Menschenfresser here...had to get a new account for stupid reasons.
I haven't read the whole thread so forgive if this have been stated before, but I noticed that several people were harkening back to olden days when war games and strategy games were simple but excellent. Some listed were: Global Conquest, Empire Deluxe, etc. I haven't looked them all up, but check out
www.theunderdogs.org for old abandonware games. I know they have the two I listed. The games don't always work, so be warned, but I do know Empire works. And the web site is often extremely slow, but if you show a little patience, you will come out with some old classics. Most of the games have manuals as well.
Enjoy.