Set in the 21st century, the board game begins with the premise that during the Cold War, nuclear terrorists destroyed much of the Middle East's supply of oil.

In response, the United States launched into orbit a satellite based solar-power system to solve the energy crisis.

At the same time, the U.S. had perfected the so-called "Star Wars" technology and incorporated a satellite-based laser system into the solar satellites.

This creates a great deal of political turmoil - the USSR is especially upset at the nuclear balance of power being shifted - and while the rest of the world realigns in various ways (through alliances and treaties as well as conventional military conflict) the United States, complacent in its technical superiority, becomes isolationist in nature.

The game has an interesting dynamic of the US player being outnumbered 3:1 in military strength but steadily being reinforced by laser relay towers which each have a 60% chance to destroy an enemy unit anywhere on the board each turn.

The American player receives reinforcements by drawing two cards per turn, which sometimes specify for partisans or military forces to appear behind enemy lines.

Commercially, this was considered to be the third most successful board game in Milton Bradley's Gamemaster Series placing it in the middle of the pack.