I think there is a massive misunderstanding regarding the speed of M&F.
It doesn't have the same rigid turn structure as BM. What runs once an hour is an update to travel and other actions, so that movement and general activity is more smooth and not so focussed on specific times. This is a lesson learned from the BM problem of generals ordering everyone to log in 10 minutes after the turn change.
M&F does have a day cycle of 4 in-game days every real-world day, which is the closest equivalent to BM turns. This is when construction, recruitment and other major data gets updated.
But getting from A to B in M&F takes about the same time as in BM.
No, the problem is people are thinking of different aspect to you. In BM if you check the status of your enemy at the beginning of the turn, little changes until the next. Sure you have things like misdirection and late turn moves, but you know the WORLD won't update till the next turn. In M&F enemy troops can appear within your visible range on any hourly tick, they can arrive and change a battle situation while you are away for 3 hours. For many people that introduces a compulsion to check the game frequently in order to stay on top of what is happening and start a response to enemy movement or other player actions as soon as possible.
This is especially true when coordinating armies. As you say movement is still slow, thus as a "general" or "marshal" you need to know enemy movements as soon as is possible in order to get orders out, have people read the orders and start to follow them in time. I have so far found that just doesn't work and the only way coordinating armies works for me is to ensure that we have the initiative and are forcing the enemy to react to us, not the other way round. Single players running 25-50 characters whom are online 13+ hours a day have a massive advantage here as they can not only spot changing situations quickly, but react to them in force at the same time.
