Maybe I am the only one in here, but I do not see the current system to be so dramatically bad.
Let's be straight: if in a war one side overwhelms the other in term of total cs, there is little one can do to turn the tide. And anyway I do not think what is being discussed here points in the direction of giving a chance to smaller realms or generically the weaker side of a war to increase their chance of survival, is that right?
In the opposite scenario where both sides field a similar or equal cs, and are led by people who know what they are doing, I think the game already allows for some non-trivial manoeuvres which in general I believe yield way better results than just amassing nobles and throw them at the other blob.
In short: I fail to see the motivation for this discussion. Spreading out to loot is already very effective. Especially when one aims for the right regions with the right units.
In a battle superior numbers/training/skill will generally prevail, though it is no certainty. In a war numbers are a smaller part of the big picture. It shouldn't be a case that you need similar CS to be competitive, strategy should play a much bigger part then it currently does.
Larger force + better/equal leadership should generally lead to a win. Right now the larger force doesn't need to be particularly well led, just not totally incompetent.
