Haha, yeah, i was a bit depressed by that 'ambush'.
I was planning to stay clear from you (i hate fighting the giants without a soul slay battalion) and not provoke, when suddenly, we met, and i lost about half of my leading army... Good move from you to follow straight-on. I wasn't up to it, and by storming me, you gained some precious territory with a fortress at an early stage.
As for that last defense, well, it was more a make-do with what i had left than a careful plan... And your army size even prevented me to build some more trinkets. I was hoping to maybe rout your main unit by killing enough of them with direct spells, but it wasn't to be. And even then, i would only have gained one to three more turns.