I would prefer to see more units available, and more replacements, such that you could afford to take reasonable losses and continue, or at least have the difficulty tuneable for people learning the game mechanics. It's almost as if Mindscape have gone out of their way to make this game hard, when it needn't be so. Having chosen a mission, you need to decide which troops to take along. Unless you've been ambushed you get the chance to deploy your forces before the game enters real-time mode. Of course, you can only see enemies which your troops can see, but scanning the map prior to battle is essential in developing a good strategy.
Battle is the focus of the game.
This, literally, is war. Here I've selected the widescreen view, so no battle map. The arrow icons take you through your units, but this can take valuable time. As it is, getting to the unit you want to when you want to can be a frustrating process. You can choose to micromanage units or, more likely, let the AI do the menial tasks for you.