Do you have anything you're a total hypocrite about?

For me, it's my pacifism. (It's actually lots of things, but ...). In real life, I'm against war for any reason. I know that's not practical and that wars won't end, but it's an ideal, and we all need ideals.

At the same time, I like a good bashing video game now and then, and I think the shoot 'em up scene in the first Matrix is one of the coolest scenes in movies.

When I saw Warband: Against the Darkness, I was intrigued. I'd been looking for a fantasy game where I could fight against evil, mainly because my husband wanted one.

He loves cooperative games; me, not so much. So the idea of working together but being very clearly out for yourself sounded good. Especially since it seemed like it wasn't going to have bloody, creepy art. (Why, yes, I am a wimp about those things.)

The question, of course, is does it work? Can it satisfy the person who wants to fight and the person who hates to fight at the same time?

Here's my take, plus a quick overview of how to play:

OTHER REVIEWERS' OPINIONS

Tom Vasel at The Dice Tower said he was impressed, especially with the interplay, despite it being a Eurogame.

Most of the reviews I've found are actually previews from when the game was first on Kickstarter. I don't like to share previews (partly because I don't do them myself for lots of reasons), but the buzz about Warband: Against the Darkness was positive even then.

FOR NEWBIES

Watch a few videos, then read the rulebook, then play with the rulebook near you, then play again. I promise everything you need to know is in the rulebook. I know that sounds daunting, but this game is worth learning.

If you can get someone else to teach you, so much the better. But if not, just have fun.

KID-FRIENDLY?

That's a toughie. The game says 10 and up. If your 10-year-old has played lots of games, she'll probably be fine. If not, this will be challenging. Maybe too challenging.

An older kid won't have problems with it, though, and the choice of actions is on the player board, so that's not too hard.

You should be able to help a child along, too. There's a little bit of hidden information, but not much. Even when you don't know what your kid has, like drawing Intel cards, for example, you could say something like, "Do you have any scouts already in either of those regions?"

WHAT MY HUSBAND WANTS TO DO TO THE GAME

He wants to make the scouts a little more prominent, perhaps adding to the battle or moving around or something.

But when I asked him, he said, "That's a hard one." Because the game is really, really good.

WHAT I GOT WRONG THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED

We didn't make sure we had enough to fight all the enemies, just the one we were defeating. That's a major mistake. I made it so you don't have to.

We also got a bit lost on the hierarchy of captaincies, but only at first.

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