“rarely does a game actually reward players for actually employing a particularly complex strategy with few units of low power agains…”

I think that the author is mistaking tactics for strategy here, which is common and shouldn’t invalidate his larger point. (RTS games do have a lot of strategy – high level planning, build orders, force composition – but negligible tactics – management of units, attack vectors, use of terrain).

Complex tactics take time and time is the nth resource of real time strategy. RTS is a genre geared to quick plays, no pausing and lots of divided attention.

Not that there aren’t games that do have serious tactical challenges. Kohan is full of tactical considerations that don’t take a lot of time. Some RTS are trying to make siege warfare and fortifications more useful, but run into the turtle barrier.

How much strategy is in your average RTS?
This interesting History of Real Time Strategy makes the observation:
… rarely does a game actually reward players for actually employing a particularly complex strategy with few units of low power agains…