Origins

Isn't it funny how things get started in the strategy game world? Before Age of Empires II came along, could your average gamer tell you what a trebuchet was? Or what it looked like? Or how it worked?

Now it seems that every strategy game set in the MiddleAges (or that has a Middle Age moment) has a trebuchet in there somewhere. Ensemble Studios found something cool and now everyone has one. In fact, I am hard pressed to think of a single Medieval strategy game in the last five years that doesn't have a trebuchet in it.

And so, one hit game from 1999 has now cemented the place of an obscure siege engine into the hearts of gamers.

I note this because Knights of Honor (review forthcoming) seems to borrow a lot of terms and unit names from other, more famous games. Not that the more famous game invented the name or term, but when I say hobilar or ghulam cavalry, chances are you have a creatively assembled game in mind, if you catch my drift.