I have just heard the sad news that Peter Perla – who was the doyen of professional wargamers – has died.
He was a member of Wargame Developments, and I had the great honour to meet and talk to him on several occasions during his rare visits to London. I always enjoyed talking wargames and wargame design with him, and he always made time to talk to me at wargame conferences if he could. We shared a belief that wargame design is an art rather than a science, although it might be true to say that in some ways it is a dark art.
During one of our meetings, he showed me the copy of THE PORTABLE WARGAME that he had stored on his iPad and was very complimentary about its simplify and subtlety.
He was also a great supporter of the ‘History of Wargaming’ Project, and contributed to it in many ways, including writing forewords and helping John Curry – the originator of the project – to get access to all sorts of sources of obscure wargames etc.
He will be greatly missed by his family, his friends, and the wargaming community. I wish to record my deepest condolences to his family.
I've heard his name but can't say I've read anything by him, but could be wrong. As sad loss though given what he's contributed to the hobby.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteHe wrote ‘The Art of Wargaming’ back in the 1980s. It was probably the first detailed study of professional wargaming and became the foundation upon which so much was subsequently done in the field. A revised edition was reprinted as part of the ‘History of Wargaming’ project relatively recently.
All the best,
Bob
I first met Peter in 2008 at a Connections-US conference in Florida. I ran into him only at thee conferences, but we always had a good chat and once or twice had dinner together. I was always in awe of his intelligence, rare good humour, clear writing and willingness to mentor and encourage people. I will miss him greatly.
ReplyDeleteBrian Train,
DeleteI first met Peter at King’s College London when he came to talk to Phil Sabin’s post-grad wargame design students. He was a true gentleman, and I could have talked and listened to him for hours. He was an extremely good speaker, and held his audience spellbound with his clear, concise, and thought-provoking views about wargame design. He was a giant and will be greatly missed.
All the best,
Bob
So sad, my sincere condolences go out to his family. From the briefest of contacts I had I can understand teh sense of loss the community feels.
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exiled FoG,
DeleteThe reaction to Peter Perla’s death has been akin to that I saw when Donald Featherstone died.
He will be greatly missed.
All the best,
Bob