I'm slowly getting accustomed to TB combat, but I still prefer Bioware's Real Time Battle (with the option to pause combat whenever you need). IMO a simple solution to the frustrating long wait players experience when fighting large amounts of enemies per battle is simply to speed up their attacks and give them zero time to plan their next move, or even to make them attack simultaneously.
Whatever they're going to do to your characters, they'll only do it in one turn. If anyone dies, it doesn't matter whether they were attacked by two characters at once or by the same two in a row. The end result is the same. So, make them all attack at once or nullify the amount of time required for enemies to plot their next move. I know it's not a perfect solution, but it should reasonably improve combat.