Your level 12 solution can't be done as no pieces can be placed on A1
Also before you claim that I shouldn't apply the Cypher to the tile co-ods you should know that invalidates all you solutions that apply the cypher to the co-ods
Go to your Taskbar settings then set it to hide and the window will make the top bar accessible so you can maximize the window and view it fully but you'll have to do that every time for now. I use the same resolution so I have the same problem.
Actually Battling is quicker as crafting gift's takes more time. I know that the gift's give 2 Affection but in the time it takes to craft 1 you could easily do several battles.
Got 2 suggestions for the game. 1: Have the monster cards element be colour coded. 2: light card colours should have dark text as a light text is hard to see.