Soldiers at War

Soldiers at War is a 1998 turn-based tactics game set in the Second World War, developed by Random Games and published by SSI. A campaign of fifteen missions, based on historical operations, runs from North Africa to Germany. For each one you choose an eight-man squad from a pool of thirty-two soldiers and equip them for the job.

Soldiers gain experience as the campaign goes on and keep items from one mission to the next. Battles are seen from an isometric view, and layers of a map can be removed to see inside buildings or behind objects. There is also a scenario editor, stand-alone missions, and multiplayer for up to four players.

It is one of the most direct attempts of its time to do Jagged Alliance's squad of individuals in a historical war. The roster of thirty-two, with each soldier carrying experience and gear forward, gives the campaign the same attachment to named people.

It looks and plays its age, and it never had the fame of the games around it. It is sold on GOG.

Soldiers at War keeps Jagged Alliance's turn-based fight and its squad of individuals, and replaces the strategic map and the money with a fixed run of missions. The soldiers have records but not voices, so the bond is with their histories rather than their personalities.