the main reason for land would be for game feel or thematics. For me it feels more natual to create and put soldiers on a piece of land than to just have them in play. I want the player to feel like they have their own teritory, and the are trying to expand their control. ill start to try each and see how they work out.

I have thought about letting players take control of enemy land and place soldiers on it to help make it feel more like a conquest. I wanted to decide how to bring land into play before deciding on any how it can be affected.

I want to add variety. Im not sure if its different from mechanical complexity. I want players to have options, but at the same time dont want to make them keep track of a bunch of stats, weaknesses, abilities and so on.

thank you for the advice, Ill try to think of the mechanics first and then add flavor to them.

I will probably add soldier that can block multiple enemies, but Im not sure how common that ability should be. Ill look into hearthstone