Age of Empires:
Perhaps the most well known strategy game based on history is Age of Empires. The game is set in the Middle Ages, as you play with the various kingdoms and empires that were in the era, the campaigns encompass a historical figure the likes of Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, Richard Lionheart etc. as they began their journeys that cemented their place in history. Strategic and demanding calculation, you begin with a town square in the beginning of antiquity with only a handful of farmers to start your kingdom, building and raising an army, you begin humbly before conquering all, winning an economic based victory, or perhaps researching toward the Late Middle Ages technologies.
Rise of Nations:
Similar like Age of Empires, Rise of Nations is a strategy game that begins with you starting your game from the earliest written sources of history, or the early stone age, progressing from humble gatherers and hunters toward reaching the modern age of technology. Its campaign begins in various important time periods of history, fighting in battles of the 100 Years War, Ottoman Invasion of Europe, World War II etc. you begin in the capital city of an kingdom or empire, beginning their journey from the moment they were founded toward conclusion of bending the entire globe under your rule.
Total War:
Total War began their legendary historic video game series with the shogunate era of Medieval Japan. Simple graphics at first, focusing mostly on a table top campaign by selecting a number of clans leading as their daimyo toward becoming a shogun, to recent titles like Rome II with stunning graphics and even more detailed strategic gameplay. You lead your forces as chess figures around the time period and place they took in, with the capability of directly controlling and seeing the battle and carnage from a bird’s eye view, commanding them to a crushing victory or devastating defeat.
Commandos:
Although set in a fantasy setting based on movie titles, the Commandos series follow an elite order of commandos from various backgrounds carrying out top secret missions versus the Axis in World War II. Commanding from sort of a birds eye view, you control each commando that are assigned throughout the various missions, performing stealth kills, blowing up dams or train tracks, and causing all sorts of damage to the Axis on various continents and throughout the whole war. Noted for its difficulty, it was a true pleasure to complete each mission, let alone a campaign.
Assassins Creed:
A fantasy game in which you control the various ancestors memories of Desmond Miles, as they are of the Order of Assassins throughout various periods in history battling out the Order of Templars vying for power by controlling ancient artifacts with religious backgrounds. You control an assassin ancestor of Desmond in third person, performing parkour in various historical depictions of cities, carrying out assassinations based off of historical people of importance, all the while fighting Templars both in the simulated reality depicting the ancestors’ memories or fighting them in the real time as Desmond Miles.
Crusader Kings:
The most detailed, the most hardest, and the most bloated strategic game of all time for now is Crusader Kings II. Starting off from either the age of Charlemagne or the appearance of Vikings, you essentially play a dynasty simulator where you can pick from renowned historic leaders like Charlemagne, El Cid, Harald Hardrada etc. or perhaps a lesser known leader of a historical castle, as you begin your journey of solidifying your control over the territory under your law, failing miserably doing so and getting backstabbed even by your very own heirs to the throne, raising levies to march forth on the table top map of the Old World and conquer, or perhaps dabbling in mysticism and consolidating alliances through diplomacy based on that practice alone, the game can be played with various downright silly scenarios as the player wishes, only to never actually win a game even after spending almost 150+ real life hours in a single campaign.
Hearts of Iron:
Published and made by the same company alongside Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron is yet another strategy game based on World War II. You control one of the factions from either the Allies or Axis, commanding the army be it as General Patton, Josip Broz Tito, Erwin Rommel etc. as you essentially reenact the time period of the second World War or perhaps going your own way and making the Allies the bad guys or the Axis the good guys, it’s totally up to you.
Europa Universalis:
Beginning in the Late Medieval Ages and playing all the way to the Early Modern Ages, you control a kingdom or empire in the historical time as you want it, diplomacy, trade, governance or warfare, reenacting history or creating your own one, it is again one of the most detailed and challenging games the strategy world has known.
Civilization:
The most well known hexagonal strategy game is the Civilization series. You control a historic leader from anywhere around the world commanding their faction via diplomacy, trade or warfare against other players set on maps created artificially to represent a type of biome or landmass. From lesser known leaders like Queen Tomyris to nuclear loving Mahatma Ghandi, the player can chose a plethora of civilizations to play with or without their strengths to achieve victory in various ways against the other players during the play session.
Company of Heroes:
A strategy game where you control either the Allies or Axis as they waged war in World War II, you essentially reenact various campaigns and battles in the historical time period, controlling squads, companies, battalions or an entire army leading them in various skirmishes against their foe as their either attacked or defended territories.