Skirmish Tips and Tricks

I'm no expert at skirmishes. I am in the process of learning all kinds of things about skirmishes, and with any learning process comes encounters with various problems. Following are some tactics I've developed to overcome various problems I've run into.

Problem: My soldier initiates fights before I've had a chance to do some crowd control.
Tip: Run backwards toward the fight. This puts your soldier the farthest away from the skirmish. Then do your CC while everyone is still positioned favorably. The non-CCed baddies will rush up to you, and your soldier can wallop them to her heart's content.

Problem: The NPCs keep doing ____ which I don't like.
Tip: Let 'em run out of power. Then all they can do is auto-attack, which, while still potentially a problem, is better than letting them have their full arsenal of actions you don't like.

Problem: I can't do the optional encounter without becoming overwhelmed!
Tip: get yourself into a position where you are in a fight with several baddies and no lieutenants, and then pull the optional encounter, and focus on that one. As long as those other baddies are still alive, I've found the next fight won't start. This is better than having both the encounter and a lieutenant in your face.

Problem: I can't see my fellows' soldiers' health bars. How can I heal them?
Tip: The coloured marking (looks like a 4-pointed star) under every soldier and NPC is a health indicator. Green means healthy, yellow means about half health, orange means desperately needs healing and invisible means your soldier/NPC bit the bullet so why are you still looking at the ground?
Tip: You can also target any of your fellows and their pets and soldiers (as well as your own!) by hitting certain hot keys, F1 through F6. Hitting the key multiple times cycles you through your fellow and his pet and/or soldier. F1 maps to you, and F2-F6 map to each of your fellows.

Problem: I need a couple more seconds to heal up/eat/prepare before the next fight!
Tip: Predict where the next fight is coming from, and run away from that spot. Your NPCs will be fine for a few seconds while you hide from combat and prepare.

Problem: I keep running out of power!
Okay, this hasn't happened to me but I keep reading how it is happening to others.
Tip: In non-solo skirmishes, do power-restoring FMs.
Tip: Bring a LM (What? Okay, so I'm biased. ;))
Tip: Try power-conserving stances/instruments/skills. Skirmishes have a big endurance factor to them.
Tip: Boost your will/fate/ICPR/OoCPR stats.
Tip: Allow your soldier and NPCs to do more of the dirty work. Possibly, place a hunter fire someplace where you are not likely to get caught in combat. Hang out there while the NPCs handle things for a few seconds. Be ready to rescue those NPCs when you do decide to join the fray.
Tip: Consumables are your friends! Bring the biggest, bestest blue potions you can get your hands on. Scrolls of battle/warding cut down on the amount of work you need to do. Food that restores power is handy, too, and of course, hope tokens never hurt.
Tip: Watch those lieutenants to see if they are doing something to your power.
Tip: Try a herbalist. Apparently they heal power as well as morale.