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If you recall, warlords in the attack upon the column were switching out mounts, riding one stack into combat, then retreating to the other dragons, the wounded ones retreating (without a warlord) to the lake, while the fresh dragons went back into the fray.
It appears warlords by themselves have a LOT of move. That being the case, what if the reserve with Commander Zamussels flies to the hex, with Vinnie and Prince Ansom then joining the flying stack and flying to safety.
This leaves the troops who were with Vinnie and Ansom destroyed, the column hit, and the dragons retreating out of range, upon Stanley's turn.
One could say they were speaking previously being short on movement, but they could be referring to their troops, not themselves individually.
This has story elements which make sense too.
First, this eliminates Prince Ansom simply ordering whatsername to the column, preventing a definitive attack (later necessitating entering hte tunnels), unless Ansom retreats to the columns with the flying troops (possible).
Second, this prevents Prince Ansom and Vinnie from dying early, which would sort of ruin the story. However, I CAN see Vinnie staying behind, preventing the dragons from reaching Ansom by sacrificing himself.. which is a really great plot twist.
Just a thought.