I had to back pedal... No, strike that.  I had to run like the British in a Johnny Horton song.

I'd gotten a quest to conquer a darkling village and after taking down three stacks, I found my small army destroyed, my leader alone and nearly dead while being nearly surrounded.  So I did the the sensible thing - I ran.

And as I ran, I discovered that those stacks of spiders that had ignored me before suddenly were very, very interested in me now.  Of all my equipment, the boots that granted 1 tile of extra movement was ultimately the most useful and allowed me to return to my home city and gather forces around me.

FE is definitely a great improvement over its predecessor.  Thanks for the much needed close-call, Stardock, it was exiting!