The idea behind advertising is symbolic. Total War = massive battles. Cookie clicker = incremental.
The pace is not that fast (though way faster than in Cookie Clicker which requires you to grind for days before first Ascension), but opinions here are very split. Some players enjoy it, some players feel like it's too grindy. Can't satisfy everyone.
And sandbox seems to work just fine in the browser. Not sure what's your issue is. You need to spawn both your own soldiers but also enemies before starting the fight.