Hm. Well, for posterity, my specs are:
Windows XP, SP3, all drivers most recent
2ghz CPU, 1gb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Soldat 1.5.0.1, not a fresh install (ie., patched from older versions), running a mod
Deathmatch in DesertWind against one bot
Upon dying, the game half-way gets to the menu and freezes if I hit alt-F4 without choosing a weapon to spawn with. Alt-F4-ing before the menu opens is fine, as is doing it after I've chosen a weapon.