Units aren't destroyed if they lose a battle!

[Minor Annoyance]

Well wild speculation based on tidbits of information is all we have. I'm a veteran of MoO3 message boards, where there were years of speculation based on small bits of information on radical changes, and arguing that each one is not going to ruin the game. What actually ruined the game was that most of the features were half done, so whether the idea was good or bad didn't matter, because it never got done.
At least this is less than a year, and a developer and game series that is unlikely to be forced into releasing an unfinished product.