How to Write My First AAR?

[TomorrowsHerald]

As for POW aspects, certainly the narrator usually describes when units surrender as marching off to POW camps, but since there isn't a POW mechanic for any paradox game (aside from CK2/3), no one has done a sort of "Great Escape" or "Hart's War" narrative. I would PM a mod before starting because of how strict the rules are on that.

Should I also ask them about a cafe getting hit in a bombing raid aimed at the Germans occupying the city? The rules seem to discuss strategic bombing or what in the RAF policy is described as the de-housing rather than strafing of individual targets, but I would like to be sure.

 

[Wraith11B]

Anything even tangentially related to the rules I would clear with them first.

 

[TomorrowsHerald]

Hi, it's been a while since I posted here and no AAR so far but I am once again thinking about starting an AAR in September. After a while of thinking about doing it, it has become pretty clear that I am unlikely to find the time to do the sort of research I would like to do prior to writing the AAR and I am inclined to simply start writing it and fill in the gaps as they emerge and as time allows. I currently have a Commune of France game with a save to just before I intended to initiate the invasion of Germany and thought that perhaps that could present a quick way to jump-start the AAR with a clear narrative focus from the get-go.

My question to you fellow Paradoxians is do you think a KR AAR with 1940 as its start date is a good idea? This specific game had quite an interesting turn of events around the world so I am wondering if I should start it with some lore chapters prior to the invasion alongside narrative ones detailing the preparations or if I should start from the invasion and write lore bits whenever events take place in some part of the world that I am currently concerned with.

I am also not sure which format to choose from; there will be some narrative parts with characters, that much I know for sure, but for the rest of it I am currently torn between a history book format covering events from the guise of a historian, an omnipresent storyteller, maintaining the character focus by framing the lore and broad overviews as intelligence reports and the like or covering events through media snippets (the latter two are likely to be used in tandem.)

What do you think? Cheers!

 

[Dunaden]

In my first completed AAR, 2. CK2 AAR - The Lost Crusade (Complete), the story started in medias res almost 300 years after the start of gameplay in 1066, so it dropped the readers into a world that was quite changed from anything they might expect. I fed them pieces of the backstory, in small and, at one point, very large chunks to show them what had come before, but otherwise just moved forward with the focus of the story from that point on. I picked the starting point based on the Pope late in my game calling for a Crusade to distant India and had an idea I wanted to play with.

So yes, you can start the story at any point in your gameplay, if you find some event, character, or plot point you want to focus on.

 

[RustyHunter]

My question to you fellow Paradoxians is do you think a KR AAR with 1940 as its start date is a good idea?

I think that'd be just fine! You could also differentiate yourself somewhat by not showing all the pre-war build up we've seen in every HOI AAR. I will be looking for your AAR and will certainly read it regardless of what date you choose though.

This specific game had quite an interesting turn of events around the world so I am wondering if I should start it with some lore chapters prior to the invasion alongside narrative ones detailing the preparations or if I should start from the invasion and write lore bits whenever events take place in some part of the world that I am currently concerned with.

I think either way can work. The fundamental idea of Red France invading Imperial Germany is fairly obvious, so you just need to flesh it out with lore, which I think could be done as it comes up or one big dump at the start. I don't really have a preference either way, and I think it'd work really well regardless.

I am also not sure which format to choose from; there will be some narrative parts with characters, that much I know for sure, but for the rest of it I am currently torn between a history book format covering events from the guise of a historian, an omnipresent storyteller, maintaining the character focus by framing the lore and broad overviews as intelligence reports and the like or covering events through media snippets (the latter two are likely to be used in tandem.)

I saw you had mentioned something about being into WWII radio news reports, and I think that'd be a really cool way to get information across.

I think the bigger question is what you want to write about. Do you want to cover the nitty-gritty details of the invasion down to what divisions are attacking where, do you want to get the broad sweep of the invasion, or somewhere in-between? Some methods work better for reporting the individual battles while others are better suited to a summary. As long as you're enjoying what you're doing and it's well presented, people will read it!

 

[Idhrendur]

Hi, it's been a while since I posted here and no AAR so far but I am once again thinking about starting an AAR in September. After a while of thinking about doing it, it has become pretty clear that I am unlikely to find the time to do the sort of research I would like to do prior to writing the AAR and I am inclined to simply start writing it and fill in the gaps as they emerge and as time allows. I currently have a Commune of France game with a save to just before I intended to initiate the invasion of Germany and thought that perhaps that could present a quick way to jump-start the AAR with a clear narrative focus from the get-go.

My question to you fellow Paradoxians is do you think a KR AAR with 1940 as its start date is a good idea? This specific game had quite an interesting turn of events around the world so I am wondering if I should start it with some lore chapters prior to the invasion alongside narrative ones detailing the preparations or if I should start from the invasion and write lore bits whenever events take place in some part of the world that I am currently concerned with.

I am also not sure which format to choose from; there will be some narrative parts with characters, that much I know for sure, but for the rest of it I am currently torn between a history book format covering events from the guise of a historian, an omnipresent storyteller, maintaining the character focus by framing the lore and broad overviews as intelligence reports and the like or covering events through media snippets (the latter two are likely to be used in tandem.)

What do you think? Cheers!

I would love a KR AAR starting midway. Every one of them* starts with a lore dump on how the world is different and I just lose interest immediately.

* I exaggerate. But only a little.