I'm also not a teen. But I was born this side of the millennium.
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I admit that I am glad I grew up in the 70s. We had much more personal freedom to wander and explore. In 2 of the high schools I attended, rifles and shotguns were commonly carried in trucks and cars on school grounds especially near the open of hunting season. The drinking age was 18 except when we were stationed in Germany. I remember being able to buy beer at 15/16. Beer was sold in machines on the golf course right next to the cigarette machines lol. The course was very close to the enlisted beach so with just a little initiative, getting beer for your weekend parties was easy. We were stationed in Pensacola when I was 14ish and we borrowed my friend's mother's car and drove to New Orleans for mardi Gras. Yeah I wouldn't trade that for the endless screen time you guys have now.
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It's always a pleasure to get this award, because whilst the writing ones are ego boosting, readers, most especially commentators, are the lifeblood of this
Thanks for all you do @stnylan.
Thank you. I enjoy your continuing efforts to make the worst CK2 rulers govern the largest realms possible. God's work, you know.
Thanks. Another good ck2 writer, this one focused on one Nordic House in multiple playthroughs.
I really need to read your stuff. KR is before my time, but old Paradox games still make for great AARs.
Well, I'm continuing to watch in bile fascination as the British repeatedly smash their increasingly massive empires to pieces in trying to take down your US. And wondering when Brandenburg will next go bankrupt in the other one.
Your tutorial is good enough that it makes me want to try EUIV again. I really rather wish you hadn't done that...
Much has been said about how good the Taurica series is, so I'll just agree. It's great. The new Minoan subplot mini AAR is also really good.
You somehow manage to find the time to write a lot of AARs, comment on them, and run the Quarterly awards. You should probably be fan of the week every week. Or get a button or something.
Ah...now this AAR is a gruelling experience of naval nightmares and calamities. If anyone reading this ever thought what it would be like to repeatedly throttle the Royal Navy whilst setting fire to France, this is a good place to start.
As we all repeatedly have made clear, Talking Turkey is the best AAR of the past decade in terms of community resonance and story crafting. Paring that up with three rather distinct but also strangely similar tales of perpetually doomed and dying worlds constantly killing themselves in war is an interesting choice, one which I hadn't really noticed until writing that sentence.
Good job?
You seem to be everywhere on the AAR forms, which takes some doing these days. Thank you.
Always deserved, TBC. Now, how long do we have to wait for your successor? We know you like to keep these awAARds for a minute.
As covered below by my army of loyal defenders, this is the right and proper time to be handing it over.
Also your work is really good, so there.
Catch up continues. Belated congrats to @HistoryDude (always a welcome name to see around the place, even if they are apparently not around enough to pass things on), the stalwart @Cora Giantkiller and their excellent AAr reading list and @stnylan for reasons that need no explanation.
Finally an on time recognition to @TheButterflyComposer who fortunately remains one behind me (12 vs 13) for at least 6 months or so if the rules are kept to. I dread to think what will happen to his ego when he inevitably overtakes. (
As was pointed out in that AAR, I've already overtaken you in The Butterfly Effect comments wise. What's one more prize?
Many thanks for your long years of service to these forums, weird ideas sounding board, and general excellence.
In any case a while up to my 16, so all in all it doesn't matter. (
Youngsters! I've got 10 in 23 years. Clearly the newer generation is much more free with these types of accolades.
I've still been here twenty years (mildly scary thought), though TBC is still less than a decade so is closer to being a youngster. Certainly he should get off my lawn, etc, etc.
TBC may well be 75 years old, but he has a baby face. I've seen him.
And he only joined 9 years ago. That's some fandom!
I need to start prepping my 10 year retrospective thing. I suppose it shall have to be CK2 related, which I haven't done in...half a decade, and somewhat meta...hmm...
I know we all enjoy a little ribbing for @TheButterflyComposer (I'm strangely obsessing about the ribbing on a butterfly's wings...)...
But to be fair he didn't receive the award until Tuesday so he's got until Tuesday to pass it along. At least that's how I run this thread. No sense in someone only getting 4 days honor, or 6 when they could have a full 7.
Not a bad idea to be thinking about a successor, though...
Rensslaer
To all reading this...and so on and so forth...
He generally takes two weeks plus, fan that he is, to pass it on. I don't think I'm wrong to bring it up early.
As they say on the streets, okay boomer.
Well... That IS a way of shortening the 6 month limit on honorees.
Renss
Sometimes you win three times in a year (somehow). And sometimes not at all!
Congrats @TheButterflyComposer ! Well deserved for your insight
Thanks! Your Siberian CK2 economy AAR is truly fascinating even this far in. It really shows how even though money is broken in that game, there is fun to be had being so disgustingly wealthy.
Nice to hear from the young folk here
Nikolai, I do know though it's all relative and sincerely hope you can continue to make the best of the cards you've been dealt. Being part of this community helps, I believe <3
I think we all wish Nikolai the best.
I'm sure 40 is the new 54. I'll let you know when I get there.
It is rather dramatic to be able to say you were born in the nineteen hundreds, in another time, another millennium when all things were so different from what they are now...*mystic flute plays*
I really do think it's situational. If you live in the countryside, the modern world is at arms length in various ways, though it sure does make things a lot more comfortable than it used to be. In regards to childhoods, now that really depends on where you live and what your situation is. I certainly would not expect the avergae american child to be able to safely play outside given what your towns and cities look like. But if you live ruarlly, things probably change. There's a pretty stark difference between young kids now and young kids even 10 years ago in the UK and Ireland (I was a Youth Scout Leader ten years ago, did uni, and now do so again post-pandemic and...damn...).
Like literally everything, of course, it could be improved by reading a bit more (hint hint, segue masterclass).
Righto...next up will be recommendations and what I'm current reading (and, obviously, check out the inkwells of almost everyone listed above)
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So, I do have blind spots (Stellaris, outside of that brief star trek foray, has my apologies). But this should otherwise be an interesting reading list of what's currently going on in AARland.
First, I heartily second stnylan's recommendation for Eurasia's latest strange AAR: Grand Tactician. A US Civil War game where you play one small time commander in charge of a rabble of soldiers, eating beans and getting wet. It's like reading classical Russian works, in that there is a streak of melancholy a mile wide and deep running through it. A battle actually happened in the latest two chapters, and as you might expect from everything said so far, it did not go so well for basically all involved.
Imperator seems to have cheated death recently both game wise and on the forums, with a lot of good AARs and potential mega campaigns going on. Ex Roma ad Stellas is the most straight forward of these, being a Roman campaign. We've currently reached that bit in all good Roman stories where the dictator for life has stretched just a bit further than he should have done, and tried to control his succession as well. What comes of that will no doubt be interesting.
Same game, completely different idea: Rise of Albion has just finished and was about how Caledonia attempted to unite all the Celtic peoples to stand firm against Roman aggression, and maybe start their own pirate and slavery party. A very interesting work, especially when Jesus showed up to spoil things.
A Imperator mega campaign that is steaming ahead in terms of progress is The Acheamids, which as suggested by the title, is about the Persian nobility and people going through some very troublesome times and population migrations. Now in part three, over two thousand years in, we have hit the High Medieval period, and things are starting to go supremely off the rails in regards to any sort of recognisable Europe. A fun read for anyone looking for more uncommon AAR focuses.
I'd be remiss not to mention Echoes of a New Tomorrow, a mammoth project now completed. Technically a Vicky2 AAR but there is no gameplay, it's just an excuse. If you ever wanted to learn some things about 20th century socialism outside of the Soviet Union, here you are.
Similarly returning from a long absence, Italian Ambitions is back and still excellent as both a history book and narrative AAR about renaissance Florence developing into an Italian nation-state. Certainly worth a read.
For those who like Kaiserriech, or just want to watch America burn, American Carnage gives plenty of both. Heuy Long takes us all on a magical journey through civil war, race riots and catchy tunes, before catching something else entirely. Now in the world war stage, so everyone from all nations gets to burn too!
For those who like their Kaiseriech with more Kaiser, The German Century has you covered. Including a detailed run through of how this mess of a state works post ww1 'victory', through to some unbelievable turn arounds in the inevitable second world war. This one is also fully done, so no need to fear a random cut off.
Multiplayer campaigning is currently back with Hammer and Forge, and the current sequel Anchor and Chain.
A nice, classic Crusader kings 3 Anglo-Saxon AAR, The Legacy of Edmund is a good dive into Saxon culture, politics and progression from the 500s AD onwards.
For those who want a Roman campaign, but madder, Imperium Sine Fine has you covered. What if one day, a guy in Renaissance Italy decided he was Augustus reborn and wanted to rebuild the Western Roman Empire? And then actually did.
Star Trek once again bails me out, and gives me a stellaris recommendation: The Stars thin-scattered made the heavens large. The Federation has a real hard time trying to be...the Federation...in a paradox game. Peace and love are difficult when the Klingons are that strong. Still, it is very interesting watching the struggle continue.
Galactic Pacification for Dummies is an actual Stellaris game that sort of doubles up as a tutorial. It's also quite funny.
For something a bit different from the rest, I'd like to recommend two AAR adjacent threads that are still alt history:
Atlas of Alternate History is old-school alt-history. Maps and maps and not much more visual than that. Every so often, a new and unexpected alt history prompt appears and gets explored. Fun stuff.
Even more niche, Alt_Naval and other Never-weres is a supremely nerdy look at naval warfare, ships, etc. Naturally, this is very interesting for people who know very little about the topic but have to write about it (aka me).
I would also recommend the AAR inkwells of the people I thanked in the above post, as between them, they have a formidable back-catalogue and present offering. Indeed, just flicking through the inkwell generally is an interesting experience, as is randomly popping in to each subforum every so often to say hello.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for reading and commenting here. It's a fun pastime and a free one at that. Happy reading, and don't forget to comment if you enjoy an AAR!
First, I heartily second stnylan's recommendation for Eurasia's latest strange AAR: Grand Tactician. A US Civil War game where you play one small time commander in charge of a rabble of soldiers, eating beans and getting wet. It's like reading classical Russian works, in that there is a streak of melancholy a mile wide and deep running through it. A battle actually happened in the latest two chapters, and as you might expect from everything said so far, it did not go so well for basically all involved.
Imperator seems to have cheated death recently both game wise and on the forums, with a lot of good AARs and potential mega campaigns going on. Ex Roma ad Stellas is the most straight forward of these, being a Roman campaign. We've currently reached that bit in all good Roman stories where the dictator for life has stretched just a bit further than he should have done, and tried to control his succession as well. What comes of that will no doubt be interesting.
Same game, completely different idea: Rise of Albion has just finished and was about how Caledonia attempted to unite all the Celtic peoples to stand firm against Roman aggression, and maybe start their own pirate and slavery party. A very interesting work, especially when Jesus showed up to spoil things.
A Imperator mega campaign that is steaming ahead in terms of progress is The Acheamids, which as suggested by the title, is about the Persian nobility and people going through some very troublesome times and population migrations. Now in part three, over two thousand years in, we have hit the High Medieval period, and things are starting to go supremely off the rails in regards to any sort of recognisable Europe. A fun read for anyone looking for more uncommon AAR focuses.
I'd be remiss not to mention Echoes of a New Tomorrow, a mammoth project now completed. Technically a Vicky2 AAR but there is no gameplay, it's just an excuse. If you ever wanted to learn some things about 20th century socialism outside of the Soviet Union, here you are.
Similarly returning from a long absence, Italian Ambitions is back and still excellent as both a history book and narrative AAR about renaissance Florence developing into an Italian nation-state. Certainly worth a read.
For those who like Kaiserriech, or just want to watch America burn, American Carnage gives plenty of both. Heuy Long takes us all on a magical journey through civil war, race riots and catchy tunes, before catching something else entirely. Now in the world war stage, so everyone from all nations gets to burn too!
For those who like their Kaiseriech with more Kaiser, The German Century has you covered. Including a detailed run through of how this mess of a state works post ww1 'victory', through to some unbelievable turn arounds in the inevitable second world war. This one is also fully done, so no need to fear a random cut off.
Multiplayer campaigning is currently back with Hammer and Forge, and the current sequel Anchor and Chain.
A nice, classic Crusader kings 3 Anglo-Saxon AAR, The Legacy of Edmund is a good dive into Saxon culture, politics and progression from the 500s AD onwards.
For those who want a Roman campaign, but madder, Imperium Sine Fine has you covered. What if one day, a guy in Renaissance Italy decided he was Augustus reborn and wanted to rebuild the Western Roman Empire? And then actually did.
Star Trek once again bails me out, and gives me a stellaris recommendation: The Stars thin-scattered made the heavens large. The Federation has a real hard time trying to be...the Federation...in a paradox game. Peace and love are difficult when the Klingons are that strong. Still, it is very interesting watching the struggle continue.
Galactic Pacification for Dummies is an actual Stellaris game that sort of doubles up as a tutorial. It's also quite funny.
For something a bit different from the rest, I'd like to recommend two AAR adjacent threads that are still alt history:
Atlas of Alternate History is old-school alt-history. Maps and maps and not much more visual than that. Every so often, a new and unexpected alt history prompt appears and gets explored. Fun stuff.
Even more niche, Alt_Naval and other Never-weres is a supremely nerdy look at naval warfare, ships, etc. Naturally, this is very interesting for people who know very little about the topic but have to write about it (aka me).
I would also recommend the AAR inkwells of the people I thanked in the above post, as between them, they have a formidable back-catalogue and present offering. Indeed, just flicking through the inkwell generally is an interesting experience, as is randomly popping in to each subforum every so often to say hello.
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for reading and commenting here. It's a fun pastime and a free one at that. Happy reading, and don't forget to comment if you enjoy an AAR!
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They haven't won this award since 2023 apparently, so high time they win again...
Well done @Wraith11B , ever-present spectre of AARland.
Well done @Wraith11B , ever-present spectre of AARland.
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Congrats to @Wraith11B ! Yes, as TBC says, he is sometimes a specter in AARland. However, I always like it when he leaves even just a "like" on a comment. Great nomination @TheButterflyComposer .
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Oh... Oh dear... I knew something was afoot when I checked in after maybe two hours between visits to 9 and then 12 alerts...
Every time I'm nominated these last few years, I'm desperately wondering what exactly I did to earn this. I've been very waylaid with real life to get into sufficient AARs (seems kinda like Baader-Meinhof effect, if I'm being honest) to really justify actually contributing. Between barely missing my own post estimate from the excellent maths of @El Pip and as @Chac1 says giving everyone a like when I do get through their post, it always feels... wrong... to take away from others who might be more deserving of a chance for some time in the sun. I can only say that my time is going to be much more difficult to get into here as I've recently been tapped to move off of Patrol and into our General Investigations section!
As ever, humbling to be considered. I will make an effort to get the heck off of Instagram and focused on reading here!
Every time I'm nominated these last few years, I'm desperately wondering what exactly I did to earn this. I've been very waylaid with real life to get into sufficient AARs (seems kinda like Baader-Meinhof effect, if I'm being honest) to really justify actually contributing. Between barely missing my own post estimate from the excellent maths of @El Pip and as @Chac1 says giving everyone a like when I do get through their post, it always feels... wrong... to take away from others who might be more deserving of a chance for some time in the sun. I can only say that my time is going to be much more difficult to get into here as I've recently been tapped to move off of Patrol and into our General Investigations section!
As ever, humbling to be considered. I will make an effort to get the heck off of Instagram and focused on reading here!
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Wow! @TheButterflyComposer pulls off an upset and confounds @coz1's expectations! Great choice!
Congratulations @Wraith11B! Not only do I see you out and about in the AARs... I will note, SIGNIFICANTLY, that you are also one of the most welcoming and encouraging of our folks when people receive honors such as the Fan of the Week or Weekly Showcase, etc. So that's important to all of us!
Investigations sounds interesting! I'm excited that Reacher and Bosch are up and running again. Not that, I'm sure, those are the most realistic portrayals. Sorry it'll take you away from here more.
Rensslaer
Great choice!Congratulations @Wraith11B! Not only do I see you out and about in the AARs... I will note, SIGNIFICANTLY, that you are also one of the most welcoming and encouraging of our folks when people receive honors such as the Fan of the Week or Weekly Showcase, etc. So that's important to all of us!
Investigations sounds interesting! I'm excited that Reacher and Bosch are up and running again. Not that, I'm sure, those are the most realistic portrayals.
Sorry it'll take you away from here more. Rensslaer
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Congratulations, @Wraith11B!
Also, belated congratulations to @TheButterflyComposer, who I apparently forgot to congratulate? (Sorry, TBC!)
Also, belated congratulations to @TheButterflyComposer, who I apparently forgot to congratulate? (Sorry, TBC!)
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I believe it worked exactly as intended. TBC passes it off in record time (ie in 7 days, which is to most folks normal.)
Many congrats @Wraith11B! High time for another well deserved nod.
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Holy cow, I'm sorry about missing this. It's been a mad house over here, with my change to Investigations and the masters program. I'm super appreciative of everyone's support, but really glad to see everyone here continuing to be the best fans. That said, I haven't had a chance to--in the words of my previous employer--catch up, keep up, or get ahead. So, if someone else has a keen eye for a great fan to celebrate, please help a brother out and announce them!
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