Crusader Kings II lets you jump into one of a handful of historical scenarios, and the one I've selected is Stamford Bridge. It's 1066, and there's a three-way war for the throne of England going on between Norwegian Vikings under Harald Hardrada, Normans under William the Bastard (known historically as William the Conqueror, but the game may not play out that way...), and the faltering Anglo-Saxon ruling class under reigning King Harold Godwinson. That's far from all that's going on, however.
You can choose any of the hundreds of nobles on the map to play. For this game, in an homage to my Civilization V Celtic Chronicle, I've selected the House of ua Brian (O'Brian). Who are they, exactly? Well...
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Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.
