The year given for this conflict on the coverbox is 1997. The designers were quite accurate in saying the game represented "fantasy." However, if the background is suitably altered, and the date of the conflict is moved to the mid21st century, a situation somewhat like this might take place. There might occur the possibility of the emergence of neotraditionalist, mostly Old World powerblocs, such as Europa, Chung-kuo, Nippon, and so forth. As part of their longstanding disdain for Old World traditionalism, the U.S. would attempt to bring the European powerbloc to heel. The failure of this effort seriously rebounds" against the U.S., and leads to serious questioning of the central U.S. paradigm among many American citizens. The U.S. is threatened with dissolution along various factional and separatist lines. It is only as a result of this kind of civil conflict, that the U.S. can at all be threatened with invasion.

The Invasion: America scenario would require several modifications to simulate this kind of struggle. (It can first be assumed that the "corps" are roughly the size of "European" divisions - and, in terms of the current U.S. army, they would be strong brigades - as the size of the armies otherwise is absolutely too monstrous.) The forces of the "South American Union" should be allowed to deploy anywhere up to and including Mexico. The invading "European Socialist Coalition" forces should probably be rather smaller in number. However, both "SAU" and "ESC" forces should have a subversion ability against US units, resulting in disruption, elimination (mass desertion), or (a small chance of) conversion. The "Pan-Asiatic League" forces would probably be perceived as too alien to be able to do this.) The "Canadian" forces (Canada no longer exists) would be randomly placed to represent seccessionist/isolationist/factional US forces - and any militia raised would be considered to belong to those focres. Players may also experiment with giving the Quebec area to the ESC player, serving as a "forward deployment zone."

It has been argued in conflict studies that a system involving five to seven distinct "actors" is inherently more stable than any larger or smaller (e.g. bipolar) system. So perhaps the future of the planet would be characterized by the "multipolarity" of several "superblocs", e.g. Europa, Chung-kuo, Nippon, etc. After a period of ongoing fighting and shifting coalitions, these superblocs would perhaps establish something like the "World Organization for Resource Development" (as postulated in old SPI's Battlefleet Mars) to regulate economic relations. WORD would also be a focus for the transnational corporations (TNC's), which, it is difficult to expect, would simply wither away. At some point, a megamerger of TNC's would create the basis for ARES Corporation (as postulated in Battlefleet: Mars) whose task would simply be the colonization and exploitation of space. It is not difficult to conceive that the superblocs", which would in most cases be coterminous with "civilizations" or culturespheres", and, in one case at least, explicitly tied to a religion (Islam), would tend to be rather inward-looking. Those persons who were especially progressive minded and chafed under the "bounded horizons" of such societies would find a welcome refuge in escaping to space. It is certainly "no accident" that the most outwardlooking persons in the space colonies would become increasingly desirous of complete independence from ARES Corporation, and formulate revolutionary ideas.

Thus, although the United States might be defeated on Earth, its ideas would be almost inevitably reborn in space under the banner of the Martian Free Traders, or other independentmined groupings on the new human frontier.

Mark Wegierski is a Canadian freelance writer. His interest in gaming began in the early 1970s. Returning to the hobby after several years, he has recently published in Fractal Spectrum, Vindicator, and Simulacrum.