I always did feel that it was me and not the game, and you proved it here. I pretty much do Rambo through most battles myself, and it's because I'm used to this being true of most games:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...essUsefulSpell
Come to think of it, the Ice Orb has done me some good in distracting my opponents in the past. I really didn't think of using those strategies very much; I feel really stupid now that I know it actually works.
This is my first time playing this game, and my first time playing a game in this exact genre (as I said before, Disciples is close, but differs in key areas like combat).
Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll check back here, but next time I go into the game I'll try to take this stuff into account.
UPDATE: I just replaced my Swordsmen and Horsemen with Lake Fairies and Dryads. I was on my way to getting Sprites and the Dragons you mentioned (neither of which I could find yet), when I was caught by surprise by a tough enemy. At first I was going to load it because I wasn't ready to fight anything, but I decided to try new tactics. I made it through with no losses! I filled the field with Thorns and the Ice Orb, and they never got to me. The only thing I would have done different next time is focus a bit more on their ranged guys, which caused me to have to use a lot of Resurrections.
UPDATE 2: Found the dragons. Right now I'm still experimenting with different combinations, but using thorns, phantoms, and ice orbs as distractions has already saved me a lot.