Millennium Wars Advanced Playtest and Progress Report
January 26, 2008
Joseph Miranda, Michael Anderson, Jon Compton

Basic System Description and Focus of Current Playtests

The current system is broadly defined by focus on the concept of unit capabilities, or in game terms, missions. Each unit type may perform a variety of missions, defined by icons on the units themselves. These missions allow units to perform anything from kinetic operations (regular combat, assaults, artillery, etc.) to cyber operations and infrastructure building or destruction.

This concept is crucial in order to show the asymmetric capabilities of insurgent and civil units in theater, as well as to define the role of infrastructure in the environment.

The results of performing various missions is done on a simplified table that uses combined forces applied to a mission, then a die-roll (2d6), which results in the number of “successes.” These successes are then applied in the form of traditional step losses, retreats, tier reductions (see below), political or logistic point losses, etc., depending upon the missions and the target.

Another important concept to the game is the incorporation of the notion of decision cycles, or OODA loops. The concept is abstracted into a unit “tier” mechanism, as defined by national or subnational relative unit capabilities. There are three tiers generally, but specific units may be designated with a “+” or “-” which indicates one extra or one less tier for that unit respectively. During a game turn, a unit may conduct missions in a number of phases equal to its tier rating.