You can TC your troops if you only command a division but if you use the game's full epic scope of corps and army command it will possibly become a mad clickfest to control all those units that way. The AI command is not that bad - please don't base your opinion on some other dumb AI in other games. This game's AI has its quirks and some strangeness but on the whole it does behave like a human military commander, even though he may not do things the way you would have
I personally find the fact that your subordinates are not robots and can sometimes jeopardise your plan by being headstrong or too cautious to add to the pleasure of final victory.