I suggest that the rules simply read: 50% of the time the attacker loses 1 army, otherwise the defender loses one army. In large battles the overall probabilities are roughly the same. There are some changes with small numbers of troops. Currently in a 4v3 the attacker wins ~ 47% of the time. Under ...
What zombie neutrals amount to is a very stupid computer player controlling the neutral armies. The only way this could make the game better is if you a) thought there weren't enough players in eight player games, in which case you simply should ask for that or b) think adding a bad player makes for ...
This will end up having less strategic depth than escalating spoils. You say that if someone saves up their cards that they will become a target for everyone else. But everyone will be saving their cards, so saving your cards up doesn't make you more or less of a target than anyone else.