Pitched battles vs meeting engagements

I have noticed that the majority of MP scenarios we play are in the form of meeting engagements, rather than pitched battles. Is this due to the greater versatility of the KS mod when applied to larger maps (that is the ability to implement strategic movement for the AI) or other factors?

pitched battles vs AI would be extremely boring

Like Miko said, fighting a pitched battle against the AI would result in the very expected to happen. As good and smart as the AI is, superior to its modern rivals like Total War, sadly AI isn't going to surpass human ingenuity and strategy determining any time soon. A pitched battle against the AI would also lack all replay-ability for the scenario. Our other scenarios usually are good for a few playthroughs.

Against players we have been experimenting with different kinds of battles, and our mini-campaign that is starting back up soon has been designed in a way that a pitched battle is likely to develop after the sides initially fight a meeting engagement and determine their positions.

To have a set-piece battle where the AI has a reasonable chance of winning, the battle would have to be scripted for both the AI and the players. The players would be forced to adhere to pre-written orders, when to advance, when to begin a bombardment, etc. The AI would need to told when to stay in place and defend or go on the offensive and attack. It could be done, but would take a lot of testing and fine-tuning. Since we fight 3 battles per week, it's not a realistic option.