Poilu: A Preview and Explanation of the Game

About Poilu: La Grande Guerre, from BoardGameGeek:

Poilu: La Grande Guerre is a solitaire WWI man-level survival RPG set on the Western Front in which players take on the role of a single French soldier, or "Poilu" -- a mythic name literally meaning "scruffy" or "hairy", alluding to the motley facial hair of the older troops mobilized in increasing numbers to replace the egregious losses of the younger "Pioupious" after the first few months of fighting in 1914 -- and try to survive the duration of the war. Poilu: La Grande Guerre begins as early as August 1914 and ends in early November 1918, with all major geographic locations of the front represented from the northernmost flooded plains of Flanders to the mountanious and heavily forested Vosges. The game is dynamic, with missions, chores, life events, and so on generated through comprehensive tables. Whether a combat mission or patrol mission (combat patrol or recon patrol), some dangerous chore in broad daylight or under the cover of night, or during rare moments of free time, your poilu will live day-by-day on the frontline, struggling to avoid frostbite, incoming enemy shells, and maintain contact with his family and friends until the horrible fighting finally comes to an end. During his time in the French Army, he may earn decorations, awards, and increase his fighting ability as he becomes a more hardened and veteran soldier; He may be entrusted to lead up to a certain number of men when his compagnie is on the offensive; He and his vieux, or buddy, will share their hardships together, protecting each other's lives whenever possible; But ultimately, your poilu's goal is to survive La Grande Guerre in Europe and return home ideally in one piece. Poilu: La Grande Guerre includes comprehensive rules, tables and a missions supplement booklet; a player character information/campaign track sheet; two mats to track in-mission and in-patrol statistics, as well as one mat to track the current time, weather, and so on; three counter sheets including soldiers, helmets, uniforms, weapons, terrain, orders, and much more; one weapons reference sheet to examine the data of various French and German weaponry as they appear in-game; and eleven playable regiments (23d, 92d, 111th, 117th, 146th, 151st, 223d, 298th, and 333d infantry regiments, as well as the 73d and 132d territorial infantry regiments) along with their actual historical combat paths and date-based geographic locations, that you may join and follow as one soldier of that outfit. Poilu: La Grande Guerre requires two ten-sided (d10) dice to play, and may be (but is not required) enhanced by taking notes and keeping a log on a separate sheet of paper, or digitally with any free word-like program, as your soldier's story develops. -description from the designer