Despite your help there Sitethief i got pipped
Nobody Expects: 812,099 Attacking + 1,159,844 Defending = 1,971,943 Casualties
Diego the Dog 786,221 Attacking + 1,039,235 Defending = 1,825,456 Casualties
Also as regards Nuke first striking
We did have an exposed attempt at a nuke spy attack before the first nuke flew (i know this cause it was my nuke they tried to spy ) we do regard this as a first strike so we were actually countering.
That said I am sure we still would have nuked as per reasons already explained (and they are fun )