I used to play Squad Leader.
Then came Advanced Squad Leader. This game could benefit from some college courses on rule interpretation and legal arguing.
My favs were Panzer Leader and Wooden Ships, Iron Men way back in the day.
I do PC strategy games now such as the Hearts of Iron, Europa Universialis series and Medieval2: Total War, with the Europa Barbarorum 2 mod.
Wooden Ships, Iron Men was a favorite! Now I have GMT’s Flying Coloros which I find to be a bit better.
I still do Hearts of Iron 3 with the BlackIce mod. I can’t get into HoI 4, too busy on the eyes and a bit cartoonish. ASL was great, and you’re right, the rules were crazy for those games. Frankly, they should have just stopped at Cross of Iron.