I play many turn-based strategy games, including chess and Polytopia. Polytopia is a really good game. If you miss Advance Wars on a GBA, you'll probably love it. It combines maneuvering and resource management in a way that, for example, Civ can't do. But, thinking that Polytopia is a more sophisticated or challenging game than chess is nuts. The article goes in to all the details, but it comes down to Polytopia is a pleasant game that is easy to master, like many similar games. I'm very good at it. But I am only slightly competent at chess while expending 10X the brainpower.
The worst thing about Civilizations and its clones is how these games predispose one to think in terms of eternal aggression between states. It's a really bleak game. Where chess is a battle, Civ is a never ending war. The game is over when there's nobody left to fight.