I struggled again to get the BODMAS working again, yesterday.

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I've opted to give it a few days rest, and let my mind rethink the whole thing.
There's an obvious way to get BODMAS to work, and yet my head's still not quite found it.
The voice in my head is now complaining that I'm being lazy again, so I'll probably work on a new Shoebox game to keep it happy.
Haven't a clue which.

I keep thinking back to The Quest, and how much I still haven't done to that. Everything oughta be easy enough, but that one element is a nasty sticking point for me.
How DO you do battles without it just being automated boring-to-watch dice rolling battles?
This is, likely, my hatred of RPG "Menu Fighters" cropping up yet again.

The prospect of what oughta be a fun epic battle comes down to "you rolled a blade and two shields. Your enemy rolled three blades. You are wounded. You roll a skull. Your enemy rolls a shield. Your attack is useless"
I don't want to make that..
Please don't make me make that!!!

.. and yet.. What else is there?!
How else can you achieve a battle system without overwhelming the UI and making it all menu'y, but also preserving the board-game stylings?