why is it so hard to get battle stars for my generals?

[Obelics]

well, there are a lot of system to make battles "more interesting" according to various mods:

one aspect of the EB system is to give more easily gained CS to enemy general, and "hard" CS to the player, so the battle are more balanced.
(the disavantage of this system is that you can play almost only on Medium Battle difficulty, because on hard/very hard, the enemy has the AI stat bonus + the CS bonus)

other mods, will give an huge boost on "moral" to every unit stats so the battle are longer, but this can make the thinks a bit unrealistic, cause i expect the enemy cheap units to root as i charge them, and if i charge an unit of akontistai with my brihentin, or cataftact, i expect them to rout, as they do in EB.

other mods again (im thinking of ATW) give 4/5 experience bonus to every units (allied and enemy), this system has his avantage/disavantage too.

it's all according to the mods favorite system. (every system has its avant/disavantages, but on Medium difficult the EB system is quite realistic, cause the enemy units rout as they have to do, and also your units)