Things I'd try if I got that message:

1. Copy-and-paste the first 20% or so of my post into the text box, click on Preview, and see if anything there gets rendered as a smilie. If not, keep adding about 20% at a time and previewing till I either have the whole post entered or I have a better idea what part of it triggers the too-many-images message.

2. Save my proposed post as a .txt file to eliminate any formatting that Word might be adding to it. Open the .txt file, copy-paste the text (presumably with nothing added) into the text box where I want to post it, and see if I still get the error message.

3. If I'd been using the WYSIWYG editor to enter my post, switch to the text-only editor (with the control at the upper right of the text box). Paste in my proposed post, work my way through the text in the box line by line, and see if there's anything unexpected there. If not, try to post it and see if I still get the message.