advanced squad leader scenario out of cowardice

In short, I'm hoping to get impartial outside opinions on the matter.

What do you think? Are they cookie-cutter characters? Could my builds/play style be considered cowardly? Or is this common sense for a spellcaster? Obviously, my group is a little jaded and I'm biased to my own characters. The aforementioned 'previous character' is shown here. When I made a manipulator-type character ( shown here) that I thought would be fun to roleplay, the GM mentioned above simply said 'This is just like your last one'-to say nothing of the amazing background that makes the character completely different (not to mention the many plot hooks and character development/story telling opportunities I've handed him on a golden platter). One of the other players even went so far as to say 'you always play cowards.' While the other players congratulate him. When I do eventually take REAL hit point damage. I am generally the last man standing, occasionally being the lone survivor in a string of near-TPKs. It is a rare battle in which something can escape my battlefield control areas, close into melee with me, is lucky enough to bypass my mirror images or invisibility/flight, and then do enough damage to get past my temporary hit points.

I also have a tendency to stay in the back row and lay down battlefield control, mind-affecting effects, and illusions to great effect. Most of the time I'm playing a spellcaster, usually one with spells like mirror image, false life (or greater false life), and a high dexterity and lots of hit points. As of late, I've been getting on-again off-again flack from my gaming groupies.

Advanced squad leader scenario out of cowardice