Glad to see someone making good use of the creative section of the forums. I too have problems finishing games and like you William have decided to work on realisable goals and work my way up but enough about me and so onto your design...

While reading through your reasoning behind the game mechanics I got to thinking about why RTS all seem to end up with each warring faction using what are ultimately the same unit types (i.e Infantry, Light, Medium and Heavy Armour, Artillery, etc) with slightly different effects to add a sense of strategy to the proceedings (Axis have weaker aircraft but better tanks, perhaps). While the differences between races are there, it's never as drastic as in the way you have described in your ideal game and the reason for this is balance. The bigger the difference between two factions the harder it is for the game to be balanced so that neither faction has any real advantage over the course of a round/match/level. This is particuarly evident with the online component that supplements most modern RTS's. Players/playtesters will complain that X faction is particuarly weak and call for a "nerfing" (downgrade) of it's most powerful weapon despite the fact that it is weak in another area(s) of play. So the developers succumb to the mounting pressure from the players and so they nerf the weapon. Repeat this ad infinitum until every faction has equal weapons and the game becomes like every other RTS on the market and every match becomes a race to build a base and get the first tank rush underway. This is a problem that has comfounded developers since the original Command and Conquer. I am not trying to dissuade you from your goals, in fact quite the opposite in fact I commend your efforts to bring something new to the RTS and look forward to a glimpse of your gaming ideal. I'm just trying to hopefully shed some light onto what it is that has caused the RTS genre to stagnate to the point that only AAA titles with production values in the tens of millions can break the mould (Warcraft 3, Rome: Total War). When the time comes I'll be available to play test your design and offer any helpful feedback. Good luck and I hope it doesn't take 3-6 years.

ps, sorry for the essay type response.