Did they update the game to make it easier? Started playing again. Expert/Expert/Low Ironman on Lone Wolf and I've been able to get to level 9 fairly easily in 14 days so far. Usually it's game over by that point.
Lone Wolf depends extremely heavily on the composition and RNG of the first 4-5 encounters, especially in terms of how much/fast they degrade your armour. How did your very first days go in this specific run?
Very well as I was able to get encounters in the woods and rig the fights via chokepoints.
The (not very logical, by the way) way armour repairs work in BB makes Lone Wolf, if role-played by not hiring anybody until you are high-level, a very tricky proposition, since all damage gets piled up onto your armour. So if your Lone Wolf gets his armour wrecked in the first 2-3 fights, you have basically two choices: 1) blacksmith direct repars (if you have the cash) or 2) treat it like a normal run and hire whoever you can. Otherwise, armour repairs will take ages (while you are stuck with the fatigue penalty of the Sellsword's Armor, but only a fraction of the protection, or none at all), and you'll waste a lot of time making it pointless to try and max out your Lone Wolf as soon as possible. Or just die.
If you are especially unlucky you'll get the first 3-4 fights against thugs armed with cudgels and pickaxes, and unless you are very lucky with splits, swings and enemy morale checks, you'll get hit, stunned, and lose your armour quite quickly. Do you recall anything similar happening in your previous short-lived runs?