Throwing in my 2 cents, I liked the 1st ed rules better, and if I were to run a game now I would modify the background to a slightly future where the war starts around 2010, with all the little wars and the first Gulf wars being the building blocks, China started the show by attempting to reclaim Taiwan by force and the Russians took advantage of the distraction and attempted to grab some border area from China, also making a play for some old East Block territory and a source of mid east oil resources. The slide to world war would not be noticed until it was way to late.
