Dang, Doug. That's quite a review. A "flawed gem"? I'll take that.
And yeah, as a player, the high Soldier on your first roll would be a downer. I wish I'd had time to craft the rules so they prevented the possibility, but I couldn't come up with something that satisfied me. I do have this notion that the game will play quickly, and that it'll be fun to watch, so maybe that mitigates it somewhat. But a revision should definitely address the first roll high Soldier possibility.
I'm not sure I agree with you that it's not FatB. But I can see what you're saying. The whole game, from the perspective of a single player, is like one FitM conflict resolution in DitV. Hmm. To what does beginning/middle/end refer to in FatB/FitM/FatE? I've always thought it referred to the position of interpretive creative content relative to the Fortune. You're suggesting it refers to the position of Fortune relative to stakes/conflict.
And thanks. You really are the Iron Reviewer.
M. Paul Buja