"You know, there's one thing you Freelancers always seem to forget. And that's the fact that we've managed to kick your ass time and time again. Oh sure, you've got all your smart plans, and your fancy technology, and your advanced training, but, in the end, what has that gotcha? Without a team you can count on and your fellow soldier by your side, all that doesn't really amount to squat, now does it?"

—Sarge describing the Reds and Blues to Washington in Reckless

Simulation Troopers is the technical name given by Project Freelancer for the Red and Blue armies. The most known simulation troopers are the Blood Gulch Reds and Blues, who are the main focus of the series. Project Freelancer created the simulation troopers to test their agents' abilities and equipment, by using soldiers pulled from their ranks in the UNSC due to their incompetence and inability to perform as real soldiers, before providing them with matching equipment to ensure long-lasting conflicts for the project to study.

It's unknown what happened to most of the Simulation Troopers following the project's end due to the severe military infractions from the Director, as the Reds and Blues were planning to return to Blood Gulch after his suicide to resume their daily lives, before being shipwrecked on Chorus.

Overview

The term for the Reds and Blues was brought up by Agent Washington in Reconstruction: Chapter 12. Simulation troopers are soldiers assigned to either Red or Blue teams by Command and placed in an outpost and faced with scenario after scenario to find out what would happen if this or that happened. It's stated in Change of Plans that the UNSC gave several known locations to Project Freelancer to conduct these tests. Also, revealed in the episode Tenth Percentile, simulation troopers are also known as "low-level operatives", enlisted soldiers pulled out from their units due to low test scores and poor field skills; explaining the events of The Blood Gulch Chronicles.

However, the Blood Gulch Reds and Blues have proven to have great skills and stopped many major threats including several rogue Freelancers, dangerous A.I., the Insurrectionist Leader, and bringing Project Freelancer to justice. The UNSC has even honored and rewarded the Blood Gulch soldiers for these actions. Due to their reputation, the Blood Gulch soldiers are considered the greatest military team and heroes in the galaxy by a majority of people, such as those on Chorus.

Known Members

Blood Gulch Reds and Blues

Other Reds

Other Blues

Outposts

• Basic Training
• Sergeant Training
• Outpost 1 (Outpost 1-A, Outpost 1-B)
• Outpost 9
• Outpost 17 (Outpost 17-A, Outpost 17-B)
• Outpost 25 (Outpost 25-A, Outpost 25-B)
• Outpost 48 (Outpost 48-A)
• Battle Creek
• Zanzibar

Trivia

• Project Freelancer refer to the teams by letters with Blue as "A" and Red as "B". This is strange because blue is often associated to "B" due to its spelling and the name of the conflict between them starts with red (Red vs. Blue) like how "A" is the first letter in the alphabet.
  • Ironically, Caboose is the only character that refers to the conflict as "Blue vs. Red", which would be correct in the case of how Project Freelancer organized it.
• While there is an outpost numbered 48, it's unknown if there is at least 48 outposts involved in the simulated conflict.
• Because simulation troopers are low level operatives manipulated to test Freelancers, it can be seen as poetic justice that Project Freelancer, despite all of its advantages, was disbanded because of the actions of the Reds and Blues, a group consisting mostly of simulation troopers.

References

Red Team
Blood Gulch: Sarge (ε) · Dick Simmons (ε) · Dexter Grif (ε) · Franklin Delano Donut (ε) · Lopez the Heavy (ε)
Desert Gulch: Surge · Gene · Cronut · Lorenzo · Biff · Shelly
FH57: Turf · Morgan · Drag · Sue · Santos · Peake · Cherry
Colorblind: Hutch · Regina · Cobb · Marlowe
Sarge's Elite Team: George · John · Alex
Other: Lopez 2.0 · Red Zealot · Max Gain · Phil · Walter Henderson · Red Mutineer Burke · Dellario · Tubbs · Hammer · Johnson MacGruff · Hank Daggerknife · Clint Buckshot
Vehicles: M12 LRV · Motorcycle

Blue Team
Blood Gulch: Leonard L. Church · Epsilon · Lavernius Tucker (ε) · Michael J. Caboose (ε) · Tex (ε) Washington · Sheila · Butch Flowers · Andrew D. Kaboom (ε) · Junior · Kaikaina Grif · Freckles
Desert Gulch: Mark Temple · Buckey · Loco
Coloblind: Wynn · Squatch · Deuce
Other: Jimmy · Jacob J. Jenkins · Mickey · Miller · Jones · Blue Grunt Leader · Phil (Falcon)
Vehicles: M808V Main Battle Tank · Chopper