It rarely matters which formation you're using. The experience and skill of the soldiers under your control isn't really an issue either. You see, battles in Braveheart invariably become melees, where both bands of warriors scrap messily until surrender or total defeat. Having accreted to a central point, they blindly hack and slash at the nearest enemy, often paying little heed to your order to fight elsewhere. Structured, realistic battles are not an option, so hardcore wargaming fanatics won't like it much. Likewise, C&C devotees will struggle to comprehend the frustrating ignorance of your average Braveheart army. Tactical nous is of little use until later battles; even then, the side with the biggest biceps and sharpest sticks can win with ease.

Braveheart is uncannily similar to the boardgame Risk in many ways. The conquering of territories leads to greater numbers of troops; the stockpiling of soldiers at the borders of your empire acts as defence and allows expansion on all fronts; the more troops you have on the battlefield, the more likely you are to win. Use the 'auto manage' option to deal with day-to-day trading and so forth, and your duties as ruler involve the movement of troops from one territory to another and, of course, battles. This is generally how things work - only a lunatic would attempt to manage each town manually. Braveheart's ludicrously convoluted menu system renders such a decision implausible, though not quite impossible. It's far better to accept the brainless mismanagement of its AI routines and to hell with the loss of revenue.

In the film, William Wallace says: "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom." But Braveheart, your lack of freedom (in interface and intuitive play terms) negates any chance you might have had of having a hold over our lives.