THE IDEA OF WAR

the books the games the TV shows what have I left from them now but the love of a good idea ... take the wargame ... you and your opponent are building a mosaic from the ground up chronologically ... a battle a campaign a war ... this mosaic runs up both sides of the wall is the wall until by the top there are two pictures ... one side triumphant the other defeated ... with the laying of each brick the dice must be rolled to settle the inevitable dispute ... each side wants the brick the one they both must share that will best promote the story its picture is telling ... and no matter how well one side does no matter how clear the story it tells ... it still must roll the dice and accept the consequences according to the rules ... the best games tell a coherent story on both sides of the wall till at the top while one side plants a flag the other is lost in a cloud ... but neither player is humiliated because neither side was debased ... hence the word game to modulate the term war ... but still war ... civilized ... death deleted ... in tribute to ... in honor of ... war