That’s how I took it as well. One of our gamers expressed concern that it takes away from true skirmishers (dragoons) But I feel the requirement to use a move to change formation is significant. One could always house rule some negative modifiers for non-skirmish troops as well. I guess the question is more the historical authenticity of formed units (musket units) being able to be flexible.
Absolutely! I love the models but believe they will be damaged easily. I was thinking about something a simple as clear plastic. As far as game play I’d assume all measurements and such would still be done from the model so it wouldn’t change anything.