Swords are drawn, horses spurred forward and with the cry of "charge!" your cavalry leaps into the fray.

Strategic warfare is a very old gaming form. Napoleon’s campaigns were addressed back in the 1960s with Avalon Hill’s Waterloo board game, which introduced historical elements on a hexagonal board. Units were represented by cardboard squares.

Shrapnel Games, along with BreakAway Games, has just released Austerlitz: Napoleon’s Greatest Victory for the PC. Gone are the hexagons, as well as other paraphernalia associated with board games. What has replaced it is intriguing maps, the sounds of battle, the animation of a charging horse unit, or infantry marching with determination into the line of cannon fire.

Austerlitz will not dazzle with its graphical elements, but what it will do is delight fans of war games with its depth of play.

The game comes with an in-game tutorial, which will teach players about movement, formations, wheeling to attack and the essentials of successfully commanding your forces. The options pack is quite nice. You can choose to side with the French or the opposing army. Game options include adhering to the historical record, or introducing variants into the battle. You can have either unlimited or limited ammunition stores.  There are six tutorials, and 27 campaigns (such as Kellerman versus Uvarov, Defense of the Santon, or the Initial Battle for Telnitz) that will challenge players of any skill level.

For those not familiar with Napoleon’s decisive victory at Austerlitz, here is a little background information. On December 2, 1805, one year after Napoleon’s coronation as supreme ruler of France, his army was confronted by the allied army of Austria and Russia. The French army was on the verge of defeat by a superior force when the French III Corps arrived to turn the tide. The battle was famous for another reason as well. Napoleon sent the IV Corps through the fog to attack the flanks of the allied forces. The maneuver became known as the Lion Leap.

Austerlitz, which is part of Shrapnel’s Greatest Battles Series, brings the time and the history to life with units drawn from real life. This is a wonderful cerebral challenge, which seems to disdain the turn-based elements associated with many strategy games in favor for fluid real-time movement.

The player interface is very well designed and simple to use. Click on a unit and then click on the map (or opposing unit) to send your troops in that direction. While the game is set up in a manner that allows gamers to jump in and play, it will take a while to understand how to properly use units. Fortunately the game also has in-game tips and explanations that can be accessed at any time.

Austerlitz is delightful, challenging and well designed.

Gameplay: 8.5
The game features real-time movement rather than turn- and movement-based game options. The flow is very good and the battlefields are quite large.

Graphics: 7.5
The animation is nicely done, though the environments and standing units are merely average.

Sound: 8
The game features the sounds of battle, music styled for the period, as well as the languages of the principle countries involved. This is a very solid adjunct to the graphics that further the sense of the time period.

Difficulty: Medium
You can set difficulty levels in multiplayer, but the key to this game is understanding the strengths of your units and how to use them. Configure a learning curve of 40-50 minutes to become comfortable with the various elements of the game.

Concept: 8
The game has a nice options package, and does an excellent job of bringing the units and settings to life.

Multiplayer: 8
The game is supported by the GameSpy network, and players can set their personal difficulty level in an attempt to ensure equal play.

Overall: 8
Austerlitz is challenging and enjoyable. The game has depth of play, and enough scenarios and replay options to keep players entertained for a good while.