Unfortunately, the overzealous scope of the game detracts from its playability and appeal. Like Gibson's character William Wallace, you are the leader of one of 16 major Scottish clans, and you must unite the others in order to stave off the invading English army. Through the turn-based portion of the game, you control your territories, armies, spies, and towns. Through diplomacy and combat, you attempt to extend your influence and control.
Leaders are the essential element in the strategy of the game.
Without a leader, an army's tasks are severely limited. With a leader, however, you can engage in a variety of diplomatic missions that will help make your campaign successful. Like many turn-based games, you have to pay attention to dozens of different details regarding your clan's daily routines to help foster economic stability and keep your troops' morale high. I personally find all this rather tedious. The lack of an automatic scouting option means that you have to continually deploy your spies to maintain fresh intelligence data on the neighboring territories, which are otherwise frustratingly obscure.