Brilliant!
I've had this game for a while now, I'm still not bored.
At the start you choose between one of three factions. There positions sorta indicate where your meant to go, but it doesn't restrict you. It's not just the military you have to worry about, I'm for ever having volcanoes go of, or a plauge. You have to get clean sewers, temples and things like that, or you will have a riot on your hands!
Making and moving armys is half the fun, the rts features are great too, mainly because of the scale of the battles. There is nothing funner than sending 20 elephants in to a bunch of peasents and seeing them fly into the air!
This game is pretty much flawless, although I didn't get online working.
But if you dont want to do the campaign mode, there is a pretty good skirmish mode there.
Get this game.