how well your men are armed, armoured, and trained, and whether or not they are equipped to deal with the enemy force in question
Yes exactly, that's what defense ratings, attack ratings, and command ratings all determine.

Considering the fact that all computer programming is based on math, I doubt it will deviate from that any time soon. You'd have to revolutionize the entire electronic computer platform before you did so. What else are you going to use, anyway? Assorted combinations of Lucky Charms marshmellows? Yeah, my Red Balloon+Pot of Gold Janissaries will always beat your Blue Half-Moon+Rainbow Men at Arms...

Math works just fine, as long as I'm not the one doing the coding.