. I don't know, you may like it. If so, pick up the new Tomb Raider Anniversary - a remake of the original game. TR can get a bit violent but there some fun puzzle type scenarios. I do assume that girl oriented games are generally less violent.

I'll second these games and add:

Max Payne 1 & 2

The Longest Journey/Dreamfall (Dreamfall ending is a letdown though, although it certainly could be redeemed)

KOTOR I (KOTOR II has some gameplay improvements but the story leaves you ultimately "meh")

Second Sight (If you like 3rd person action/adventure, this is a really good game. It has psionics and the story evolves from the characters present and past which fills out the overally storyline)

Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness (Yeah! Go ahead and laugh, but I love this game. I don't think TR is general thought of as having deep stories, but this one had the best and more immersive storyline in the entire series. Plus, I think it's a grossly underrated game)

NOTE: As far as oft mentioned Indigo Prophecy , I must point out the while the story is good for much of the game there's a point in the 2/3 or more into the game where it feels like a huge chunk of the game was chopped out. It just didn't flow well into the final acts. It was like "oh hey, so we're here now". I believe there's a directors cut that may improve on that - don't know. Also, note that some gameplay elements are lacking such as the simple simon action elements which blow. Not a bad game but not great. I will add though that the game itself is very original in gameplay and story. In fact, you could call it revolutionary to a degree. I think these developers are innovative in the adventure genre and I would try out their future games. While I wouldn't go so far as labeling Indigo Prophecy as "action/adventure", it is definitely "adventure +".