How do you go to battle?

[RightDeve]

Upon deciding the overall plan by purchasing the forces first, ofcourse it is more realistic. And we have the feeling of a "sudden" battle where formations in real world are actually encountering. And sure, it's a lot of fun, too.
But again, I think it's perfect in terms of Wargames if applied to campaigns, where you have your core forces experiencing different battles with much same troops.

Or when you and your opponent have agreed only to buy historical forces in a battle, that'll be fun and fair. But if there's nothing agreed upon first, then you're sacrificing a part of your fortune (you won't know that your opponent has bought a force that can cover his perfect plan on a whole; you want a realistic force whilst your opponent want an overwhelming success against you).

That's just my two-cents anyway...
Cheers, RightDeve