[Squirrelloid]

While medieval military history is full of commanders who didn't follow orders of the nominal superior commander, the default AI when a spell is out of range is stupidly predictable - cast buff spells. Generally historical commanders who refused to obey orders erred on the risky side rather than the conservative side.

IMO, a mage who is out of range for his scripted spell should have a chance of moving forward so he *might* be in range next round, possibly a very good chance... There's little point in standing around on a battlefield unable to do anything.