Hehe, a Wesnoth thread !
Sure the xp system is gamey, but in the case of Wesnoth it's intentional, you have to manage levelling in order to get a strong army.
hat's why the first scenarios are quite easy if you just try to complete the victory conditions... They are designed to help you get rather easy xp's , in order to win the following, much harder levels ! I've mostly played in 0.8.8, since they have nerfed some levels, but yet the reasoning applies.
Good luck !
