[lugaid]

i don't have a whole lot substantive to add to this discussion, exept to note a couple of other realm-scale systems out there. in the D&D Cyclopedia (the D&D that was separate from AD&D back in the 80s/90s), there was a system for running a domain. in several Dragon magazine issues, modifications were made to the system to make it more realistic (the original system was designed to force players to adventure to supplement the domain income). it had an excellent level of abstraction, in my opinion, for fantasy/historical gaming.

also produced in the early 90s was a game called Realms of the Unknown, which was dedicated to running a realm. it included fairly specific and un-abstract systems, keeping track, for instance, of every bit of a number of resources, and what each resource converted to in terms of manufactured goods. surprisingly, though, it was well-enough designed to allow the running of fairly large realms (several thousand population) in a reasonably simple fashion. it had some problems in dealing with abstracted economies (like money), though.

however, my main reason for posting this is to indicate my own support for such a system in GURPS, and to express my own surprise that such a project has never been considered to date. when i brought it up in the Pyramid boards once in passing, i was told that no one would buy such a thing....

edited to add: i almost forgot the Traveller universe products. for Traveller: the New Era, there was a colonization supplement, The World Tamer's Handbook, which included an interesting system for running a colony. stretching the system slightly, one could even adapt the model to large nations.

for Traveller 4th Edition, there was Pocket Empires, which provided an amazing, highly abstracted system to allow players to act as the ruling powers of a pocket empire, with detailed (though abstract) rules for military engagements, economic considerations, and politics and diplomacy.