Now i haven't gotten WAR to 70 yet but from where im standing it sounds like WAR loosing half their gauge is one of the major balancing factors otherwise they would do comparable DPS to an actual DPS (like HW, and HW WAR was massively overtuned) but i do agree that getting odd rage is clunky. perhaps it could half the gauge but then round it UP to the nearest 10, so for example if you're at 75 rage and switch stances it would currently go to 38, instead perhaps it could go to 40 instead.
also other adjustments will be needed like a change to shake it off and a little added utility, but other than those i think WAR is fine from where im standing.
is it not true that you can do 5 back to back Inner beasts in defiance now? that's A LOT of mitigation, not to mention that WAR has the highest number of single cooldowns and 2 on demand self heals. This is all just my opinion ofcource and i havent even gotten it to lvl 70 yet so i dont really have the full picture yet but hey, just throwing in my 2 cents.