Soldiers: Tactical Combat in 1914–15

In the opening months of World War I, generals had the geographical freedom to maneuver their armies using massed assault tactics designed for 18th- and 19th-century combat. However, the use of modern weaponry such as machine guns, high-explosive fragmentation shells and mortars, even in limited supply during the opening days of the war, caused unprecedented casualties numbering hundreds of thousands on all sides. As a result, all combatants took cover in trenches, creating an attritional stalemate that would become the hallmark of the entire war.[1]

Soldiers is a two-player board wargame where one player controls Allied forces and the other player controls German and Austro-Hungarian forces. The single hex grid map used for all scenarios is scaled at 100 m (110 yds) per hex[2] and features a variety of terrain, including wooded hexes, a hill, roads and a river; however, most of the central part of the board is open terrain.[3]

The game comes with 200 counters representing six nations (British, French, Russian, Belgian, German and Austro-Hungarian) but only about 70 counters representing two nations appear in any scenario.

Shortly after Jim Dunnigan founded Poultron Press in 1969 he gave David Isby the task of designing a game about World War I. Isby took two years to research the subject, decide on a theme, create a game and playtest it with his friends.[5] By the time Isby finally brought the game to be published in 1972,[5] Dunnigan had changed the name of the company to Simulations Publications. Soldiers was released as a boxed set with graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen.

Contemporary critics praised the game for its realism in simulating the short period of time in late 1914 when mobile tactics were used.

In Issue 11 of the British magazine Games & Puzzles, game designer Don Turnbull liked the "Simple, yet realistic rules and mechanics, with plenty of scenarios to choose from." Turnbull concluded, "[Its] first sight is most impressive."[6]

In Issue 7 of Moves, George Phillies called Soldiers "probably the smoothest playing of SPI's lengthening tactical series." Phillies thought the major reasons for this were the limited number of weapons, the map — "not overly cluttered with terrain" — and the simultaneous firing phases. Phillies concluded, "All situations show clearly, if the participants are careless, the devastation that could be inflicted by the weapons of the time. They also show that a cautious attack still had a good chance to succeed without extreme losses in the period before the trench lines."[4]

Writing for The Pouch, Nicholas Ulanov thought the game was "Excellent," calling it a "Very realistic and mobile World War I game." Ulanov's only complaint was the high attritional casualty rate.[7]

In the 1980 book The Complete Book of Wargames, game designer Jon Freeman recalled that the then eight-year-old game "was a breakthrough in design and remains a good game in its own right," noting that Soldiers was the influential predecessor of popular tactical games such as Sniper!, StarSoldier, and the bestselling Squad Leader. Freeman also commented that it was a good teaching game. "Players quickly learn the importance of reserves and supporting fire, the danger of leaving a flank open, the benefits of elevated terrain, and the value of combined arms tactics." Freeman gave this game an Overall Evaluation of "Very Good", concluding, "Soldiers is probably the best game of land combat of the period."[3]

In The Guide to Simulations/Games for Education and Training, history professor Martin Campion noted that "This is one of the best games I have used in my classes. The rules are fairly simple and mostly logical. The individual scenarios are short. The game shows vividly the tactical conditions of 1914, before the building of the great trench lines." Campion suggested that a truly good lesson would be to have students play the game without learning all of the combat rules, mirroring army officers' lack of knowledge of modern tactics at the start of the war. "Then the game becomes a good means to teach people why wargames are a lot better for them than the real thing."[2]

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• Phoenix #31