You have won … THIS TIME 
Very good overview. I like the way combat works in hard mode, with more mikromanagement.
In the end, we decided that normal mode should be a game from which you can recover from a mistake in a few days, but the same mistake, in hard mode, may start a downwards spiral that may eventually cost you your whole town.
Except when the mistake is due to AI stupidity (like the inability to grasp concepts such as battle formation and fight or flight), then it’s just infuriating.
Honestly I liked when the HP’s were more erratic. It gave you people to protect, making you think about how you play and what you start with. Honestly, all this “balancing” I feel is taking elements out of the game. If everything’s even at the end of the day, what does it matter who has what stats anymore?