I had something similar happen in the last game of We the People that I played. My small force of Americans were hit by a big force of Redcoats. everything was against me (13 cards to 4?). I was able to parry his first play, won the counterattack roll, and then had three Flank Left cards in my hand. One, two, couldn't counter the third.

The combat system has come in for a lot of criticism, but I don't think that the criticism is well thought-out. Yes, it's possible to get extremely unlikely results. Isn't that the nature of war? And those result are unlikely. The vast majority of the time the stronger, better-led force wins.

Which is why WtP and Hannibal are so great...

And why Washington's War won't be quite as good

You just never know what the other general is holding do you?

The combat system is one of the best parts of Hannibal. The strategy blends in with the tactics so well that it's hard to separate the two. In other words, how you fight a battle is often determined by the current strategic situation. I've seen no other game do this.

I agree with Roberto.

As a "combat simulation" I concede the battle resolution system has a very bizarre feel. To me it feels a bit more like being a commander on a distant hilltop receiving cursory reports on the situation and barking quick orders back to my officers through the same couriers, than the omniscence we wargamers have grown used to. Not an exact match for the feel I would expect from an ancients battle, but I could argue it is a good thing in its own way.

However I have never seen such a blazingly fast resolution system that has multiple decision points that meld seamlessly with both tactical and strategic situtations. Critics underestimate how the big picture affects the subtleties of choosing Flanks over Frontals, good and bad times to use a Probe, or when to accept defeat even with a Reserve in hand.

You are never going to get anything like it out of any sane CRT. And playing out a miniatures battle will take a lot longer, and may or may not feel more like ancients unless you worry over the details of the unit characteristics.