#3 is a good point.

I don't think we have to worry about #1.  Devs have said there will be dragons, rare & very powerful.

Krouv has a valid point. Pay heed to him.

Now, about the Standard Royal Army idea. I admit it is truly an endearing concept explained this way as it offers greater organization and easy-to-follow leads to the player. Yet, this does not completely invalidate the concept of unit design. How come? Explain I must, padawan. See, by creating units you are already assigning status to them, based on the model and weapons/armors. Models and weapons add to the status complexity if you have enough models and enough weapons/armors. Human resources might vary - lowland peasants might be good carrying a sword, highland ones good doing a charge, so on, so forth. Weapons/armors add another mix to the pot - swords have different utilities than, say, a maul and hardly one could affirm a chain-mail offers the same bonus of a full-plate. By the graphics, you could easily visualize and acknowledge each basic strategic bonus given by this triumvirate in your units as a bow is mighty different from a sword. Also, each unit will be given a "division name" making it easier for you to track what are they good for. Seems confusing? Damn sure it is, the ability of the player will be measured on how he can bring the most out his armies with the least number of different units, while still allowing for elite or specialized divisions.

#1: It's their decision, and while I am not happy with it, I accept it. I am one of those guys who like the standard dragons/unicorns/orcs theme with A LOT of magic around (Sword Coast anyone?). The point is - if doesn't fit into the game more, then don't implement it; but be sure that you leave enough power to mod developers.

#2: I've posted already a few proposals about it. I think devs are aware of the fact that the units' stats are quite bare at the moment, but I seriously don't know how much more complexity they will allow. Let's just hope that standard things like: special abilities, initiative, etc. will be in.

#3: While I agree that there has to be some kind of UI card easily displaying all needed info about a unit, I have to say that there should be a kind of a 'fog of war' thingie. That means, you can't just know your opponent's units' stats (on the cloth map) right away. Knowledge is power, thus you should send some scouts/spies to check the details of his army. The other thing I proposed is that during the whole battle, FoW should be active. Of course, after a few units' movements it should be relatively easy to see all his units (and check their detailed stats also), but there should be still an option to hide some archers in the woods. This way the battlefield looks much more interesting and real-life-like.