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Honestly a good read. A large-scale medieval war story with elements of fantasy (less than you'd think) and romance (harem) sprinkled in. I say "large-scale" because more often than not, battle scenes are written about overall troop movements and maneuvers instead of purely zooming in on a single unit in their scenario while just giving progress updates of the overall battle. This is even if the said unit is the linchpin of the battle. Premise: 8/10 (It's refreshing!)

The entire story over the 18 volumes had a sense of time that really fits the premise and scale. It allows characters and events to develop more naturally, ... as they would FEEL like in real life. Friendships, grudges, plots, and romance, it just feels natural as they develop over the scale of time in the story as a consequence of each prior and branching event/action. Development: 7/10

Characters are interesting and unique. You'd get entire volumes/arcs centered around them (typical harem style I guess?), and they don't lose relevance in the latter parts of the story which is much appreciated. Antagonists' motivations and the actions they take as a result feel real and not forced. Characters: 7/10

Now, even though I liked it, this style doesn't gel with everyone. For one, for an OP protagonist and his OP squad, their OPness isn't openly showcased on their battlefields. Some readers will understandably be dissatisfied with the logic given, in favor of more massacre-ish methods (standard fare in many power fantasy stories, but not here). Secondly, there are also a few scenes that can be slightly uncomfortable depending on the reader. Last but not least, I praised the development, but there were certain story events that felt slightly rushed and anti-climatic, especially towards the end. This is mainly due to how long they have been foreshadowed for and built up. The romance also kind of escalated toward the end (and as a result the progress felt compacted), which can feel quite jarring. I wouldn't have minded if they dilated the time scale a bit at this point. I liked how it properly came to fruition in the end though! No unfinished romance, hell yeah!! Just felt like it would have been better if it was spread out a bit more.

All in all, 8/10, but this definitely isn't for everyone since 18 volumes is a significant time investment.

Would be interesting to fans of the TCG and people who like unique plot twists in non-psychological anime. Might be boring for a bit for those uninitiated with the TCG as they don't explicitly/fully explain the rules.

Story - 7
Worldbuilding - 6
Characters - 7
Production Value - 7

Story:
Average, bland even; but greatly picks up near the end. The pacing felt okay; probably because they were skipping half the battles and most of the encountered characters didn't have much significance to the main story. It's a very lean story.

... World Building:
Almost non-existent until near the end. After that, it was pretty good. Could have used better pacing, e.g. with ominous foreshadowing throughout the earlier parts. A small number of plot holes throughout that felt really hard to explain away, even given the benefit of doubt. Skipping parts of battles may have leaned down the story, but made it much harder to understand the TCG rules as a result (Speaking as someone who is uninitiated).

Characters:
The main characters directly entangled in the plot were fleshed out by the end, presenting a very human take on childhood motivations, reactions, and their eventual consequences. However, the lean focus meant that support characters were reduced to just react machines to amplify emotions and plot points. Still, I would say it's the right choice from a pacing POV for a 12-episode series.

Production Value:
Average. Props to the VA for Kikka. Her emotional lines were very well delivered, as were the pitch changes. Special mention to Hiyori's VA for delivering a voice that resonated greatly with her character's look/mannerisms, despite said character being just there for reacts.

Overall - Barely 8
Applying my discretion here to bump up the score because of the strong feels at certain points. Also, for how they were willing to portray a less-than-perfect MC.