I often play as Bards seeing as they are my all time favourite class ever
!!
I actually fond it relatively easy going through the campaigns with Bards. They have a rather good array of arcane spells (mainly buffing spells but in higher levels some nice offensive spells), aswell as a good hand when it comes to melee fighting. I always made my bard able to dual wield which I found most effective. If you utilize the bard song upgrade and upgrade the toughness and spell-casting feats, you have a rather nifty character there.
Low levels it can be quite tough, but as you advance through the game, you advance with power. If you have HotU, I would advise multi-classing with the Red Dragon Disciple class.
This was only my experience though. Others may tell you otherwise but under my recommendations, *whispers* go for the bard
--Kestrel--