Just as another datapoint: no entrenched for me.
That's what let Padmé squads take on the faster NS squads. Obviously I can take out NS squads just fine with a GL, but it's annoying to lose this option.
By taking away the option to use multiple squads, we're no longer using lots of different teams to progress. It's actually LESS of a roster depth test than it was before. You advance with your nuke-ready squads (usually LS GLs to get the 3-stars for survivability) and then go back to the beginning of the sector with squads custom-crafted to get the feats.
It's an energy tax, and it's boring as heck, but it's not hard. It's not creative. Because of the outrageous speeds, there are no normal counters that work (when the NS all get a turn before your Imps move and you end up with 3 stunned toons and Veers dead, it's not like you can come back from that... and sure, there was a bit of luck in that my tenacity wasn't bad and maybe I could have resisted, and they didn't have to gang up on Veers, and they didn't have to stun Gideon with the first shot, but if it's a coin flip as to whether you win or not, that's just another way to have an energy tax.
And so it's the boring, predictable progression with OP squads for progress, other squads attacking a favorable enemy somewhere in the first 4 nodes for feats, since, repeat.
I don't know how many times I can say it CG: your Conquest isn't fun. This is a game. Games are supposed to be FUN.