I enjoyed the Total War series a lot! But are you not a fan of the newer civs? And have you ever tried Europa Universalis?
I tend to binge when it comes to gaming. I'll spend 48 hours on a game of Civ or something and then I don't touch it for another 6 months. I think that keeps old games from feeling stale. I tried Civ V when it first came out but didn't like it, I heard that it got a lot better after the expansions and updates, but I don't feel like investing more money into something that I already found disappointing (Same exact story for Total War: Rome II). I've never tried Europa Universalis, but hear good things about it.
Dude, totally the same story with me. I love Civ 5, but I was really disappointed with TW:R2. Apparently the shogun total war is way better but I've honestly don't think I like the mechanics of the game. I'm really interested in EU and other Paradox games, but Civ 5 still has my attention at the moment.