Sorry to hear you’re struggling! The some cast members are pretty weak to start, but there should be some reliable members. Eldigan is really reliable, and Dieck should be helpful as well. The cast is always as big as it is in vanilla FE7.
If you want to discuss options for strategies in the discord, we could definitely talk there! We have some players there who are past that chapter, and we’d all be happy to give you tips! Hopefully that helps, and hopefully your experience hasn’t been too frustrating up to this point