My first Wartale gone wrong

[Zonalar]

A group of Farmers decided that they're destined for more than picking potatoes. Coin & Glory awaits; or so they thought.
Playing on medium difficulty, I've turned on Hardcore (because I'm just that type of masochist) and sent my illiterate farmers on their journey. We won our first couple of battles on the road, recruited another hand, got an extra pony (and the free horseshoes!) and even managed to complete our first quest.
Some of the Farmers even reached lvl 2 and I get to pick some points, craft an extra rag to wear for my sorry excuse as a Fighter, and bang out a Superior Targe!
As we turn the quest in, i turn south and decide to help a caravan on the road. Lets save them from the tangle mess they've gotten into!

Minutes later, everyone is dead or fleeing. The bandits were 6 men strong, and lvl 3, dealing 20+ dmg with each attach. Shellshocked as my childhood friends are being slaughtered one by one, the Archer Caedric is gripped by panic and flees the battlefield.

Now I'm alone. With two ponies and a tail between my legs, back to the village...
But surprisingly, the Ironman challenge is not over..? That's right, Caedric is still alive.

I seek the Veteran's advice to get Caedric through this mess and achieve his goal of glory and seek revenge for his Farmer Friends.

How can I recover this Wartale?

[mrak20105]

All of the following applies to the Adaptive exploration mode:
If you want advice that will help you avoid unpleasant emotions from the game, NEVER play this game in Ironman mode. Especially if this game is unfamiliar to you. Even if you are familiar, do not play. In addition to your mistakes (miss click, inattention, choosing the wrong skill, hanging the wrong oil, etc.), there are also errors of the Game that are not your fault, but they sometimes occur. Even if you brought your team of farmers to level 5, there would be a sharp jump in the difficulty of the battle. If you are not familiar with the mechanics of the battle in the Ghost Pack, then it will be even more difficult to keep the squad together. So consider yourself lucky that you were plunged into a difficult battle so early.

[warrgood]

This advice is aimed at low level parties; When you see a "merchants vs bandits" battle, DON'T intervene! This battle is designed to be tough. Don't fight the Guards for the same reason. Also Don't go after the bandit's Lair until all the skulls are dull.
Fight wolves and boars for food, and take the easy jobs on the job board. Early game, you're almost always nearly out of money or about to starve, but by late game-even for a new player on your first run- you'll routinely have a week's worth of food and you'll be swimming in Krowns.

For now, recruit a melee type (just one) make him the new blacksmith, and spend knowledge points on early weapons and armor. Take the easiest jobs you can find, either story line or bounties.
When you have enough influence (and cash), get another trooper: whatever type you want- and make him the cook. Your tinkerer can craft the cookpot once you have enough wood and iron ore.
Profession leveling is fastest for the cook, and the constitution bonus goes up as the skill increases. The same is true for all professions - so you want your apothecary, thief and tinkerer to be dexterity fighters and your blacksmith and woodcutter to be strength types. I like to use 2-handed soldiers for the constitution professions- no shields.
After that, keep it as easy as you can, slowly building cash and influence until you can add more people. Don't add someone until/unless you have level appropriate armor and a weapon for them or the resources to make such.
After that you should be good to go.

[Zonalar]

Originally posted by warrgood:

This advice is aimed at low level parties; When you see a "merchants vs bandits" battle, DON'T intervene! This battle is designed to be tough. Don't fight the Guards for the same reason. Also Don't go after the bandit's Lair until all the skulls are dull.

Thank you warrgood for the tips! I've abandoned my Ironman run after another unfortunate fight with more losses, and play with the single-save option now.
I'm struggling to collect ressources, especially wood, but I'm stabilizing on gold and wood.
i'm still loosing a soldier here, and a wolf there. But I'm okay with that as I learn how the enemies function and what tactics i can deploy.