I take that back then... if they are so hands on, then they obviously approved everything we see....including 'Santa's Reindeer' in the frozen waste screenshot.
Ok, now you're complaining that there are reindeer?!
You DO know that reindeer have been around a lot longer than 'Santa's Reindeer,' right? And reindeer happen to look a lot like 'Santa's Reindeer' (or is it the other way around) because, well, "Santa's Reindeer" are reindeer! People even eat reindeer all the time in cold climates (I've even tried it - it's hard to tell what makes it bad, the meat or the cooking). What I find appalling is that there are trees! TREES! What kind of serious fantasy game has trees?! That's the stuff of fairy tales!
/Sarcasm... Really, now you're just being silly. I mean, if the reindeer had a bright red nose and was pulling a sleigh you'd have a point. But no. Seriously, there is nothing more fairy tale about reindeer than there is about horses, or fish, or ostriches. You are basically saying that because reindeer have been used in one prominent fairy tale type myth, that they can't be used in any other way? That's just being closed minded and unimaginative.
Edit: I was so overwhelmed by the ridiculousness of that statement that I completely forgot to write the rest of my post:
Thanks for the last Screenshot of the battle scene... that does look interesting, though I am wondering whether the battles now will become something similar to the chess match on the Millennium Falcon. Moving forces in a chess like manner, for them to fight it out when paths cross...
I really hope the devs will clear this matter up soon. For one, they haven't really explained what "continuos time turns" means, and at least one dev has remarked that they didn't intend to release that screenshot with the grid, because it was basically just a test and doesn't accurately represent what the battles will be like. I really hope that's true; they've said they want battles to include and show thousands of individual soldiers, and I don't see how that can be done if they stick with what's shown in that screenie.