If you want a change of pace I recommend Age of Wonders:Shadow Magic. The sequel plays very similar to Elemental but unfortunately less units. It is an older game but one that got me into 4x rpg games.
Wow, I haven't played Age of Wonders in years. Totally forgot about that game. Never got AoW II or Shadow Magic, though.
The AoW games are no longer produced, and you can only find them as used games. However, a news notice dated August 4, on the Triumph Studios website, said the AoW series will be coming soon as a digital release. No release date was given, and no idea if they'll be on Good Old Games, or packaged for GamersGate, Impulse, Steam, etc.