1. Not sure if I've done anything embarrassing, but I've frequently lost concentration at the end of a battle and had an enemy stack take a couple of kills from me, only for the counterattack to finish them off and end the battle. Reload
2. The game is too long for my liking. I still think AP had the best length. I'm up to 320+ fights now and the end is still not in sight. Also, although I really liked the design of the first three islands, some of them were quite boring such as Bear Butte and Amazonia (admittedly the DLC island). Also, what's with the absurd fire/bleeding/poison damage? Don't get me started on how bad Dispel is now...
3. I'm 33 as well, same age as DG. I'm an English teacher here in Perth, Western Australia. My kids are 7 and 9 and they've grown up watching me play KB
Like DG, I love XCOM (original and remake) and like Impy I think Star Control 2 is one of the greatest games ever. I basically love TBS games.
4. This is definitely the best KB game since AP. I love the Shelter, I like the Princess concept and most of the areas are done well. I like the fact that there's less grindy areas like the endless Dwarf areas in some previous KB games. Dragon Riders are ridiculously OP though.