The Total War series wins again.
I've played about 20 battles from the instant battle option, all as the 13 colonies (USA). Just like many of the other TW games I've played, this one is right there with Rome and Medieval II, which happen to be my personal two favorites. Steam took forever when I initially installed this and all the discs to install it also took too long for my taste. But from the first second I saw the new battles I was hugely impressed.
I'd write a longer review but I have yet to have many hours so far with this but I strongly recommend it.