Shortly after I start a battle the screen goes blank. The game is running I think from the sound that is still going on. Back in windows there is a pop-up that says Application Error: C:\Program Files \blah\gameProject.exe
The instruction at 12009256 referenced memory at 00000000
The memory could not be read from
Click Ok to terminate the application

Try running it in different compatability modes. If that doesn't work try reinstalling it again.
If either of those don't sort the problem then more information on your systems specs would be helpful. A dxdiag wouldn't hurt either.

I have a similar problem. I tried different compatibility modes, but they don't seem to help.
If I alt-Tab out, I can start the tast manager and close PE's task. Multiple ones then appear, and it keep showing the loading screen. I keep closing the tasks, and then, eventually I end up playing, except that not all the keys appear to work.
-- Oh, the screen kept blinking black every few seconds as well. It was very irritating.
Vista, btw.
Oh, after it crashes, I get an error saying 'MyMenu.exe has stopped working.' I tried different resolutions, software rendering, and all of the compatability modes, and running as ad administrator. I tried the last two (compat modes and admin) also on mymenu.exe. No luck.
I also tried adding gameproject.exe as admin and with a compat mode, still no luck.
Are other people able to get this to work on vista?
EDIT:
I was able to get this working -- this sounds really stupid, but once the screen flashes black, I have to click a couple of times quickly. By doing so, I guess I am changing the focus to the application. The menu and game then load quickly. I played through several campaign missions with no problem and crashes.
The blinking screen issue was gone as well. It must have been related to the focus probelm.
Weirdness...