You can begin at the end (for Napoleon, anyway) with Battleground 3: Waterloo, then progress to later games in the series: Battleground 6: Napoleon in Russia--The Battle of Borodino, and Battleground 8: Prelude to Waterloo--The Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras. Rounding out the package is Age of Sail, a real-time naval warfare simulation that lets players captain vessels in many conflicts, but mainly those that took place during the Napoleonic wars. This was the weakest game of the bunch, but it still delivered a great deal of fun.

We were more drawn in by the land combat games, which model Napoleonic battles with a great deal of realism despite their turn-based structure. The battles listed in the titles are included (some are broken into pieces for easier play), along with numerous hypothetical engagements that provide some interesting possible answers to the questions that students of these battles ask most often.

These titles have some of the best terrain and unit graphics ever to grace the war-game genre--it's almost like playing with miniatures. Cavalry charges and historical unit formations are modeled very well, making this a must-have compilation for fans of the period and war-game fanatics of all stripes. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Fun games model a fascinating time in military history
• Nice graphics for a war game

• Age of Sail seems like an afterthought for the bundle
• Lack of printed manuals makes the games more difficult to learn than they should be