How does this overhaul address the effectively Lanchesterian nature of most sci-fi 4x ground combat? So far I'm sceptical of how these changes will shift away from the mostly arithmetic formula of ground combat in these games where whoever has more stuff always wins. Even with cute things like unit counters, aircraft, and the enhanced defenders advantage, it still seems like it'll be... well, almost the same as VB6 in practice.
... Only now, with the terrain changes, it looks like it'll be harder for me to cut down most of the time and resources I'd waste trying to fight a setpiece battle. Can I still just bring a minimal army and make up the difference with orbital bombardment like in VB6, or are we gonna be more or less forced down the (frankly for me, un-fun) attrition road no matter what?