First and foremost;
Congratulations to all the winners!
There's some cracking stuff out there, and the ACAs are a great way to highlight it. All praise goes to
@Nikolai for organising them.
Second; huge thanks to everyone who voted for
1901. At first, I didn't realise I'd just about sneaked into eligibility by starting when I did, and certainly didn't expect to get votes for such a new AAR once I did clock it. It's a real honour to make it on the nominees list.
Third; echo the VIcky II love. It's the game I always return to as my default to play, and it's always the one that most makes me want to Report After Action.
I think what makes it so perfect for expansive history book projects is the combination of the time period (close enough to be recognisably our world, far enough to still have interesting, major divergences) and the length of the game (long enough to have major social and geopolitical changes, not so long that the AI will have blobbed all minor nations out of existence).
HOI, in all its forms, I think, is the natural home of the 'government narrative' AAR. The players are well-known, well-documented, and the time period is short enough that you don't have to find a way to artificially lengthen the characters' lives or change the whole cast list by the end.
CK AARs I'm not as familiar with as I should be, but always considered it tailor-made for the Comedy AAR (this may have something to do with Knud Knytling being my first exposure to a CK AAR).
Last but not least; I still think HOI3 should take Imperator's spot. Even when not having its own category, the total votes for HOI3 AARs rivalled the main categories. Other's never been the most vote-grabbing category, but that's not its purpose. It's there to highlight AARs from places you might otherwise not look. People clearly still frequent the HOI3 subforum and write for it of their own accord. It somewhat defeats the point of Other if it's 'HOI3, and Zoidbergs.'
