Intermediate Defense Strategies
In my previous article on the geometry of empires, I considered two essential strategies for organizing the defense of a territory. In one, troops were positioned along the border, ready to intercept enemies but spread thin. In the other, a single, centrally-located force was powerful but slow to respond. These are extreme approaches, though, lying at the ends of a spectrum filled with intermediate strategies.
Read more…
Apr 23, 2010 | Filed in models
| Tagged: geography, history, scale | 0 Comments
The Geometry of Territory Defense
The pre-modern state aims to defend its borders against enemies. The size of its territory, though, has profound implications for how it can do this; which may in turn influence how that state develops—whether, in particular, it seeks aggressive expansion.
Read more…
Apr 04, 2010 | Filed in models
| Tagged: geography, history, scale | 0 Comments
Historical Ship Types
While working on one of my space wargames, I became interested in historical ships, especially their classification and relative characteristics. (Were most classes small while only a few were large? Or was there some other distribution?) Trauling the Web I assembled some data.
Read more…
Oct 19, 2009 | Filed in worlds
| Tagged: history | 0 Comments
Sensical Fantasy: Medieval Numismatics
The systems of coinage used in the middle ages were more complex and more interesting than what’s presented in most fantasy role-playing systems: if gold, silver and copper “pieces” with nice metric conversions seemed too neat to you, you were right; read on.
Read more…
Aug 01, 2009 | Filed in worlds
| Tagged: history | 0 Comments
