This little refreshment, even aside from its initial pleasantness, is a great tranquilizer tor the jagged nerves, and seems to put everything in the correct perspective, especially when war gamers are most apt to identity too closely with their causes. The war-game is generally conducted along the most professional lines similar to the diplomatic courtesies displayed between the warring monarchs in the past. Insults, of course, are exchanged. Toasts are often made to uncommon valor and splendid successes of particular units in the field. As a supreme grand geste , foreign units have been decorated by grateful allies for meritorious service.
Applause frequently rings the excited air of conviviality.
At all times, as a backdrop to the battle, appropriate thematic music lends itself to this atmosphere of controlled conflict. Be it pipes and drums, Napoleonic marches, or the sound track from War and Peace . Far from dominating, it becomes stylistically just one more component part of a larger context. Style make the man. For the war-gamer, the ''journey through the looking glass'' is not eftortless.