I'm an INTJ Meyers-Briggs, or "Mastermind", and proud of it. I played Rise of Nations from 10-13, and could beat it on "medium" easily, as wells as "tough". Rise of Nations is considered a harder PC strategy game to play. I've played many more and mastered a couple of Age of Empires games, Strong Hold Crusader games, and have loved studying military history and strategy. I'm in the high IQ range (133-150). My teacher in 4th grade bought me a several hundrend page book on World War II battles, worth a couple hundrend dollars, about tactics. I'm a WWII master really, history and tactic wise. Recently, I played chess against a high school chess champion who's played in national scholastic tournaments, and even international players (No big or minnor tittles though). I took his queen, a rook, a bishop and a knight, with a loss of a rook and another power piece. He started making a slight comeback, and the game ended, with me still winning. To be fair though I've lost many games to him, and the win-loss ration is about break even. I have many problems that need to be worked, but I'd though I'd flant some postive things. Is this impressive or remarkable? What would be a good strategy game for me to buy?
Rome Total War 2. The campaign map is nice, but the campaign ai is bs. However, the battles still require strategy, and the online battles really challenge your stategic abilities. If you're big on WW2, buy Axis and Allies. It's a board game. They have a 'world' version, which is two theater games combined, to make what I think is a 7'x3' map. That is the best test of strategic thinking I've seen in any game. To the last bit, about impressive or remarkable: it's actually neither. I also tested in the high 130s as a child, but I can tell you it doesn't really mean diddly. I don't find Chess to be a strategy game, but not any real measure of strategic thinking. "Mastering" AOE etc. is really about pointing and clicking quickly, or 'mastering' the hot keys. That isn't a test of strategic ability. And that you're still talking about what someone did for you in the fourth grade suggests that you're still pretty young. I don't mean this to be mean, but in all honesty, if you're good at something be humble. There's no need to try to drum yourself up, those that do rarely can back it up. Beating your own drum is more about the image you desire than about actuality. But, to answer your main q, I'd strongly suggest getting an Axis and Allies board game, and getting Rome Total War 2. Both have real strategic and tactical elements, and you're pitting yourself against another person. In both, it's more about strategy than any kind of point and click or 'mastering' of the hot keys.
If you like A&A, you should check out this site: http://triplea.sourceforge.net/mywiki It is an excellent open source version of A&A (far better than the commercial releases) and it's flexible game engine has been used for numerous versions of the game, including an excellent WWI variant. Note I have no affiliation with the game or website.
