
Then you've got added complexity within each layer: the strategic layer is probably about on par with a Civ game, but the tactical layer is way more complicated than something like an XCOM. Start with the fact that you have to learn how both a Civ-style overmap and XCOM-style tactical combat work and how they interact with each other, which is already a tough ask for people who want to focus on one or the other. On top of that, though, it's an incredibly complicated game even compared to others in the genre. Like others have said, 4X is a niche genre to begin with. It's a great single Player game, but you've basically got to be playing something else at the same time if you're playing multiplayer The alternative is to severely limit the number of times you can manually battle, which changes the way the game plays out, you mod your units differently so the ai can handle them without losing guys, you send bigger armies out to fewer targets, you have to almost completely skip that half of the game, so it loses a lot of tactical depth. It wouldn't be so bad if other players could keep moving or start a combat of their own that's unrelated.

And force each other player to wait for atleast 10-15 minutes a turn.with 3 other players that means 30 minutes of waiting or more sometimes. So either you play optimally, fighting things with armies just capable of winning in manual combat, so manual fights happen every time and take a while as they are close to even.

Because everyone else has to wait while your doing your tactical combat.
