[phiwum]

Henry and Steve are right, of course. It's all a matter of the GM balancing the system to allow the right amount of progression and the "right amount" is a matter of taste.

Players who rush into combat are likely to pay. If the combat is evenly matched, then there should be good odds to lose the fight. Even if the number of figures are equal but the opponent has lower stats, there's good chance of losing a character. The players should try their damnedest to make the fight unfair, by ambush, knocking the enemy off one at a time, etc.

Just attacking when the enemy doesn't expect it and so is unarmed can give a good initial advantage. It takes time to react and arm and there would be no time to don armor.

It's a cruel GM that produces a really hard battle that can't be avoided. Some fights can't be avoided, of course. I planned an ambush at the characters' home, a little revenge fight. I tried hard to balance it, figuring I'd like it to be a challenge with one or two characters dead but the players prevailing. But the PCs had the advantage of defending and picking where to fight (here, I felt compelled to point out the advantage, since rushing to meet the foe would have been deadly).

In the end, I erred a bit too much on the side of caution and the fight was easily won, with one character badly hurt. It takes a bit of experience, it seems, to make the challenge fit just right.