Interesting stuff. Computer sims like that have always interested me, but I do have a bias toward stuff that uses real people on both sides. This is because you can still get free play and those wonderful "out of the blue" things that people (regardless of culture) will do.

Marc, I would say that the old RoleMaster system (not the newer ones..second edition and so on) would be a good starting point simply because it can be "tweeked" into just about anything you need. It also has the advantage of having a stout combat system and a decent percentile-based system that can be used (to a degree) to model more complex actions and skills.

And I agree with you about the mid-1980s being the golden age of game design. I look at the d20 junk now and want to scream. Spycraft alone has more tables than a chemistry lab, and 80% of them seem to have no use at all. I think designers lost sight of the fact that a computer is a TOOL, not a viable opponent in the same sense that the guy sitting across from you is. And don't get me started about computer "RPGs" and like.

What company did you work for/run? I did some design work for ICE and a few articles for TSR back in the 1980s.