What is War of the Roses?

Last week publisher Paradox Interactive and developer Fatshark (Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West and Hamilton's Great Adventure) announced War of the Roses (formerly known as Project Postman). It's not a game based on the 1989 comedy The War of the Roses starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner and directed by Danny DeVito, but rather it's a grand scale multiplayer war game set during the historic period referred to as Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) in Great Britain.

The game uses the BitSquid engine and looks absolutely stunning and will support 64 or 128 players going at it in full armour at once. There will be classes and players will be able to gain ranks and progress much like in say Modern Warfare. However, the ranks will not unlock more powerful weaponry, rather it will signal to other players through visuals that you've had previous success in the battlefields.

The period is an interesting choice as it places the player on the battlefield just as gunpowder has been introduced and after the "death of chivalry".