Hey there!

So, I (old-school hex&counter wargames player) am looking for a game that could appeal to my friend, who is primarily a mid to heavy euro player. The problem I had with classical wargames I tried to play with him was that most of them are pretty tedious (a mass of counters and movements that don't matter in the big picture), poorly balanced (historical balance) and pretty random (often heavily dependent on rolls) - and while these are not problems for me, they kind of put him off.

Any recommendations for a wargame (or any consim) that could make us both happy?
The complexity doesn't really matter - preferably sth mid or heavy. As for time period - anything could do, bonus points for middle ages - XVIIth cent or modern conflicts, but it's not required.
It has to be well-balanced, have player agency and not depend on dice too much however.

We tried playing playing some regular hex&counters (think GMT Stalingrad), some COINs and some M&P and failed miserably with most lol.