I've been following the Essentials previews closely since I saw the Knight. I DM for a group of players with several first-time D&D'ers, and while we have been playing bi-monthly for about one and a half year now (for those counting, that is 36 sessions), some of them (primarily the fighter and the warden) still often go "I hit this guy" and roll before saying what power they are using. That's not to say their tactics have not improved; they have a rough idea when to start using their dailies, we no longer reach the end of combats where all their encounter-based resources are left unused, nor do they much of anything else which would dramatically influence their character's value... but the whole power system still confuses them, and often upon reaching the next level, they have one of the more experienced players decide their power selection for them. This, of course, does not help them at all in figuring out the most benefical tactical uses for them, which feeds into the "Ehh... I guess I'll Brash Assault/Thorn Strike this guy".
In short: yes, I plan to allow/use Essentials, and I will show the new Knight build to our fighter, and see how he feels about it.
