So, when you're taking actions on the campaign map, if you fail to attack every single turn, you get counter-invasion forces spawning.
The trouble is, I don't actually enjoy playing their invasion battles - this isn't a critique of the design, it's just a gameplay pacing that I'm not keen on; I love the slow methodical nutcracker missions rather than the frantically-run-around-time-pressure stuff.

But I'm not having much luck in ensuring I keep up an invasion tempo that means I *don't* end up missing a turn with an army mispositioned, or the like. Are there any tricks I can keep in mind to avoid facing the things as long as possible?

I usually just straight up restart a campaign when I get to one of those fights, which I know is kind of silly, but I enjoy the journey more than the win anyway.