well, i all ways prepare for the worst case scenario, but i reckon you could take a rough guess, through troop count size/pits/growth, as tech levels arent that cheap, and its amazing how many people overlook tech levels,
They probably forget about them, maybe they are used to a different tech system like simple tech so don't realize that techs can go up to 10.
Numpties.
And yes, the simulator is the only way I know to work them out (put in your troops, losses, tech and enemy troops, then it's just fiddling with enemy techs to make the enemy losses the same as the report)