It looks like the game version provided with the current GOG installer, setup_dark_reign__rise_of_the_shadowhand_1.4_hotfix_(57028).exe, does crash on launch.

On the other hand the older build I kept in my backups, setup_dark_reign_2.1.0.46.exe, does not suffer from this early crash.

I am going to run comparisons, and see if I can identify what has been broken between these two builds.

I had no success so far, you can follow this page to ensure you do not miss any progress I might make: New game: Dark Reign 1 - ./play.it forge.

Thanks for the effort!