Up to this point I had been nearly invulnerable in tactical combat.  (Auto resolve, too, it seems--maybe more so there because two attack spells there don't cost me any mana.)  So I approached an enemy city with great confidence.  I didn't attack their champion because I knew that killing her instantly would only reduce the number of units on the map, and I wanted to see what happens when you kill a champion's sovereign...maybe I could recruit her.  So, the last thing I expected was for her to sneak up behind me like a frigging ninja and kill me on the first turn of tactical combat with a single melee blow.  Up to this point, every tactical combat I had entered began with units at least two turns distant from one another.