Ok, some quick answare before my boss came in

First, i've never played FF Tactics. The game i envise will have the battle system like UFO, as WILL is describing, so i think squad game is the right "genre".
About the maps, we could have pre-made or randomized, it doesn't make all this difference. The important things are others
:arrow: Dimension and characteristics of the map. We all agree on this i think. Flat, square tiles, blocking features, etc. About difficoult tiles, i think they can be done. For example, they could require twice as much AP (or MU) as normal tiles..
:arrow: Fog of war or not.
About fog of war, WILL think it's a good thing. I have some doubt about fog, expecially becouse of the multiplayer nature of the game. Anyway, instead of fog, i'll use "view fields", in which only tiles visible by your characters are really visible.
I fear that players will feel bored don't seeing anything on the game. If we do this, we must ensure that the parties will get near quite quicly, to avoid dead times. Also, it will increase a little the complexity of the game, and could be source of cheating (maps revealer are avaiable for almost all games with fog )
It is true that "view fields" give a whole lot of tactical possibility to the game, but it will also slow the gameplay down.
It would be nice to try out both modes to see how they would work before choosing

I don't like very much the idea of multiple rounds. I don't think games will be so quick, and it would add even more things for the server to remember. It should keep track of rounds (more states to keep in mind), and it would add complexity.
If players wants to play at "best of three", the will be able to do that simply by creating more games

About guild training, i think it's better if a character get trained in games instead than in offgame facilities.

Ah, when i speak of army i don't mean 1000s of peole, I mean 4 or 5, the ones you use in a game Army is probably a misunderstanding word, i should have said maybe "party"

It could be helpful to choose some words to define things, to avoid misunderstandings:

character, unit: a man or creature you control in the game
item: all objects avaiable in the game: swords, armors, potions, etc.
party: the groups of characters you use on a game
game: the actual combat
possessions: all characters and items a disposal for a player
offgame: the "manadgement" session, where you manage your possessions, sell/buy, join games, chat.
ap, mu: action points, movement units (sinonyms): the points to be spent for moving, fighting, and all other activities of characters.

Btw i've made other models, more sci-fi than fantasy: a bat, a drone-robot, and a one-wheel scooter They're simpler than the others, in truth i've made this one before those already posted, i've just retouched them. I'll post them this evening

One thing i'd like to know from you guys is: is it a problem if the setting will not be strict fantasy but something more free, so that we can put lots of things inside ?
What i'd like to have a database of as many items and units as possible.

Actually, my boss is late for work