When the young general, Napoléon Bonaparte, presented his plan to conquer Egypt to the government of the Directory, the undertaking was greeted with enthusiasm. Not only would it serve to deliver a powerful blow to England's colonial policy by cutting her route to India, but also it would remove from Paris a troublesome and ambitious soldier it was suspected would be more than a thorn in the Directory's collective side.

The Battle of the Pyramids took place on July 21, 1798, and it pitted Napoléon and his army against the ferocious Mameluke warriors of Murad Bey. The French were outnumbered--30,000 Egyptians to their 15,000 men--but the Corsican general's military genius, and the technological superiority of his army's weapons, brought about the defeat of the fearsome Mameluke horsemen, thus opening the gates to Cairo.

Murad Bey based his strategy on the division of his forces. He set up a stronghold with a large contingent of cavalry and artillery in the village of Embabeh and then sent the rest of his army to wait for Napoléon on open ground. His tactic was to attack and harass the French army, forcing it to adopt a defensive strategy against the devastating charges of the Mameluke army. The key to the French victory, however, was its use of the square formation, allowing the infantry to resist the Egyptian cavalry while taking advantage of artillery support. This tactic isolated the Mamelukes in Embabeh, who were annihilated after a tremendous assault.

At the end of the day, the Mameluke army had lost 5,000 men, while losses on the French side were barely 300.

To adapt this famous battle in Imperial Glory, we have configured both armies proportionately with the troops that took part in the battle that day, faithfully reproducing the numerical superiority of the Egyptians against the greater technical and tactical ability of Napoléon's army, as well as configuring the starting positions of both armies. The devastating power of the Mameluke cavalry is offset by the square formation's resistance to cavalry charges, the factor that would, on that day, let Napoléon win one of his most famous victories.

The map faithfully reproduces the battlefield. The Nile becomes a natural barrier that can either provide protection for one of an army's flanks or become a death trap. Numerous clusters of palm trees afford the infantry some protection against musket fire and charges. However, there is no doubt that the most important strategic point is the village of Embabeh, whose elevation above the surrounding terrain, together with the protection offered by its houses and parapets, make this point on the map crucial if victory is to be won.