The Unseen War
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 11:15 pmhttp://peterswar.com/index.htm
more of the story: http://peterswar.com/the_story_of_peter ... ns_war.htm
and his old blog: http://peterswar.blogspot.com/
He's also a painter: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/peter-shulman.html
NB: the post title is taken from a Flickr group of the same name that although it varies widely in the quality of its submissions, is still an occasionally cool trove of people playing with little soldiers, and can be worth wasting some time on.
I started spending my summers on Nantucket and had apartments in New York City. I played war in the sand on the island. I built up the equipment to a large extent. It filled a large walk in closet in my apartment. An incident in my apartment in New York City had a dramatic effect on my playing army. Richard Pryor, a comedienne, was in my apartment and saw some tanks. He asked about them and for the first time, I told someone about the game. He got excited and wanted to play. We played army together one evening.
The wars on the farm in Salem, New York were wonderful. I built airfields and towns, had wide-ranging armor and infantry battles and flew aircraft over the hills and through the woods. I also began to build up the Gray Army (bad guys). I named no one in the Gray Army. It was just the enemy. Many friends visited the farm in Salem and I began to openly show them what I was doing. It was a major step for me. I was no longer ashamed of my war gaming. What I discovered was that not only didn't I have to be ashamed, but almost all the people that visited the farm were fascinated.
There are over twelve hundred (1400) jet aircraft in 1/48 scale and more than three thousand five hundred (3,700) vehicles in 1/35 and 1/32 scale. Every year about one hundred new pieces of equipment are added. At this time, in January, 2012, there are seven hundred and fifty two (752) named friends and acquaintances in my army and approximately sixty thousand (60,000) sculpted clay figures.
I have no idea where many of my companions in the game are now, but I wish them all well. It's been great playing the war with them over the years. So, on goes my war in which "nobody dies". I suppose it will not end until I do.
more of the story: http://peterswar.com/the_story_of_peter ... ns_war.htm
and his old blog: http://peterswar.blogspot.com/
He's also a painter: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/peter-shulman.html
NB: the post title is taken from a Flickr group of the same name that although it varies widely in the quality of its submissions, is still an occasionally cool trove of people playing with little soldiers, and can be worth wasting some time on.
