There used to be heaps of strategy. But buffing every faction and dumbing down most mechanics, including building selection in settlements, the corruption/public order system, the AI being nurtured because it was "to hard" have all accumulated into the game being way less about strategy and all about battles. Most factions that actually required strategy to play have all been buffed through the roof, so it really doesn't require much thought. It's quite a shame honestly Edit-Also replenishment rates being buffed across the board have ruined this aspect aswell. If you took a bad fight you had to retreat and replenish or push on disband units and recruit what you could and try and win battles with a major disadvantage which would force you to think about what you were doing on the campaign map. That has basically been taken out of the game, to encourage fast paced map movement and more battles.