This game is about management so it's obvious we are expected to manage our generals with the tools given, however when we players show that the tools available are limited by a failure of imagination on the part of designers then something needs to be done about it. The way I see it there are 3 possible solutions.
1: Star menu. Sorry to say but I find this to be a ugly solution, of the 3 solutions it is the one which has the potential of being the biggest game breaker of the lot. We would not want to see a bug which allows us to assign 1 r to a gold refill or worse 50 cav to Iotp, the latter bug preventing us from running adventures at all.
2: Tavern. This has a fair bit of logic behind it as we can storyline that the generals spend their time in the tavern telling story's of past victory's but logic then dictates that we do the same for Geo's and Explorers at the same time. The only downside I see to this is where the star menu selection process is now redundant for when on your home island and only needed for the generals when your on a adventure/expedition zone.
3: Ship. This is my favoured option, it has the least chance of introducing bugs with anything else in star menu. The only issue I see here is how much does it cost to build and at what player level is it unlocked. To this I offer the following solution.
For players at the tutorial stage of the game, cost is Pine wood planks and Stone can be built at the same level as garrisons are unlocked.
At level 26 Seafaring is unlocked once upgraded, build/upgrade cost Hardwood planks and Marble, Seafaring allows the charter of 1 fast ship to transport a general in 2/3's of the normal time, cost of charter 10 Gems. Charter is a temporary option good for one way only.
At Level 42 we get Fleet unlocked once upgraded, build/upgrade cost is Exotic wood planks and Granite, Fleet allows transport of up to 10 Generals in 2/3's of normal time cost 1000 gems and is a permanent feature once brought.
At level 50 Armada is unlocked once upgraded, cost Mahogany planks and Grout, Armada allows unlimited generals to be transported in 1/2 time cost 20000 gems and is a permanent feature.