It is August, 1642, and a breathless man has just handed you a letter. In it, you read the news that is sweeping across England - the King has raised his banner in Nottingham, and declared the Parliament in London to be in revolt. This moment has been coming for many years - the constant abuses of the King, his indulgence of catholics, his defeat in Scotland and his failure to defeat the Confederate Rebels in Ireland have inflamed many. At the same time, many stand by King Charles - Parliament, though it claims to stand for the liberty of all English Protestants, has been insubordinate to their rightful liege, and many of its number are wild puritans, extreme in religion and repressive in law.

The British Isles have not been quiet in many decades, but now they are to be washed in blood. God's eyes have turned from the land, and men are left to slay, slaughter and pillage in hope of victory. Both sides claim to represent law, freedom, true protestant religion and good order. Both sides, in the years to come, will stain the green fields of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales with gore.

>Which side are you on?
>Roundhead - You're a committed Parliamentarian, a firm believer that this ancient assembly is the only way to guard the liberties of Englishmen. You believe in a true church to worship God and destroy Catholic papistry at every turn, and you believe the King has over-stepped his rights and repressed his English subjects.
>Cavalier - You are a servant of His Majesty Charles I, King of England, Scotland and Ireland, by the grace of god. The upstarts in Parliament are rebels, and nothing more - traitors, who would invite the Presbyterian Scots into England and tear down the rightful rulers of the land - the king and his nobles. They must be put down - and besides, Puritanism is a miserable way to live when there is all the glory and beauty of court to be had.