Durin's Bane vs Heroic Death

[Goodgulf the Grey]

Shadow player uses Durin's Bane and Free People's Player uses Heroic Death with a 2 level companion present. If the SP rolls 3 hits with Durin's Bane and the FP has only 3 units in his Army, can he use Heroic Death to avoid the two casualties?

Durin's Bane reads: "Before the Combat roll, roll three dice. The Free Peoples player must immediately take a casualty for every result of 4+"

Heroic Death reads: "Before you remove casualties, you may elminate ... (a) Companion to cancel a number of hits equal or less than that of the Companion's Level."

I don't know why I haven't run into this before. It may be buried in the forum but I didn't see the answer in the FAQ.

Thanks.

[Krieghund]

No, you can't. Heroic Death only applies to the casualties from the combat roll and leader re-roll. See this discussion on BGG for further information.

[Goodgulf the Grey]

Thanks for the quick reply Krieghund!