Thank you for the comprehensive review. I do believe you hit the nail on the head, as combat (and polish, really) was where the clock had finally got ahead of my making capacity. Work is definitely continuing in the background, a good portion of which is towards the weaknesses you've found. Again, thank you for listing out things the way you did.
(PS: the combat area is getting some serious attention, starting with battle cut-ins, to break up the monotony of it.)