I'm actually glad that GH did exactly what I thought he would do every single turn except the last one (I had thought he would run from the field rather than fight, although I had considered the possibility of him staying to fight as the main possibility)

As PK said, the turns when people entered the field were crucial. If PK had entered one turn earlier, I doubt any loyalists would have died in battle. If he had entered a turn later, Dassel would have escaped.

Regarding the feudal knights, I think it would have been difficult (prove me wrong) to kidnap them. Even if they had been, I think TC would have given me an extra unit pre-battle: I only received 1 DFK pre Bern because I had 19 units in my stack already.