I am borrowing one of my replies to another post, in order to make the case AGAINST the various threads that are cropping up requesting a reduction in the challenge presented in the early stages of the game (less aggressive AI, wandering monsters, no high-level monsters near starting locations etc.)

I don't mean to sound arrogant, but some games are meant to be checkers and others are meant to be chess - for me, HOMM and AoW provided little challenge, while this game is so much more fun for me than either of the two, exactly because of the randomness!!!

Sure, there are still maps in FE where I find myself in near-impossible situations, and have to use every ounce of my gamesmanship and to exhaust all of my resources desperately using all my mana, rushing units and winning battles by the skin of my teeth in order to survive - but I get the most adrenaline rush out of those moments, and I've survived more than 50% of them and gone on to win the game (which is just the percentage I'm looking for).

I know that not everyone is a powerplayer, but making the game less random, more static and therefore easier and more predictable to accomodate the casual or novice player is NOT the way to go

For those of you that find the game too difficult or random, you can use the easy setting, reduce the number of AI opponents AND also affect the monster density for the maps you play...