BreakAway Games has made a name for itself using other developers' game engines. It created the Paradise Island expansion for PopTop's Tropico and the Cleopatra and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom games for Impressions' city-building series. But the developer cut its teeth on the engine Firaxis used for Sid Meier's Gettysburg, using it to make Sid Meier's Antietam. From there, BreakAway Games adapted the engine to the pageantry of Napoleonic warfare and created Waterloo: Napoleon's Last Battle. Now the company has polished it up even more for Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory. The result is a testament to BreakAway's facility with the engine, as well as the brilliance of Sid Meier's basic design.

Using muskets requires getting up close and personal.

As far as Napoleon's battles go, Austerlitz isn't as well known as Waterloo, his famous last stand against the English. However, for a number of reasons, it is an ideal subject for a wargame. The battle at Austerlitz was a bold tactical victory in which Napoleon outmaneuvered and outsmarted the emperors of Austria and Russia. It was also a decisive strategic victory that cleared one of the last obstacles to France's hegemony over Europe, making it a historical linchpin. "Roll up the map of Europe," said England's prime minister, William Pitt, after the battle. "We shall not need it these seven years." Finally, it featured the armies of three nations on one battlefield, as France faced the combined armies of Austria and Russia. Austerlitz offers tactical flexibility, historical significance, and variety. It's not surprising that this is the fourth wargame to feature this battle in the last year.

The Gettysburg engine does a superlative job of simulating the warfare of the period, which is more like colliding parades than the mechanized massacres we call war these days. There's something at once quaint and spectacular about troops in gaudy uniforms, neatly lined up under big colorful banners. The gameplay comes down to moving vast numbers of men in orderly formations, subjecting them to the extreme stress of shooting at guys who are shooting back at them, and then hoping they don't break and run before the other guys. It's a classic instance of order slowly collapsing into chaos, a fitting metaphor for war itself and a much more visceral and visual approach than anything turn-based.

The morning fog divides the battlefield into two halves.

The engine makes it easy to control your troops and understand the mechanics at work. It's a simple matter to march whole divisions into position, wheel lines around to face a threat, and reinforce weak spots when troops take heavy fire. It's easy to see how marauding cavalry can terrorize a battlefield, how artillery can shred even the most orderly lines, and how much more deadly muskets are at 100 yards than at 200 yards. What's more, the engine always makes it clear why things are happening, which is a real accomplishment considering that it runs in real time. You'll never feel that there's some sort of unreliable random-number generator at work under the hood. You can tell exactly how close your regiments are to breaking and being routed. You can see how cavalry sneaking through woods will need to regroup before charging across a field. You can see the effect nearby leaders have and how certain terrain gives you cover from enemy fire. And there's never a sense that you're being rushed, as the game speed is flexible. You can even pause and give orders at any time.

The interface is sensibly laid out, with thorough in-game info available by right-clicking on a button. For instance, if you don't know what a mixed-order formation is or why you'd want to use it, right-clicking brings up a helpful box that answers these very questions. All commands can be issued with clearly labeled buttons or hotkeys. There are also helpful screens listing orders of battle, a log of all warning messages, and a breakdown of the current state of the battle. You can lay a grid over the map to gauge distances or check lines of sight. A setting to exaggerate elevation information makes it easy to see the high ground you'll want to occupy. When a battle is over, you get the same sort of thorough debriefings that breathed so much personality into Gettysburg. In addition to the excellent replay feature, there are detailed statistics on casualties and scoring. There are even the equivalent of MVP awards for each side's best units. Like Gettysburg, Austerlitz does a masterful job of offering all the information you need, and then some, without overwhelming you.