While we are taking all of this information in, associate producer Mark Sutherns has been busily decimating the British cavalry charge with a fougasse – an 18th century minefield of sorts – before fending off a bayonet attack by their infantry. The British retreat into Leipzig, but they aren’t fleeing. It’s a tactical withdrawal, leaving their commander to organise a rearguard action as they take up firing positions in the buildings, moving the majority of their army into the narrow streets on the far side of town. It’s a smart move – the Prussians now have to decide between an artillery bombardment of the town, which would more or less void their reason for capturing it, or fixing bayonets and fighting hand-to-hand in the streets while being pummeled by musket shot from the garrisoned British.

And the Prussians wouldn’t be able to fire back: as communications manager Kieran
Brigden explains – in one of several casually introduced examples of historical detail we are too ignorant to appreciate – at this moment in history, the socket bayonet had yet to be invented, meaning that affixing the blade was a matter of plugging it in to the barrel itself. Sutherns opts for a mixture of the two strategies, smashing some of the outlying buildings with cannon fire before heading into the town centre. Brutal combat breaks out, and the AI outflanks the Prussian troops. Momentarily the situation appears disastrous, but Sutherns brings in reinforcements to sandwich the column of British troops harrying the Prussian flank.

Almost instantly, and without a great loss of troops, the British elect to flee – again, not a decision made out of panic, but cunning. At all times the AI is aware of the importance of the battle in the overall campaign – here, it’s ambition is simply to hamper Prussian progress and maximise enemy casualties with as little risk as possible. As soon as the day appears lost, they make the decision to live to fight another day, and retreat post-haste.



How such a battle ties in to the larger campaign remains to be seen, but with several non-military routes to victory available, Empire’s depiction of diplomacy and trade promises to be no less elaborate than its recreation of the battlefield. As the recent spate of RTS announcements sees the genre struggling to slim down so it can fit on to consoles, it’s heartening to see Creative Assembly take on something so uncompromisingly ambitious.