I think if you are not interested in real time city builders you will be wasting your money and time. As good as the game may look, and as noted above, the Anno series has always been primarily a city builder focused on resource collection and conversion of raw resources into manufactured goods for distribution to your citizens in order to obtain access to higher tier buildings, supplies and goods. There is a very basic layer of combat added into the game to keep up the action while your supply chains are moving, but the combat in my experience is basic, rudimentary and not very satisfying.
However, the city building aspect of the game is highly addictive and enjoyable, but obviously, only so to those players who like that kind of a game.
As far as combat goes, I'd like to see something along the lines of the Cossacks series. The supply chain element for recruiting citizens, and converting resources into weapons, uniforms and ships is all there. Why not expand upon it a little bit and permit the player to transport them to new islands and lands to conquer. Some of the other titles in the series have come close to this, but 1800 has moved away from the more fully featured combat, limiting it to ships only with no ground troops whatsoever.
