I can attest to the fact that having a cable modem doesn't mean you get no lag. :)

What you might want to do if you really feel that you want no dice, is to research some of the diceless RPG systems out there. Give them all a playtest and see which one works best for your game, and make sure none of the tests are client-side. That's the only advice I can give.

You could try implementing a design that doesn't use dice or "twitch" skills. Take a page from chess and give each unit special abilities that always work. Weapons would be 100% accurate, in the correct circumstances.

A machine gun would be lethal when deployed in a given firing arc, but a fleet-footed rifle squad could flank the kill zone and terminate it. The ability of the rifle squad to kill the machine gun would depend on the player's ability to move his squad safely to the side or rear of the machine gun.

To counter this, the defending player could deploy his own riflemen on the machine gunner's flanks. The attacker could use a tank to punch through this defensive line, as long as the defender doesn't have anti-tank teams in position. The attacker could use rifles to escort the tank, but would need to be careful that they aren't shredded by the MG (i.e. use the tank as cover).

Gameplay would consist of moving/positioning units in a way that maximizes their skills. Each unit would have strengths and weaknesses, like in chess, that would have to be exploited to achieve victory.

- Mike

OK... can anyone recommend some diceless RPG systems to look into? Especially ones with some sort of missile attacks?

Thanks for the help, everyone.