Recommendations for a city builder with combat (but not entirely combat focused)? Something along the lines of Caesar 3.

So I posted a while ago looking for something to scratch my itch of older RTS games like Caesar 3 or Age of Empires. I was suggested 0 a.d. and I like it, it definitely gives me the AoE vibe, but I realize I need something else that is more focused on building a city/civilization. Something that has combat and can allow me to conquer enemies and/or take over territories, but is more than 50% focused on building your city and growing your economy.

In a similar vein, if there's anything like the Romance of Three Kingdoms series, I might be interested in that as well. I played the series on PS2 and liked it, but haven't played it since.

I don't have a strong opinion on the "setting" of the game, but I'd prefer it to not be entirely modern. Going from Stone Age to Space Age is cool, but being entirely set in the 1900s is not. Does that make sense?

Some games I've looked at:

• Cossacks 3 - Is it too much like AoE/0 a.d.? Too combat focused?
• Tropico series - Is there much/any combat?
• Civ VI and other Civ games - The grid system seems so weird and unappealing, especially for combat. What's better about this series than others?

Any other suggestions are welcome! Thanks!