>Then again I don't think I've ever actually achieved 40
>damroll.

This might be our disconnect because on a midlevel A-P 40 damroll is like "Okay, I've regeared enough that I can try to win the fights with bash/trip that call for it -- this will do until my gear gets better" to me.

My tendency is to stack damroll to get rolling and then gradually cover saves/STR/etc. better as I pick up momentum.

And it's very possible that after the first two rounds of combat I'll realize I'm losing and back out. The glory of bash (when it's working) is that you have that prerogative.