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Okay, I admit it, this is a wargame. Now before you turn the page, hold it right there! None of your little tin soldiers here, chummy, more Dungeons and Dragons, I'd say. If you've a penchant for orcs that go grunt in the night, and like a bit of strategy and really can't be fagged to type all that text into an adventure game, then this could well be the game for yoohoo.

Set a long time ago, in a medieval village plagued by monsters and demons, the villagers come to you for help. You are the chief strategist with the Imperial Guard, a peacekeeping force of wizards, warriors and minders of all kinds. Using your strategic skills, you must employ your forces in the most effective way to beat back the hordes of fire demons and water elementals, thus saving the village from certain destruction.

Now you might think all this strategic nonsense is boring old tripe, with very little in the way of any kind of excitement for a thrill seeker like yourself. In actual fact, the game moves at a fair old lick, as you position your wizards and warriors, and select all your options from icons with the joystick.

The display is a nice scrolling plan view, as seen in Dandy, of the ravaged landscape, which pans in all directions. As you position one man, the computer pans out to find the next. As you combat a creature, a blown up picture of it (urgh) appears on the side of the screen, to let you see the off-whites of his eyes (gulp).

A brilliant strategy game, for arcade freaks who'd like to exercise the muscle between their ears, and give their trigger finger a rest.