WyleCoyote: I love EE 1, especially the unit customization options. I still play it today. I also like RoN strategy with its world map.
I think I tried EE2 years ago but iirc I didn't care for it because there wasn't any unit customization options and it seemed more rush based to me. But maybe I'm thinking of another game.
My question is will I like EE2 and/or EE3?
It's true that EE2 hasn't got that much unit customization (you can only select two EE1-like Civ bonuses); there, you customize civilizations mainly with what researches they have pre-researched, which "group" they belong to and what unique units they have.
However, I don't feel it's forcing the player to rush anything, and if you like RoN, you might still like EE2 as it has a number of things in common (for example, the area-based map and the research tree). I don't remember any world map-mode, though.
Anyway, I'd say check the
demo before buying the game; that way, you may be able to decide for yourself if it's rush-based or not.