CA doesn't make that kind of concession on the land combat side of the game. Why should they do it differently for naval combat? On land, we have to learn historical tactics and use of historical units to get the most out of the game... not just group-selecting all your units and throwing them at the enemy.
Actually they do. No one had to use a phallax to win rome total war, I know cause I never did. Just as no one had to use advanced strategies to win battles in MTW 2. You had the choice to use them, and using them made the battle easier. The same will be true of ETW.

As for marketing, they need to dumb it, yes even more. The fact is while we love Empire Total War it is not anywhere near a even decent sales number compared to how many units other video games sell. CA had to get bought by Sega just to stay afloat, if we want them continue to make it, the fact of life is they have to reel in the Command and Conquer and Warcraft 3 kids. This is a business after all.