Russian troops are portrayed as poorly armed (and with poor quality radios, making it very difficult for them to summon artillery support) and with relatively fewer leaders, but with the capacity to become 'berserk' in combat (a capacity shared in later expansions by SS troops). The original game contains counters representing the German, Russian and American armies.
Pieces in Squad Leader represent regular squads (rated for firepower, range and morale), weapon and vehicle crews, elite squads (with high firepower and morale but shorter range - used to represent paratroops or combat engineers armed with sub-machine guns), individual leaders, support weapons, and vehicles. Combined with the sales of Advanced Squad Leader, its sales totaled over 1 million copies by 1997. (The original print run of 2,500 copies had purple boxes which have become collectors' items.) Avalon Hill sold well in excess of 100,000 games of Squad Leader, making it one of the most successful war games ever made.
The original Squad Leader was produced in time to debut at Origins 1977.
