I also had the 'walk two steps then reload' happening. I think it was just to do with some other (non-ALiVE) assets and code not loading correctly (hindering but not preventing). Also, the biggest cause is likely filters for the Placement modules - try to reduce the amount it has to selectively "hunt" for objectives and it seems to load quicker.

My concern is that I've only just populated the south-eastern tip of Altis and am getting long load times. That is without civilians and only 4 platoons and a couple CQB towns. I want to fill-in the entire map with active areas, so this load time at the early-stage does not bode well.

I've heard that because the only "active" areas are those in proximity to the players on the server, the inactive areas are not a problem. They will not be "processed" (cause load upon the server) unless players enter their area right?

I'm not sure if I'll be able to run the Headless Client either. This would help with reducing server load and improving the AI. But getting it to work is beyond my knowledge and experience currently, and my server is a VPN so I'd have to run the HC from one of my own PCs. Tutorials in Arma3 community are rarely straight-forward "for dummies" versions.