Wow Glenn, that got to have been a frustrating loss... And I have to tell you, I CAN TOTALLY RELATE!!! This game is completely crazy sometimes! I have been in MANY situations where I was simply PERFECTLY certain of a certain outcome, but the exact opposite happened without any possible explanation! I seriously think this game has bugs in the battle system which makes the battles go completely the wrong way! And this goes both ways, sometimes I lose battles that I should have won with absolute certainty, sometimes I win battles that I should have lost with absolute certainty.

Oh well. It's still a sweet game... I think you pretty much had it in the basket anyway, it's always the initial years that determine wether you win or lose, the rest is just simple labour. Just frustrating when you can't decide the point of exit on your own terms.