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Aye! Many many many many congrats to stnylan! I really appreciate his comments in my AAR. He's a very insightful reader. Well deserved, stnylan! Well deserved!

BTW, I agree that stnylan should get some kind of special award like Fan of the Year, or even Fan of Forever, or something, because he is the greatest fan out there! :cool:
 
congrats stnylan! the fourth term of the great poster, stnylan as fan of the week! maybe we'll be celebrating the 5th later? :p
 
Stnylan defines "fan", of course!

Congratulations, AGAIN! :D

Rensslaer
 
Firstly, many thanks to pjcrowe for nominating me. A real bolt out the blue - but a very welcome one!

I have taken a little while to respond because, frankly, I have been trying to think of something worthwhile to say, and I don't really think I can just recycle what I said previous for a further time. Though, just thinking there, both previous times I remarked how few HoI aars I was reading. Now, at last, although there are still quite a few AARs there I have not read, I feel I can finally say I give I give HoI as much time as I do all the others. So, Quirinus308, nothing wrong, just a lack of inspiration! And in truth, I don't think I've had any inspiration yet either, but here goes...

Fellow fans

For that is what we all are, ultimately. Fans of these games, and fans of each other, whether we write, comment, or even lurk. It is why, of all our little weekly awards, this is the one that resonates the most for me, for it strikes closest to the heart of what the AAR-land community is about. Thus, I am very grateful, pleased, and even a little awed, to be awarded the Fan for the fourth time (and a very nice fan CatKnight too).

I do, of course spend a lot of time on the forums. I am lucky, in many respects, to have to time to spend. I am happily unattached, and with few other committments. I have time that others lack, and that alone means I have more opportunity to read widely. There is nothing special about that.

I am grateful for that time, however, it has given me a chance to read some truly wonderful work. More, it is allowed me to see many writers progress. There is something quite wonderful to see someone develop a confidence in their abilities, usually from a first few nervous posts, and then they realise they can do this writing thing, to begin to see them realise their potential. It is things like that why I have my 'policy' of trying to comment on every update I read, to provide some encouragement so writers willl take those steps. But also, I remember taking those steps myself, and Storey did the same for me, in my first AAR (MonAARsteries), and to him I owe a rather large debt of giving me the encouragement to continue writing myself.

My old school has the motto: "Go and do thou likewise". I suppose that says it all, in my own approach to comments. Alternatively there is my own rendition - "To view is human, to comment is divine".

Finally, may I think you all for all your kind accolades. However, although I appreciate - I really do - the good intentions of a few of you in creating some sort of special recognition for me (it is tremendous confidence boost for sure!) I really am not sure that is a good idea. I dislike the idea that one person, even if that person is myself, should be held in a position of prominence when all I really have is more free time than most. As I say, it is nothing special that, and it is time freely devoted.

I will, probably this evening, post some links to some of the AARs I am currently enjoying - but as I have to go off to work shortly I cannot do so now.

For the record, I did not have any whisky when I first saw this because I was feeling a bit under the weather. Last night though, I finished off my bottle of cask-strengh Laphroig - one of the finest whiskies ever distilled - a dram I have been saving for a special occasion which this definitely qualifies!

therev thanks for taking the time to look at the library. I just discovered last weekend that I had unaccountable missed out a whole bookshelf! So some more books to be added as and when I get myself organised to do so!

All I dare not list you all, for I would be petrified of forgetting somebody! Suffice to say again, thank you very much!

To view is human, to comment is divine.
 
Well done, Stynlan. Truly, you put the fanatical back into fandom.
nods.gif
 
Aye, many conragts, stnylan!
 
Thanks again folks

Anyway, a little late here are a few of the AARs I am currently enjoying

EU2

Savoy Truffle by fiftypence Looking both east and west from the Alps, the opportunities abound!

God's Playground: France in the Revolution by Quintillian Lots of interesting potential here from a new writer, with some very good ideas, and a lovely little story going on at the moment about Napolean.

The Apulian Persons Project by Hastu Neon An AAR that has been going on for a very long time, and a sometimes stuttering pace, but still alive. One of my favourite historybook AARs.

CK

Arthur's Tale by Rex Angliae A mediaeval chronicle par excellence.

Heirs of Charlemagne by east_emnet A narrative AAR with some great little scenes, especially now that we are on to the second generation.

Victoria

The French Century by kingmbutu I give you the most biased professor in AAR-land! ;)

The Footsteps of Illustrious Men by Estonianzulu Just started up, a historybook AAR about the USA.

HoI2

Awaking from the Nightmare Years by rich-love Once again, he is saving the world from Axis domination, but the AAR itself is mostly organised as a series of briefings and slides. Good idea well executed.

A War Hero and the US Presidential Election of 1948 by therev A great narrative AAR set in 1948. The world has gone to hell, freedom and democracy are hanging by a thread. And in it a CMOH winner asked to escort the heir to the throne to America.

Great Ambitions - a Guangxi Clique attempt at Chinese Domination by Myth Well, so far Nationalist China has proved to be easy enough to deal with - but only by leaving the back door completely open to Japan! More difficulties surely await Myth as he struggles to reclaim those lost lands.


And finally, a trio of AARs from yesteryear that have, in many ways, made me the fan I am today ;)

Orleans: A longer story by thames - one of the most gripping wars I have ever read.

A Tall Tale Told on a Cold Night by Storey EU2 meets Icewind Dale - sort of. Settle down by the fire with a flagon of ale, and let the storyteller do his work.

Fire Warms the Northern Lands by Rennslaer The AAR that taught me how best to read catch-up, and an AAR that made anxious to return to the forums after a period of inactivity. A fan's AAR, if ever there was one.
 
I applaud what you just did Stylan, gives a shot for those to be known I believe. I will look into these sure enough.
 
Stnylan, Ashamed to say this thread has passed me by in the past but having discovered it I simply must ad my own congrats to you and to agree how totally deserving you are to be FOTW. You have always offered me nothing but encouragement and it is thanks to the likes of you that I have felt the strong desire to keep writing. It's also typical of your generosity of spirit to recommend my work and other more worthy epics. I salute you sir.
 
Congrats stnylan! :D You always have something usefull/insightfull/helpfull ect. to say when you comment.
 
Congrats!
 
Well thank you all again. But the time has come for me to pass this honour on, and I have in mind someone who has never yet received this award. A relatively new member, who will most often be seen in the battle-strewn wildnerness that is called the Hearts of Iron, yet who occasionally forays into other pastures. Indeed, in one of those more clement places he has recently started his own very first AAR, The Legacy of Northmen. WritAARs and readAARs, membAARs and lurkAARs, I give you the next fan of the week...

chefportnen

The fan is yours!
 
Congrats, chefportnen. I've seen your name around a time or two so the fan must be deserved. May it cool you forever. :)
 
My conga rats to chefportnen as well!

-Pat