アバロンヒルしかプレイしたことのない中学生の我々が、久が原にあった模型店「モデルエース」を通じて知ったのがカデークラブです。

例会に参加してみると、大学生や社会人が中心で、それまで見たこともないSPIの「スナイパー」や「ボロジノ」をプレイしており、中学生には加わる余地はありませんでした。
それでも、大人の善意でサイコロを振る係をあてがわれ、「キミは6を出した、エライ!」などと言われながらルールのわからないゲームに混ぜてもらいました。

その数年後、ウオーゲームは一般誌に取り上げられ、東急ハンズでも販売されるなど全盛期を迎えます。私自身は受験で遠ざかり、三つめのゲーム、SPI「NATO Division Commander」を購入するのは大学に入ってからです。

What happened in 1980 was something never to be forgotten. War games became popular among the ordinary people, and you could buy them everywhere in your city. Top three toy-makers in Japan manufacturered a lot of semi-war games. “Pop-Eye”, one of the major fashion magazines had an article about war games too. It is understandable that the beatutiuful art works of war games attracted many people. Made in US! Historical simulation! Used as a training material in a War College! But it was oubious to me that people did not knew what they were having. I remember one article portlaying that war games were so popular among university students that a guy played “Fright Leader” with his girl friend. In the article, she said that "F16 is fabulous." Indeed, war games were trend on which everyone wanted to ride. I puzzled by those hustling. How on earth could girls enjoy a war?

Like any other boom in Japan, such as playing tennis or collecting LOUIS VUITTON's, people had started looking for another new things. Just within a year, along with the fall of SPI and AH, as well as flourishing of “Nintento” computer games, war games dispersaled from all toy shops very quickly, like VC units in “Vietnam 1965-1975”. I have never seen them again.