[trentjaspar]

Thanks, Fatt_Shade. You also responded to my inquiries from a few months' ago, LOL.

1) Yes, certainly there is a lot of randomness in the game and most of it is good (especially for replayability). But for planning a tactical battle, I prefer fewer random elements.
2) Yes, I certainly agree that knowing unit stats (allies and enemies) is key. I make frequent use of the community manual.
3) This will certainly be my only game of KB. It takes me way too long and have way too little play time-- although certainly this is in part because I try a no/low-loss campaign. But I've invested too much time in this game to consider playing again. I might try Armored Princess but not do low/no-loss.
4) I'm probably not looking to use a mod unless it's bugfix-only. The mod you cited has many changes and I prefer to trust the balance of the original game (although certainly a few units/items could be nerfed or enhanced).
- You make some good points about Gizmo. However, does it actually resurrect units, or just heal them? I had thought that it just healed. If it resurrects, then yes, placing the Gizmo in my back ranks would help while lowering the chance that it will kill an enemy I'm trying to keep alive. There are occasions that I would rather keep a debuff on my own unit (e.g., poison on a summoned thorn with Mana Spring) but these are rare instances.
- On the other hand, I use frozen orb almost every battle to prevent archers from attacking units and to distract enemies-- and of course to time it so I can roll over a very low initiative unit (e.g., Cyclops) or place it after enemies have acted. I also use Ice Shards, but not as often.
- Regarding Black Dragons, I thought that Shaman "Dancing Axes" can also heal Black Dragons. I don't have any Black Dragons, but do have Shamans.

So I think based on this, I do like Gizmo a little better than before. I still don't like extra randomness, but if it can resurrect units and I can influence it by placing it in the back, then I can see it being useful late in a battle to help rez/cleanup.

Thanks again for the discussion!