A little rubbish that people now 'cash in' on the later news, meaning those of us here early are actually the least likely to win. And yes, I'm biased. I was the only person with a guess at that end of the year at ALL, at one point!

Knowing full well it's outside of the actual guessrange....

I'd like to take October 15th please.

Why?

Monday, October 15, 1962: A U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by Richard Heyser, reveals several SS-4 nuclear missiles in Cuba.

The start of the Cuban Missile Crisis, of course.

I'd say that makes sense, although I don't know for definite.

The period that influences the game most is the mid-late 80's, when the Cold War was at it's peak. It would make sense that Germany would still be split at this time.

Also, you couldn't have the U.S.S.R otherwise.

- Shockwave

Hi everyone, I'd like to thank Dirty Harry Potter (long standing associate) for alerting me about the Defcon beta. I applied a good... I don't know, 30 or 40 seconds later. :) Just felt a quick 'Hello!' would also be appropriate, I've been keeping a beady eye on Defcon for some time, such a simple, ...