All seven episodes of the HBO mini-series following the opening weeks of the Iraq war from the perspective of a batallion of young American marines. Far from home and positioned at the forefront of the assault on Baghdad, the men rely on humour, grit and camaraderie as they face unwieldy military bureaucracy, over-zealous and incompetent commanding officers, constantly changing rules of engagement, a non-existent strategy, severe deficiencies in necessary armour and supplies and an enemy they cannot begin to understand.