Computer wargames and combat sims are dab hands at history dissemination and tactical instruction, but how well do they teach the rules of war? Let’s find out. Beyond the break are twenty questions designed to test your knowledge of International Humanitarian Law – the set of rules that is meant to ensure war is conducted in a civilised manner.

Obviously, there’s little point answering the following questions with help from ChatGPT, Wikipedia, or similar. For your final score (which I hope you’ll share via a comment) to reveal anything interesting about wargamers and their familiarity with IHL, your decisions need to be based on general knowledge and gut instinct, not online research.

Possible answers are always ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Record your responses as you go. This will allow you to calculate your total score when you reach the end.

The questions reference events in a modern-day conflict between the fictional nations of Podrabia and Zendora. Both states are, like most real European countries, parties to the four Geneva Conventions and their three ‘protocols’. For the duration of the quiz, you wear the combat boots of a Second Lieutenant in the Zendoran Army.

1. Sitting Ducks

Almost every morning, ‘89’, a shark-mouthed PAF Toadfoot, appears in the skies over Zubr and proceeds to strafe anything that moves, including civilians and vehicles clearly marked with red crosses. A few days after arriving in the area, your unit downs this winged menace with a Gigla MANPADS. The plane’s two crewmen eject safely, and manage to deploy their parachutes. Can you legitimately open fire on the pair as they descend?

2. Halt or Die

On landing, one of the enemy airmen immediately drops his pistol, puts up his hands and begins walking towards your position. Ignoring shouted instructions to surrender, the other flier starts sprinting in the opposite direction. According to IHL, do you have the right to open fire on the runner?

3. The Gentle Art of Persuasion

Rumour has it, Captain Radegast obtained details of the defences around Krusovice from a Pod POW. It’s said the prisoner in question was dangled over the River Platan with his hands bound then given a couple of options. Assuming the rumours are true, did the Captain contravene the Geneva Conventions?

4. Operation Jägerbomb

Taking the enemy-occupied cement works at Breznice is proving extremely difficult. Your company has already lost 21 men and six vehicles in failed assaults. The commander of the local drone outfit has a plan to ‘soften the defences’. He wants to infiltrate the factory at night using one of his quadcopters and poison the reservoir the defenders rely upon for water. If you give ‘Operation Jägerbomb’ the go-ahead will you be greenlighting a war crime?

5. Bad Apples

Your patrol has just sprung a successful ambush in an orchard SW of Jablkov. The bodies of six slain foes now sprawl amongst the swaying dandelion clocks and rotting windfalls. Confident that the enemy will attempt to retrieve their KIAs at some point, Sergeant Novak wants to booby-trap the corpses with hand grenades. Knowing what you know about IHL, should you let him do this?

6. Saw Points

A number of your men took N19 bayonets as prizes after the Battle of Squeaky Windmill Ridge. They intend to use them during tonight’s trench raid. Does the N19’s fearsome-looking serrated edge mean it’s an illegal weapon in the eyes of the International Committee of the Red Cross?

7. Medicine Man

The only figure visible in the shadow-striped clearing is a seated enemy medic. Through the telescopic sight of your sniper rifle you can clearly make out his red cross armband, his medical bag, the magazine he’s reading, and the SMG slung over his right shoulder. Does the weapon mean you can open fire without breaching IHL?

8. Shot at Dawn

Apparently, the five dead Pod soldiers we found in the abattoir at Jenec were executed by their own side for desertion. Is capital punishment for desertion strictly forbidden under IHL?

9. Dig for Victory

On the wreck-strewn road to Sadska your truck passes a party of Podrabian POWs digging an anti-tank ditch at gunpoint. Is the moustachioed Captain who organised the work detail and is monitoring progress from the saddle of a restless Marengo-lookalike, flouting any part of the Geneva Conventions?

10. Young Gun

Today you learned that Private ‘Samson’ Strunc lied about his age when he joined up. The massive machine-gunner isn’t actually 19, he’s 17! Should you send him out on on patrol tomorrow as planned, bearing in mind that Zendora is a signatory to the Child Soldiers Protocol?

11. Mines of Information Part 1

Paul and Dave, the two British volunteers who joined your unit last week, are talking landmines and their legality. Paul is convinced that both the UK and US are parties to the Ottawa Convention – the treaty that sought to rid the world of anti-personnel landmines. Is he right?

12. Mines of Information Part 2

Dave mentions that Ukraine recently withdrew from the Treaty? Is he correct?

13. Handle With Care

The Zendoran Army still use the VX84, a domestically produced anti-tank mine fitted with an anti-handling device. Is there anything in the Geneva Conventions that forbids the use of such designs?

14. Fashion Crime

Cut-off for two days by a counter-offensive, Sergeant Novak’s squad eventually made it back to base with help from Podrabian uniforms found in a derailed train. While disguised, his unit engaged and eliminated several Pod soldiers. Did they break the rules of war?

15. Sniper sniped

A few days ago Zendoran special forces neutralised ‘Chisel’, reputedly the Podrabian Army’s most successful sniper. The sharpshooter/social media ‘star’ was out of uniform, on leave in his home town when the hit occurred. Are such killings permissible under IHL?

16. Hospital Pass

You have clear evidence that the enemy is using a structure on the roof of Smrk hospital as an observation post. An ATGM strike would eliminate the OP. Would it also leave you vulnerable to war crime charges?

17. Prohibited Projectiles

The young tank commander providing support for today’s attack on the village of Blato wants to know whether he can legally fire white phosphorous shells at enemy fortifications and troop concentrations. You’re confident there are no civilians left in the settlement. Is your answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’?

18. For You the War Is Over

Last week, a damaged ZAF transport helicopter made an emergency landing in neighbouring Kozelia, a neutral state. Kozelia has seized the heli and interned its crew. Is this action legal?

19. Casualty Conundrum

There is room for one more casualty in the red cross emblazoned APC that pulled up outside the farmhouse a few minutes ago. Of the two remaining WIAs, one is your lightly wounded radio operator, and the other is a Podrabian conscript with a nasty chest wound. Under IHL are you obliged to MEDEVAC the POW first?

20. When Doves Cry

Sadly, the brave local civilian who saved your bacon in Slanina by shouting timely warnings from the top of the village’s crenelated dovecot, paid a high price for his actions. Did the Podrabian IFV gunner who felled him with a hail of 30 mm autocannon rounds commit a war crime?

Thanks for playing! You can calculate your total score by consulting this image. Award yourself one point for every answer you got right.

Your War Law rating:

0-5 points = Get thee to The Hague
6-9 points = Unfit for service
10-12 points = Alarmingly ignorant
13-15 points = Mediocre 
16-17 points = Fairly knowledgeable
18 points = Well informed
19 points = Extremely well informed
20 points = Expert