Past Perspectives - Muck and Bullets

The players in Muck and Bullets take on roles as divisional, corps and army commanders at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The game uses a large full colour map and blocks to represent the deployment of the many divisions, and players get to make decisions and feed their troops into the 'meat grinder' that is WW trench fighting.

The game is designed to engross the participants and give them an insight into the mindset of the time. In our experience, participants quickly start to feel that all they need is 'just one more big push' and that they might even break through the enemy line.

All of which helps students see how it was that battles like the Somme became such slogging matches.

The game is scalable depending on the numbers involved - we have run it for small groups simulating a short section of front, to the entire battle involving an school year group of around 120 students for a whole school day.

At whatever level, Muck and Bullets has proven to be thought provoking, emotive and challenging - and has a lasting impact on many of the young people who have taken part.