Well actually, campaign in Cossacs isn't really the epithome of non-linearity, and it's also often incredibly frustrating as I have learned the hard way. Also, I have learned that OWar is actually a Czech game AFTER I have played trough it for the first time, and I hate Mafia. I can pretty much guarantee you that I don't give a rat's ass about where a game originates from :D

Anyway, when I was talking about technologies, I was talking about their uses - on your first playtrough, you WILL pick the most straightforward approach. However, the game gives you quite a few toys to play around with if you are willing to on following ones. And small parts of the story change based on your decisions, which I really like.

The real advantage that Cossacs has over OWar is ammount and length of it's campaigns. I do not, however, see myself replaying any of them, ever. There are parts of those games that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.