Ace Troops really had a great potential and while it didn't live up to it completely, due to various reasons, it did manage to successfully portray the life of military personnel. What in the beginning looked like the start of a great friendship between two MLs and FL, soon went downhill and turned into a love triangle that was in many cases extremely annoying to watch, but was satisfyingly resolved in the end. Watching them grow from new recruits to senior colonels throughout the span of 40 years was gratifying. Their different personalities and backgrounds affected their interactions with other characters and their decisions and choices in life; and while they all built their own lives and careers they were always circling and staying close to each other.

One of the bigger issues I had with this drama was the relationship between Gao Liang and Gu Yiye. They were supposed to be best friends and rivals. However, while they successfully showed their rivalry, their friendship left much to be desired. Most of the time it looked like they couldn't stand each other while drama makers tried to forcefully make us see them as best friends.
Character development was another issue I had and it's mostly related to Gao Liang. His development wasn't consistent. In the beginning he looked like a big oafish troublemaker, thoughtless but kind-hearted. In later episodes he became this super soldier-tactician who was capable of doing everything and anything. The transition between those two extremes wasn't smooth. Other characters were more consistent in this regard. What I like is how all of them were human, they made mistakes, did stupid things, but weren't painted as villains. Instead, they were given chances to redeem themselves in our eyes and for the most characters my feeling oscillated throughout the span of these 40 episodes.

As for the acting, I think all actors did more or less a good job. My personal favourite is Xiao Zhan as Gu Yiye. His acting in more dramatic/emotional scenes was heart-wrenching and I had been moved to tears several times. Two other leads were also good. I was especially impressed by Elaine Zhong. I didn't like Jiang Nan Zheng as a character, but Elaine's portrayal was in my opinion spot on.

Other things I love about this drama are: subtle humour, visually beautiful sceneries, action scenes (fighting, war and drills were done really well) and lack of CCP propaganda (I honestly expected more of it but what we got is the right amount of patriotsm that follows all military-themed shows, IMO)

I think they could've done a better job with time skips, especially towards the ending, but I guess cutting a lot of scenes affected the final product.

All in all, while it did have some flaws I think Ace Troops is a good drama that successfully showed the evolution of Chinese army through the life of three main leads. It has a slower pace and a lot of episodes where there's isn't much action so many people may find it boring, BUT if you're a fan of any of these actors it's a must watch.