So, there was a thread started here earlier about the WWI, and new ideas by Skyguns, and it put a bunch of ideas in my head. instead of hijacking, heres what i came up with.
1) What if, rather than having automated troop movements, why dont we treat them as TGs, where a player can control the movement of the battalion, army, regiment/whatever.
that way, the player would be able to choose the route to whatever would be the objective.
which brings me to my second idea.
2) How about some towns and villages? When one sides army(s) passes through a settlement of some sort, that settlement has been "captured" and may be "re-captured" by an opposing army? same goes for strats. When one is captured by an army, it adds to the output/status of that country's industry, and takes away from the side from which it was lost. this would maybe add a "patrol" element to the strats--making sure they are not lost to the enemy.
last point...
armies controlled by players could "stumble" across trenches (really means capture them). when an enemy takes up position nearby, say, within 5k or so, give the player a small popup in a corner of the screen, saying "the ___regiment/army has entered your controlled territory" it could then direct the player to thhe sort of TG menu option, where the waypoints are set and such things. the player could then choose to either attack, fortify (prepare for attack) rest, or retreat.
HOWEVER
i have no ideas on how the fighting between battle groups might work. So, im putting on my flame retardant suit,

and hoping for ideas.

, All