I am going to have a lot more to write about when I get my hands on the actual tactical system, but let me just say this is one of the primary reasons I bought the game.

I love good tactical systems. And I think Frogboy says he hates them, (Maybe I just thought I read that somewhere) which makes me a little worried the tactical battle system might not get as much love as the other features of the game.

So let me just offer a few ideas that may help from my previous experience with tactical battles.

Here are the common errors (in my oppinion) of tactical battle:
1)Standing your troops at the distance where your enemy can move just in range so you always get the first strike against the computer. I always find that a glaring fault in most tactical battle systems, to the point that if I am playing against a human we just stand our units at the perfect distance from one another and just wait till the other moves, because that gives the waiting player the first strike. Thus it is a stalemate of sorts. There is no incentive to rush and give your opponent the first strike.

2) No strategy involved, simply mathematical calculations. Sure I have a lot of spells, but there is only one optimal spell or action in this specific situation.

3) One strategy that is better than every other one. I like games where you can use more than one strategy and make other players change their strategy.

4) No gamble. I don't like strategy games where a brash move doesn't present a gamble. Let me explain, I like my strategy games to have you know the general outcome but not so clear cut that you feel that battles are more of an accounting excersise than strategy.

Possible suggestions (Note I haven't even played the tactical system yet so who knows if these apply):
1)Claimable territory rewards. This could be something like upperground, or such. This gives incentive to the player to more forward quickly to try to get a strategic advantage, despite maybe not getting the first strike advantage of waiting for the other player to move into range.

2)Besides randomly checking to see if a unit hits or not, and what the damage is. Add slight variability from turn to turn on things such as movement. That way players can't calculate exactly how far they or their opponents can move. They may be able to guesstimate, but never to the point of exact precission. So for example a unit has a base move of 3 but from turn to turn it might range from 2-5 with 3 being the most common and 2 or 5 being the least common and 4 happening occasionally.

3)Initiative rolls. Every turn units make a roll and add a speed modifier. Those with good rolls go first, those with bad rolls go last. Thus teams don't all move at once on the same turn, but rather units turns are staggered.

4) Fog of war? Okay so your scouts know what you are about to fight, but when battle begins you don't know how they are forming ranks or the like. 

Just some thoughts, but I will have more to say when I see the actual system. Frankly speaking, I don't want to have to skip battles unless it is 25 knights vs 2 spiders. Evenly matched battles should be left to skill and not accounting in my oppinion.