Total War series pc games, best rts???

Hi guys…and girls(???)…

I have (after days of playing around with graphics settings and various other items to get the game to play well), become addicted to Napoleon TW. Having played Rome, Medi 2(can’t spell Medievil…or whatwever lol) and Empire I can happily say that in my own opinion, it’s bloody brilliant :D. As I said, this opinion only comes after days tinkering with command prompts to boost video memory and playing with the game settings, however I have found this has been time well spent.

Question is, are there any other RTS games concentrating on similar eras which the same gameplay or does the Total War series dominate the genre?

I know there are other RTS games such as American Conquest (I think that’s what it was called) and such but none measure up in terms of graphic detail and overall fun…or is there such a game?

Have not tried Shogun 2 yet as have heard many many many bad things…any opinions?

Thanks in advance…