The last point you raise is, in my opinion, the most important. LR and ER range bands should not, by default, be useless. They should not, however, be easy to exploit, either. The balance should be in the forces one brings to the fight. We manage to control/balance this by several means:
- Design forces as we would for a tournament; i.e.: Design with no prior knowledge of which field upon which your army will be fielded. Therefore, you may choose to spend points on Survival Training/Load Outs, or choose different troops to adapt to the environment. Roll for environmental type and level. Vulkans are my favorite unit, yet suffer in level 3 jungle (or higher) due to limited visibility. My Bauhas Snipers HATE that! But, when playing in a tournement, one must design a balanced force where the strengths can be exploited, and the weaknesses minimized. If everyone knows the battle going in, and the terrain does not favor CC troops, then CC troops should be left behind, unless they have Stealth or other abilities to keep them concealed until they are ready to strike.
- Play with clear objectives and/or turn limits.
- Lots o' terrain (it bears repeating): Terrain allows cover, and LOS-blocking movement. It forces a shooter-heavy army to find fire lanes and back up units with cover fire, and gives CC troops ample oppurtunity to get into position to attack.
- Re-examine player tactics. When all else is equal (PC, dice rolls, terrain, etc.), superior tactics win games. If a player is running CC troops into the open, they are going to draw fire. Put them behind other units, or move them behind LOS-blocking terrain.