Only at the start of the game are the battles difficult. Once you get to about 50 bravery points you will win most battles.
Best way of getting to 50 bravery points is to try to drown your attackers. Of course that doesn't work against witches :-(
The worst thing about the game IMHO is that there is only one city and one village, and very few people; a few more would have made things more interesting.
