I've put a lot of time into the Total War series. My favourite is probably Shogun 2. I will say that the combat is quite fun at first but once you learn ranged combat, artillery, and the "sweet spot" it falls apart.

Gets to the point where only defensive battles are any fun at all. Attacking just means you sweet spot your way to a flawless victory.

This exploit seems to be present in every TW game I've played, including Rome 2. It's totally ruined the series for me.