Have you guys played around with adding NPC's to strat battles(last i played there were none, bu that was a year ago)? There are many ways I am thinking you could try it. The most obvious would be to have a general for each team, and they can command small-large squad of NPCs to add another element to the battle. This would allow players to use the NPC as fodder or even tactically as their own little force. If you kill the general, they lose the ability to command the NPCs. I would have to suggest melee troops only, we have all experienced Rhodok sharpshooters headshots, no fun. Possibly even give the general a calvary squad, to have an actual calv unit causing havoc.
Another way is you have x amount of troops to divide up how ever you see fit. You could assign 2 per player, or 10 per person you fully trust, or whatever. Even having 1 NPC per player would give another layer of combat. Some people would simply use them as fodder and some people could try to use them as an effective duo. People could coordinate their NPC attacks. I think it would add a level of strategy.