If the unit is adjacent to formerly unseen enemy units then these start firing immediately. Otherwise you may direct your shots at all units within range. Battles are presented in a eagle view of the scenery where the units are drawn in polygon style. In addition there is a summary window that shows the factors of the battle and the outcome. The game is presented in a beautifully drawn technical style.
Battle scenes are in polygon style with adjustable detail level and speed.
The user-interface is rather good with an emphasis on mouse and lots of keyboard shortcuts. It is hard to describe but in principle it is a mouse- based menu system with which I got familiar after some minutes. The display is no longer split but each player has a large view of the battle ground. If several human players are involved this means some turn- around times where the players have to amuse themselves otherwise. The manuals are rather good but in a semi-conversational style that makes it complicated to find facts easily.