https://www.youtube.com/@warforgametutorialchannel3125
great but dead channel made video 9 years ago to teach people to use the game in a way the game or manual doesn't even bother telling you about. Thanks devs >:(

Manage the AI in SoW seems complex but in reality is very easy after you have understood the mechanism of its logic
4 main concepts to understand
1. Stance (orders)
2. Divisional Strategy
3. Tactics
4. Take Command

Take Command is the easy concept. Every officer and unit has the flag icon to activate/disable the AI, giving the player full control but reducing AI auto reaction. Take command is useful in small brigade level engagements but not at larger scales.

Tactics at larger level is simply positioning your units to more effectively fix and flank the enemy.
Another rule of thumb is to always have a 3 to 1 odds in any fight, always defeat in detail!

When giving out movement orders, on the command map there will be a representation of that officers final position and their units position.

Division Strategy is the logic of the autodeployment of an AI Division officer. IT is triggered when one of the brigades/batteries of a division is engage. the division Ai at this point assigns to all the "no-engaged" brigades a stance and a destination based on one of 60 pre-built schemas, more or less aggressive based on the assigned officers style.

The player can avoid the use of division strategy by selecting the stance of an officer.
Example: to force a brigade to continue along their path or use the default selected formation, select the "Hold to the Last" stance for the division.