by Tony Hillerman 352 pages. Publisher: HarperCollins; ISBN: 0060194456; 1st edition (October 2, 2001) This memoir of a best-selling mystery writer turns out to be stimulating reading for wargamers. We can add Tony Hillerman to our list of famous people who played wargames as a child. The style was a little unusual, no toy soldiers, but moves, rules, etc. were there. Maybe this will stimulate your creativity in game design. The wargames are a prelude to the real thing. Hillerman served as a combat infantryman in World War II. His perspective is that of a skeptical private. He has some scathing observations about career non-commissioned officers, military intelligence, and awarding medals. It’s a little-heard perspective on what combat is really like. If you are writing your own rules (and what soloist isn’t?), it should give you some ideas. After the war, the story continues. Hillerman then moves on to a career as newspaper reporter and later author of several popular mysteries. You could skip that part, but Hillerman is a master storyteller, and by then I was carried along. Seldom Disappointed is not shelved in the wargaming or military history section, but it contains more stimulating ideas than some books that are. Back to Table of Contents -- Lone Warrior #140 Back to Lone Warrior List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Solo Wargamers Association. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com