I definitely agree with your notes on “How to Make Your DM Not Hate You”

I would also add that you should avoid trying to micromanage their creatures if you aren’t using swarm rules. If you are using map-based combat, don’t obsess about placement, just swarm your enemies and roll the dice.

You also want to keep your fellow players from hating you as well. Since you can cast Conjure Animals well before combat, you can even distribute your creatures around the party. In a 5 person party, each other player can get a wolf buddy and you can take the remaining 4. Most DMs are pretty lenient with communicating to the summons when everybody gets one.

Also, if you have lots of small PCs there are lots of steed possibilities. For example (actual game occurrence) a halfling Fighter can ride a giant wolf spider up a sheer cliff wall to attack the unsuspecting hobgoblins at the top.

When I DM Druids at mid-high levels, you get one combat to show me you can run 8 creatures without bogging down combat rounds. If you go too slow, you get encouraged to use the 2 CR 1 creatures option rather than the 8 CR 1/4. Keep that option in mind if you feel like you are playing too slowly and annoying the rest of the table despite your best efforts to play quickly.