Flash of Steel is the blog of Troy S. Goodfellow. That’s me. I’ve been writing about computer games in one place or another since 2000 with a focus on historical strategy games. This blog has that same focus, but will also deal with other gaming issues as they arise.

Born in Canada, living in America, and I have far too many degrees that I am not using. I have written on gaming for a number of websites, both professionally and on a volunteer basis, and was a frequent contributor to Computer Games magazine. I am currently a regular contributor to Gameshark and PTD Magazine.

A portfolio of my stuff is linked on the sidebar. This strategy games blog started as Portico on blogspot, so if the content looks familiar, that’s why.

I recently contributed to 2k Games’ Civilization Chronicles compilation pack, writing the history of the beloved franchise and conducting interviews with major players in the series.

The nice logo up top was done by game theorist/designer/artiste Corvus Elrod of Man Bytes Blog, who is also responsible for helping me get this site up and running.

Why “flash of steel”? The phrase itself comes from Sikh Guru Gobind Singh who writes:

When all efforts to restore peace
Prove useless and no words avail
Lawful is the flash of steel then
And right it is the sword to hail.

A reasonable philosophy I think. And since most strategy and war games assume that words will be to little avail (or have already proven useless), the steel flashes quite a bit, be it the steel of a sword or a bayonet or a grenade launcher.

Have a tip? A request? An opinion you want to share? A job for me to do?

Contact me at troy.goodfellow AT gmail DOT com.