Just discovered the Military Tablet... I am in awe. I cannot begin to understand all the nuance of your modding skill and the skill of other modders. I can only say, thank you with all my heart.
I really do like the trader guards and I'm one of those who enjoys living with the trader. I usually take Laborer right away, and the first thing I do is begin their base upgrades. I never fight the Blood Moon horde at a trader base, though. I do, however, protect it from wandering hordes and screamer insanity. The guards are usually very good at their job as long as you clear their line of sight, though I've also seen some that just don't shoot at zombies, others that just disappear, and a few that glitch through the flooring, but, for the most part, they do their jobs very well which is saying quite a bit when you consider the coding that they must have. I augment them with turrets by the time I start getting crazy insane wandering hordes, but, before that, I don't have any issues. Everyone plays differently, though, so I can understand. I hope they will be protected in some fashion, if only to take them back to vanilla protections.
Speaking of trader protections... Trader Caitlyn is extremely vulnerable, so much so that even doing a quick dash into and out of her base can bring death to everyone there. Does she still respawn if she's been killed? I believe I remember that she did in alpha 18, but I'm not sure if things have changed in a19. She just looks... different.