What a hilarious bug haha.
Battle rounds is a really intriguing idea. 
I can see that adding another layer of depth/strategy.
For example, do you order your units to fight to death, or do you set a threshold for retreat? What if that threshold included other factors, like how starved your population is? How does something like Fleet Efficiency change things?
We’ve also been talking amongst the @team about a defection mechanic that can be based on a “quality of life” metric that includes things like excessive overbuilding, overpopulation, etc. In the context of your round suggestion, it would mean being too harsh of a ruler could make you liable for a target to use your own troops against you mid-battle if the circumstances fit.
All of this stuff can and should tie together for a more holistic approach to how an empire functions.
Progress is happening behind the scenes to make this kinda thing possible. I’m excited for players to test the Revamp Attack Formula work.