Okay. Thanks, AJ, for the compatibility tip. I tried it and was definitely doing it right.
This time, I started with a clean re-downloaded copy of the game files and installed it. The shell would open, but when I tried to change to full screen, it would crash. If I kept it as a window, I could enter the main program. If I loaded the map editor, I could navigate around the 3D map and the images came in fine. But I tried to load a battle, (Austerlitz, for example), the game would load with the old GUI, the 3D landscape was completely muddled, and then it would quickly crash.
Seems like a display problem of some kind. Right now, my display is set at 1980 x 1080. But these same problems happen whether I am running in Windows 7 or 8 compatibility modes. Not sure what to do to either (1) enter full screen mode or (2) keep the game from crashing when actually loading the 3D landscape with units in order to fight a battle.
Thanks!
MJ