I don't think it's a good idea to overlook the fact that there is an actual numbers simulated war game you know, and not just MessageMaster with random battles.
I don't. Simply there is a middle ground between complete optimisation based upon the algorithms, and completly being lead by RP. As I have access to the code this is something I am acutely aware of, as I have access to far more information to use in optimisations if I took that route, hardly a even playing field. In the perfect reality the numbers game should match the obvious RP anyway, though I doubt that is currently the case in many situations. BM has always been designed with the idea that numbers, algorithms and spreadsheets should not dominate the game. The problem I think with formations is that an so much is unknown that it is difficult to make any sort of informed choice.
