The year 2005 marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the Napoleonic Wars, the commencement of one of the most gripping decades in human history. It was an era that saw cobblers become princes and emperors become exiles, an age of legendary diplomats and brilliant tacticians. Scope of the game covers all of Europe and North Africa from 1792 to 1820. Main map is divided into more than 200 provinces.
There are eight national powers from which players may control, and more than 90 minor powers controlled by the computer. The national powers are France, Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Turkey, Spain, and Sweden. Turns at the strategic level correspond to one month of game time; turns on the tactical level correspond to twenty minutes of game time. Players control military, diplomatic, economic, and social aspects of their nations. This includes such activities as drafting and ratifying treaties; offering and accepting trade routes; moving and assigning activities to diplomats; levying and supplying military units. Troops are controlled at the division level and can be arranged into corps and armies. A wide diversity of troop types is implemented, including: light and Jager infantry; cossacks and cossack cavalry; heavy and horse artillery; howitzers; guerilla infantry; Janissaries; merchant ships; diplomats; frigates and privateers. There are more than thirty types of units in all. Units have individual strength and quality (morale) ratings that are determined by the level of barracks and dockyard improvements in the province in which they were created.
