Arstal, so you means if I order my unit to march East 10 hexes, it can end up going 8 hexes becauses it bump into a roaming monster Griffin stack at the 9th hex that happens to travel west there? 

So on the strategic map, the player draw Red arrows to indicate how the unit should travels.  But he never knows exactly where the unit stops until 'end turn' button is pressed.  On Turn 2, I can order to attack the Griffin stack and the actual combat happens only after everyone press 'end turn' button.  The exact location of the fight is unknown because the Griffin stack will move away but most likely I can catch up to them UNLESS they have flown to the lake nearby already.

This is a very refreshing way! It'll make the game less predictable.  Has any other game use this kind of Order system?

Unlimited actions in a limited scope during other players' turns? That has possibilities I think and I do believe that some where Brad said Elemental would have simultaneous continuos turns similar to the corporate machine which is in turn similar to the political machine. 

Darkodinplus, what exactly did Brad said "Elemental would have simultaneous continuous turns similar to the corporate machine"?  It'll be great to get some idea from their inspiration/direction.

ubernaught, I never played HOMM5 extensively.  What is the reason why their simultaneous turn is half-hearted?  For MP computer games, dividing a turn into smaller churn probably won't work, as there are even more opportunities to wait.

I really want to play a fantasy TBS MP game in real time; but just like huge majority of people, they don't have the patience due to non-perfect implementation.  EWOM will be groundbreaking, if devs find a way to make STBS actually work well for more people to play.  (Substituting real player with AI when a player left is already a very good solution.)

As far as I know, AOW:SM has an OK implementation.  However, I avoid playing that after a few tries with friends.  For example, without ZOC, my friend can easily bypass my defense.  Also, tactical combats (TC) takes too long & or too often; while Auto Resolve is too erratic for my taste.

The time consuming TC should only be done when needed. For example, before the game start (either Multi/Single Play), players will need to pick/agree to ONE of the following choices:

1) Always TC.

2) No TC, always Auto Resolve

3) Always Auto Resolve first.  However, if my stack lost over 30% HP (or whatever % agreed be4 the game starts), start the Tactical Combat.

4) Decide if always Auto Resolve battles against roaming monsters or not.

"A % HP lost expected" should be shown automatically, whenever I hover my mouse pointer over enemy stack. It can be determine by running AI AutoResolve once behind the scene or use relative stack strength to calculate.

If STBS has to be done well for you to play more MP in real time, what kind of features are needed?  Or do you want the above features I've hoped for?

Well, am I setting a bar too high?!  simultaneous turn is sure harder to program, maybe devs don't want to be groundbreaking in this regard.

However, without simultaneous turn, I don't believe anyone will be really playing TBS on-line.