Since no patch is coming might as well condemn KOEI for a few things:
1.
Unoptimized UI and the Micromanagement Hell
They're really not taking advantage of the screen real estate, not enough tables when trying to make decisions. The lack of filters for tactics is a big turn off when you want to transfer generals between castles. There's a lot of information buried in there, and the game derive so much from officer ability yet I felt the tedium of organizing a proper officer for 5-6 cities slowly killing me. It's micromanagement hell.
There's a lot of micro in other strategy game like CK2, but the convenience is there. CK2 is also more forgiving on sub-optimal staffing and decisions. Yes, I agree that there are plenty of automation in NA:SOI if I want to relieve the tedium in mid to late game e.g Development can be set to Suggested at some point. So is facility upgrade etc. But one thing you cannot ignore is the castle add-ons as well as army lead. You just cannot compromise if you want to win against superior quality force like Hojo. (God fuck that Clan. Fuck whoever designed and assigned that clan officer and starting point). Throwing a sub optimal officer on a 10k stack can get you murdered vs S-class tier officer of half the size. I tested these many times and noticed tactics that give insane bonuses coupled with a high ATK value = win with lesser loss.
2.
Officer & Unit Quality > Actual Battle Tactics
There are also 2 concerns when you want to resolve conflicts: time and cost. Early game those two seems not an immediate concern but by mid game when you encounter an equal or superior power, prepare for a change of mindset.
You need time because you cannot afford to delay resolutions of conflicts when you are on the offensive. The AI isn't like CK2 where they slowly tumble down to your doorsteps. They are cold, fast, efficient, and will empty multiple garrisons to wear you down and retake what was lost, often these would be lead by the very best of their officers. In short, if you want to take and hold your offensive, you need fast results. But another thing you cannot afford is the cost of achieving that: attrition, unit equipment, supplies and men.
A fast offensive require melee to be effective. If you insist on hitting your opponent with ranged and whittle them down, it's never going to be fast unless you stack the range deck heavily to your favor with a combination of range tactics like Sharpshooter and Enrage. The attrition is lower but kill speed will be reduced compared to melee.
What is fast and somewhat cheap on the cost? Well, go for the high melee bonus tactic. Pierce + Enrage = Fuck them up before you get fucked up. Rarer tactics like Demon Kojima, Heavy Crush, and the legendary Western Ace is also insanely powerful on 1 v 1 encounters that you will want to force this situation every time, you just cannot afford wasting time on 3 v 3 engagements when there are 2-3 hot spots occurring during the battle demanding your constant attention.
This in the north...
This shit in the south...
Anyway, this is when the game starts forcing you to becoming full derp cause you cannot manage both battles at the same time - my solution is to employ the strongest tactic in smaller and smaller engagements to reset the Control gauge per encounter. Sure, Bondbreaker with its friendly fire trigger is insane in mass battles, but your objective when trying to whittle down enemy is not to force a mass battle, but to make sure when mass battle has to happen, it is heavily slanted to your favor so a defeat to the enemy is a decisive one.
Therefore build accordingly and use your best card on the heaviest stack as hunter killer unit.
See a lone reinforcement unit coming? Destroy it.
Even at 2 to 1 odds, a Western Ace can pulverize everything, retreat, get fresh men from nearest garrison and sortie out again. Every destroyed stack is one less problem to deal with, as well as a popularity penalty to the unit's home city, lowering their rate of troop recovery.
If you're facing a 2 unit v 1 odds, consider wiping out one before deciding whether to retreat to reset the Control gauge or try to do a 2 in 1. Never allow the Ace unit to get wiped, cause you want him to retreat to front line cities and immediately sortie out again.
What does the rest of the group do while Char Aznable destroy the Federation mobile suits by the thousands?
They siege castles, create 'hotspots' and allow the ace to continually blow up weaker reinforcements that try to mass on that 'hotspot.' What is a hotspot? An area where the enemy feels you are about to commence an attack and gather troops preemptively.
We're not fighting, we're just chilling across the river. Yet they still think we're up to no good. Try to gauge how many troops can you force the enemy to commit to this stand off.
When this music stops playing, you know the enemy has given up the fight and has to recover.
That's all for this lunch's musing. #fuckhojo