Acceptable Losses

Acceptable Losses places the player in the role of an officer behind the front line rather than a frontline hero. Each day the player assigns squads to missions such as patrols, trench repairs, wiring parties and assaults. At night the player handles administrative tasks, including reading incident reports, reviewing medical updates and scanning intelligence briefings, while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. The aim is to survive twenty days.

Performance is assessed by HQ. Good results earn influence that can be used to improve conditions, while poor results cause that influence to be lost. Sufficiently acceptable results may lead to an order to go Over the Top. If the assault is survived, the player must then hold the captured trenches until replacements arrive. Failure leaves the player held responsible.

The game includes over 60 missions, each with at least six possible outcomes, along with over 120 mid-mission events that change results as they unfold. There are over 30 night events affecting squads, supplies and trench conditions, and over 15 modifiers such as morale, fatigue, weather and enemy readiness. Soldiers are randomly generated with unique names and birthplaces, and deaths within squads are permanent. The player can join missions personally to give a leadership boost, at the risk of being injured.