The essence of the game is in the title: "D-R-A-M." Divisions operate under broad orders, including Deploy, Reserve, Attack, or Manoeuvre. Commanders must spend their Ability Points to change orders, creating a realistic degree of command friction and preventing players from instantly redirecting entire armies. It's a simple but very elegant order system. "Deploy" is the most flexible order, allowing a division wide latitude to operate on the battlefield. "Reserve" is the only order that allows a division to recover lost strength, but this order cannot be used within a mile (12") of an enemy formation. "Attack" is when your brigades are forming up into attack columns (presumably, because there are no formations used in a game at this level) and is the only way to press into contact with an enemy unit. Finally, "Manoeuvre" orders allow for road march columns with greater speed. 

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For such a basic order system, there are surprising nuances. Divisions on "Attack" orders, for example, cannot just switch over to Reserve instantly. There are realistic limitations baked into the system that require attacking divisions to first shift to a Deploy status before picking Reserve or Manoeuvre. Likewise, a division in march column cannot instantly be thrown into "Attack" orders. They have to Deploy for a turn (one hour) and THEN be ordered into "Attack." And if any of this sounds complex--it isn't. The entire order system is explained clearly in a quarter-page table.

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Not everything is clearly explained in this short booklet and depending on your tastes, this is either maddening or an opportunity for you to put your own stamp on an otherwise bare bones system. The entire rule section on Movement is just three sentences long, and that means plenty of questions do emerge when playing your first game. Can divisions interpenetrate? Can multiple divisions make contact with the same enemy unit, or must combat be one-on-one? Can a unit withdraw from an ongoing combat? What if they were just charged by an attacking division this same turn? In three sentences of rules, none of these questions are answered for you, leaving a lot of gaps for players to fill in themselves or infer from the limited text as best they can. 

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Initiative is determined at corps level, meaning some formations move before others. Combat is dead simple. Some players may feel it is too simplified, but if you want to resolve Borodino in an evening, something has to give! Players compare Strength Points, apply a handful of modifiers, and roll six-sided dice based on orders, terrain, leadership, cavalry charges, and artillery support. Casualties reduce a formation's Strength Points, gradually wearing down its combat effectiveness. Some divisions may only have a few SPs, so entire divisions can melt away quickly with a bad die roll.

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How does a battle end? Exhaustion. Once a division falls below half strength, it risks losing the will to continue pressing forward. Units may halt their advance or even automatically fall back into defensive postures. This captures the gradual degradation of Napoleonic formations without requiring excessive bookkeeping. Is failing an Exhaustion roll the only way to disengage from combat, or can you voluntarily leave? Again, that's unclear the rules, so your gaming group may reach their own conclusions.

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Every general is assigned two ratings: Charisma and Ability. Leaders who personally involve themselves in the fighting risk everything from minor wounds to death on the battlefield. His Charisma rating adds dice to the combat, teasing players with tempting opportunities to swing the tide in their favor (at great personal risk). Ability Points are spent to issue new orders, with modifiers for line of sight and physical distance on the table. The overall effect is a game that feels less concerned with individual battalions and brigades and more concerned with the sweeping, corps-level maneuvers debated by Napoleon, Wellington, or Kutuzov.