Battlefield vs. Call of Duty

There is a war being waged. I’m not talking about a real-life struggle in another country, or a virtual facsimile of said war projected from an oversized high-definition television screen. Read more

Robert E. Lee Wanted to Avoid Repeating the Mistakes of His Father

Robert E. Lee never knew his father, Revolutionary War hero “Light Horse Harry” Lee. True, he saw him a few times, on the infrequent occasions of the elder Lee’s visits to his family at their gloomy mansion, Stratford, in Westmoreland County, Virginia But Light Horse Harry, living up to his nickname, was never anywhere for very long—certainly not in the confining bosom of his family. Read more

Shooters Rule At E3

If a single word could succinctly sum up this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo—aka E3, which took place from June 7-9—it would be SHOOTERS. Read more

The Consummate General

As a small child growing up in Missouri, Omar Bradley was taught that honesty and hard work were virtues one should strive for in leading a decent, fulfilling life. Read more

The Japanese perspective has been added to the brand new USS Arizona Memorial Visitors Center.

On December 7, 2010, a newly renovated and expanded visitors center at Pearl Harbor opened under the auspices of the National Park Service. Read more

August 2011 Military Games

Could SOCOM 4 have been released at a worse time? Probably not. The latest in Sony’s exclusive line of tactical third-person shooters had the misfortune of coming out right around the time of Playstation Network’s notorious shut-down at the hands of hacker community “Anonymous,” rendering its chief feature, online play, utterly useless. Read more

How the Boston Tea Party Sparked a Revolution

On a wintry night in December 1773, about 70 men, many of whom were disguised as Indians, unceremoniously dumped an estimated 10,000 pounds, the modern equivalent of $1 million, of tea into Boston harbor. Read more

The Korean Occupation of America

War landing on U.S. soil is one of the ultimate worst case scenarios, and as such it’s perfect for the kind of game developer Kaos Studios has whipped up in Homefront. Read more

Confederate John C. Pemberton was not a traitor, as some alleged.

One of the unlikeliest—and unluckiest—Confederate leaders was Pennsylvania-born general John C. Pemberton, who “married South,” as the saying went, only to go down in infamy as the man who surrendered Vicksburg to Ulysses S. Read more

Coming To Your Console This Summer

There are strategy games, and there are strategy games. You know what I mean when I get all italicized like that; I’m talking about the difference between simply sending units out across a grid-based map to do battle, and actually getting the player involved in the diplomacy of war. Read more

Finland: Germany’s Blind Alley

Originally a part of Sweden, Finland was absorbed by Russia in the early 19th century. It was not until the late 1800s, when Russia began to impose new taxes on the Finns, draft their citizens into its military, and station troops within its borders, that Finland yearned for its freedom. Read more

A Passion for World War II History

Dear Editor:

I first bought your magazine for $4.99 at a Borders bookstore and have since subscribed to it. I have enjoyed reading your product for the past three years. Read more

Accused of insulting Hitler, Jackie the dog’s fate was superseded by the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

At the height of its power and with the Third Reich on the verge of initiating its colossal invasion of the Soviet Union, high-ranking members of the Nazi intelligence community literally went to the dogs. Read more

Andrew Jackson and the Drive West

It is ironic that President Andrew Jackson, who was a staunch pro-Union advocate, actually bolstered states’ rights supporters when he refused to endorse the 1832 Supreme Court decision against the State of Georgia in the forced relocation of Native Americans from their homes after gold was discovered on their land. Read more

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

It seems to me that the dedication of a library is in itself an act of faith.” The date was June 30, 1941, and the speaker was President Franklin D. Read more

Churchill’s Combat Experience

When a young British lieutenant named Winston Churchill charged into a swirling mob of Dervishes at Omdurman on the afternoon of September 2, 1898, it was not the first time the well-born cavalryman had faced combat in his nation’s far-flung wars. Read more

The central figure from Band of Brothers, Richard Winters passed into history.

The soft-spoken airborne soldier who mused to himself at the end of D-Day that should God grant him the opportunity to survive the war he would ask nothing more than a quiet little plot of land where he could live in peace has passed away. Read more

Panzer Corps

If everything goes the way developer the Lordz Games Studio is hoping, then this year will be host to something really special for fans of strategy games. Read more

IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover

The last game in 1C’s IL-2 Sturmovik series, Birds of Prey, was a real treat in 2009, as illustrated in our own head-to-head clash with Heroes Over Europe (both titles published by Ubisoft). Read more

“One with the Air”

“You either loved him or hated him,” one former Marine said of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. “There was no in-between.” Read more