Topic: What would make a Nintendo Wars-like game not a rip-off?

Inspired by the disheartening comments in the Warside announcement article.
I like this genre a lot and it has regrettably very few entries. What's even sadder is that nowadays when an indie dev decides to try making one themselves they get barraged with "rip-off" accusations that you don't see as much in other genres (probably because it's a niche one and Advance Wars is probably the best known entry).
So what would make the game not a rip-off in your eyes? Switching from squares to hexes, like Battle Isle or Battle Worlds: Kronos? A different setting, like WarGroove or Empires Shall Fall? Switching away from pixel art like Tiny Metal or ReBoot camp?

I have a list of what I would like to see in a "spiritual successor" of course:

• Adopt a more modern combined arms doctrine rather than a mix of WW2 and some early Cold War bits. The most outdated thing in Nintendo Wars games is sticking to the Light/Medium/Heavy Tanks when in real life all of those have been rolled into Main Battle Tank class since at least 1960s. It's a weirdly obsolete thing when you look at the game also having jet fighters and combat helicopters. So roll tanks into one, add tracked IFVs that can cross rivers and give the APCs wheels (wheeled APCs are also a post-WW2 adoption) or replace those with supply trucks like Warside (and Super Famicom Wars) did. Assuming fuel/ammo is kept as a mechanic.
• Increase infantry types. That's something Tiny Metal did well and Warside is also doing the same. I liked that in Tiny Metal Lancers and Snipers had less than 10 models (though I'm not sure if I liked that Snipers had only 2), meaning regular Riflemen and Commandos were needed for speedier property capture.
• Unit leveling. That's something from Super Famicom Wars that meant there was incentive to retreat wounded units and heal them instead of just using them as speed bumps against the enemy. It would be even better if the level up came with an upgrade beyond just the stats, like e.g. giving Artillery crew machineguns for some nominal direct fire ability or Infantry a spy drone for looking beyond Fog of War and/or giving a small Luck boost when attacking a drone-targeted unit.
• A mix between Advance Wars and Days of Ruin in CO abilities. What I mean is that COs could have global abilities (like in AW) that gain charge towards a Normal Power but if you put them in a unit (like in Days of Ruin) their ability is limited to an aura but they can charge a Super Power now. Maybe even add a specific Command Vehicle used only by them, although that feels superfluous.
• Unit facing/flanking. Something that Tiny Metal did that I think changed the way the game played from AW quite a bit. Not sure if Coordinated Attacks are all that important to keep as well.
• Faction unique units. Now that's a bit of a sci-fi/fantasy thing, but I was a bit annoyed that WarGroove did not have those and I am curious as how Warside will implement theirs. The trailer showed a "Rhino" tank which pushes enemy units rather than damaging them and can drown land units. I don't know if that's a faction unique unit, but seems out there enough to be one!

So here's my thoughts. I don't want this genre to end up like monster catching games, where Pokemon dominates and seems way too comfortable in their spot while competition fights for scraps. With Nintendo Wars as an IP being barely alive I think there's a lot of space for other games to grow. And who know, maybe the jolt of interest would revive the originals. I'm pretty sure that's what happened with Songs of Conquest and Ubisoft suddenly announcing a new, classic looking HoMM game.

People that complain about games being a ripoff, for I'd say every 9 out of 10 examples, are losers.