Flash of Steel is the blog of Troy S. Goodfellow. That’s me. I wroteabout computer games in one place or another from 2000 to 2010 with a focus on historical strategy games. This blog has that same focus, but will also deal with other gaming issues as they arise. In 2011, I accepted a position with Evolve PR, and that complicated a few things, but the blog continues.

Born in Canada, living in America, and I have far too many degrees that I am not using. I wrote for a ton of different places, most notably Computer Games Magazine, Games for Windows Magazine, 1up, Gamespy, Crispy Gamer, Gameshark and finally, PCGamer as their strategy columnist.

The banner up top was designed by Jennifer Sparks. She does amazing work.

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

I contributed to 2k Games’ Civilization Chronicles compilation pack in 2006, writing the history of the beloved franchise and conducting interviews with major players in the series.

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.