I personally can't stand most strategy-only games. I think the very premise that the CO (player) not only KNOWS what's going on, but can get a bird's eye view of the battle zone completely undermines the realism idea. It would be better in my opinion if the player were stuck to a Command APC/Tank/foxhole. and forced to use a map that could only relay the last radio position would be best. No more of this RTS map
You can,no one is forcing the player to use birds eye view.
Lock the camera on the commander and only move your units on the 2D map not the 3D map.
I've done this a few times,sometimes it gets boring though because you hear the action and get the reports of enemy contact and after about 15 minutes of this you can't stop yourself from taking the camera and seeing whats going on.
It sounds good from a realistic stand point,but from a game perspective it gets boring especially if the commander isn't seeing any action himself.Not being able to lift the camera as an option and look around the whole battlefield is what I think killed SABOW.
I personally like to give the orders every 10-15 minutes and sit back from a birds eye view and watch all the action unfold than zoom into where the major fire fights are taking place.
Luckily there is an option in this game where the player can choose which ever way He wants to enjoy the game according to his own personal preference.
Pure realism doesn't always equate to fun and entertainment.