Knightly

It  was  July  6th,  1918,  the  dull  cold  hung  in  the  air.  The  people  of  Vladivostok  sat  in  their  houses  and  ate  breakfast,  when  the  Czech  Legion  broke  the  garrison.  Bullets  rang  out,  but  in  a  few  hours,  the  Czech’s  seized  the  port  city  of  Vladivostok.  Declaring  it  an  Allied  Protectorate. All though little is known about this extraordinary unit, its journey across Eurasia had a profound effect on history, which continue to echo into the modern day. The  sounds  of  the  bullets  that  had  just  been  fired  hung  in  the  air  as  people  tried  to  make  sense  of  the  events...

Israel, probably one of the most controversial countries in the world. From the Settlers to the West Bank to the Six Days War, what even is a “Israel” So, to start off, Israel is a country located on the Eastern Mediterranean, sandwiched in between Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Them, being a Jewish nation and their neighbors all being Islamist, they naturally got into many conflicts with their neighbors, being victorious in most if not all of their 25 conflicts. The major ones being the Sinai War, the Israeli War of Independence, the Six Days War, and the Palestinian Conflict. Starting with the first war, the Israeli war of independence wasn’t an “Independence War” in the way we think of it today, but a war for their survival. The Arab League invaded Israel to restore Palestine. Israel, however, repelled this invasion. This war took place between 1947 and 1949. The next major war is the Sinai war of 1956, or Suez Crisis, it was a conflict in which Britain, France and...

Eva Braun: Who is she Eva Braun, probably sounds familiar, but who is she? Well, she's not a hollywood actor, but she is Hitler’s mistress, and, for 40 hours, his wife. Were they truly in love? Was she a sex slave? What was her role in Nazi Politics? All of these questions will be answered in this Article. Biography Eva Braun was born in 1912 to a middle class family in Munich, Germany. She was born to a school teacher named Friedrich Braun and Franziska Kronbergera. She was an average student, and showed no extraordinary talents, and did not care for school. She went to school at a convent,  but left as she lacked the motivation and will to continue. She was like a teenage girl on a nickelodeon sitcom, being interested in clothes and boys. She, at the age of 17, became an assistant for Hitler’s photographer, Heinrich Hoffman. This is how she would meet Hitler. One day in 1929, she met the Middle Aged Hitler for the first time. He was 23 years her senior, her bein...

The Birth of A Genre How Risk made an industry. Albert Lamorisse, a French film maker under a game company with an affiliation with the Parker Brothers, made history in 1957, when he published the first real strategy game. It was at the time called “ La Conquete du Monde ” or in English, “The Conqueror of the World”. But before we dive into “Conquete Du Monde” , we must dive through his life up until this point, to explore the mind behind this classic game. Albert Lamorisse, Inventor of Risk Born in Paris in 1922, not much is out there on his early life. He found most of his success after World War 2, when he directed Rim (Although, it wasn’t very popular). This was his first step into the film industry. Although he really came into his prime after “The White Mane” a film about young boys who find an untamable white stallion, and then blew up with his short film “The Red Balloon”. This is purely speculation, but I believe that World War 2 was a major inspiration ...

What drives people to make an in-App purchase, and how do you pull them off? In games ranging from Clash of Clans to Bounzy, the devs integrate in-app purchases in some way or the other. So, what exactly pushes people to make these purchases? One major factor that contributes to this is time. A company has to ensure that the user stays engaged for at least 10 minutes, in which they get far enough into the game (In their eyes) that it drives them to come back. Clash of Clans does this, by making buildings take 10 seconds in the beginning, but slowly building the time, it makes people feel like they are far into the game, at least to far to give up. If you can hold their attention, and make them feel accomplished within the first time they sit down with your game, you will make them come back. Another factor to making people purchase, is abstracting the currency. Make it obtainable in small amounts without paying, but not enough to get anything of substance. By purchasing th...

Is Accessibility good for Grand Strategy? Over the past few years, the genre has placed a special emphasis on “accessibility”. Of course, it's a good business choice, as they need to make money, making it easier to appeal to a large audience isn’t bad, but it takes a lot out of some games. In some games such as Atwar, or Call Of War, their simplicity makes the game so much more enjoyable. One of the things I love about Atwar is that it doesn't add so many mechanics, it knows its purpose. Its goal is to provide a simple strategy game. Their are only 5 things you need to know to get in. Capturing Cities = Money, Fighting in Cities reduces population and thus reduces money, Their are 3 diplomatic relations, (Allied, Peace, and War), if you control the capital the area gets painted your color, and how to move units. The reason it is so simple yet so fun, is it puts it on you, the player, to make dialogue, and you, the player, to choose where to capture cities. If this game...

The Following is a list of the Essays I will write over the next month to explain the history of Grand Strategy games. The Evolution of Grand Strategy The Birth Of A Genre From Board Games to Computer The 3 Brothers (Civilization, Svea Rike, and Total War) Civilization’s influence on the Genre. The Birth of Defcon The Rise of Paradox The 4 Sagas The New Generation The Era of Endless DLC Simplification The New Revolution Predictions for the future The Direction of Grand Strategy Accessibility, good or bad? Conclusions   Games Risk Civilization Svea Rike Europa Univeralis Hearts of Iron Victoria Crusader Kings Defcon Atwar Real Politik Superpower 2 Call of War Masters of the World In able to Support me, Please donate to https://www.gofundme.com/essay-series-on-grand-strategy-game