[Celti]

If you're worried about the system “favouring those who act later” then you need to really grok the Wait maneuver.

Take your example: Adam begins the combat by All-Out Attacking Bruce. Bruce responds by All-Out Attacking Adam. This superficially might favour Bruce.

Now, what if Adam took a Wait maneuver to All-Out Attack when he saw Bruce initiate an All-Out Attack? Now the sequence is: Adam Waits, Bruce All-Out Attacks, Adam interrupts Bruce's All-Out Attack with his own All-Out Attack — and because Bruce is All-Out Attacking, he gets no defense. Their situations are exactly reversed, and the turn sequence now superficially favours Adam.

It actually more than superficially favours whoever has the highest Basic Speed, because of the entire way the Wait maneuver works: if you have the highest Basic Speed, you can (theoretically) react at any point during the turn sequence: whatever point you consider most advantageous.