what I don't really know currently is what era to choose for a historical strategy game. there are so many good games available from medieval and ancient times, covering nearly all the most interesting and well-known times (I think users like to play in an era they like and know a bit). I like when turn based building and management is combined with turn-based or real-time battles/sieges.

another difficult aspect is the scale of the game: deal with management of a town/castle, or a few of them, with limited army size, what is easier to present as a battle, or deal with empire building where huge armies are fighting, but in this case a downscaling factor of 100 could be disappointing (600 units represent 60000 real soldiers). currently I cannot handle effectively more than 1000-1200 units in real-time (most of them should be infantry for easier/faster control), and turn based battles are getting unpopular.

what I thought of, and not covered well, are the very early empires (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Hittite empire) and city states (Sumerian, Phoenician, Greek), and the early medieval times (Germanic kingdoms, Byzantine, the Caliphate). the less discovered eras have the advantage of freedom in several game aspects, without converting it into a fantasy game.

so, any idea welcome