The 2011 Aarthena Awards

[loki100]

There has been a long tradition within the Paradox AAR community to recognise the effort that goes into completing an AAR. Different sub-boards have their own awards such as the Oscaars (EU), the Victoriaarn Cross (Vicky), the Crusaders Chalice (CK) and the Iron HeAARt (HOI). So we are proposing to introduce this wonderful idea to the AGEOD forum. In honour of the AI that has caused so much trouble (at least to me), we'll call this award the Aarthenas.

The idea is to vote for the best completed AAR in 2011. Completed in these terms is normally at least 10 posts (given that some scenarios are relatively short this has been relaxed in a few cases) and an ending the wraps up the AAR (its not necessarily that the game was played to the very last possible turn). 6 AARs that match this criteria are recorded in the AGEOD library and these are:

PoN - The Resurgance: Second War of Italian Unification by Stonewall

PoN - Remember the Maine! An 1898 tutorial AAR by StephenT

RoP - Getting to know AGEOD ... ROP AAR by a beginner by Sathariel

RoP - Learning from Prussia: A Rise of Prussia AAR against a real player by Narwhal

RoP - The White, Blue and Green version by Loki100

WiA - Wars in America: A how to AAR by Loki100/Narwhal

The idea is to reread those classics of 2011 and vote for your favourite. Full acknowledgement and prizes (well noting in the library) will be made for the 3 winners. Hopefully next year, this should see a much more substantial list of AARs to choose from. So happy reading and voting.

If you want, then add a post to the thread saying why you've chosen a particular AAR or just to discuss them all and their merits.

Voting will close on 1 May 2012.

[Narwhal]

Nice name. I like it Good idea too, to have our own AAR prize !

Well, should not have slacked for the end of our WiA AAR, Loki100. Sorry for that. Should be finished by next week.


You should add the 2 AAR Bornego finished for RUS, I believe.

[loki100]

Nice name. I like it Good idea too, to have our own AAR prize !

Well, should not have slacked for the end of our WiA AAR, Loki100. Sorry for that. Should be finished by next week.


You should add the 2 AAR Bornego finished for RUS, I believe.

Its for those that actually completed in 2011, so I think the list is correct

[Narwhal]

You are right - my mistake.

I forget the "2011" part

[Searry]

Voted for "Wars in America: A how to AAR". It was awesome.

[loki100]

my vote went to 'Learning from Prussia', its a superb AAR based on a superb game and it also helped me so much in at least starting to understand how to play the AGEOD games.

[Bornego]

In many ways, Wars in America: A how to AAR is the perfect nominee in this election. Two great authors who have written virtually all of the best and most popular AGEOD AARs collaborating on one masterpiece. It also was my tutorial when I started playing WiA myself recently.

Personnally, Learning from Prussia: A Rise of Prussia AAR against a real player has captivated me even more, though. It gave me countless new ideas and is a major reason I started writing AARs here myself. Loki, I really wish I had two votes, you deserve this award just as much as Narwhal.

[Stuyvesant]

I chose Learning From Prussia. It was a close call between that and the WiA 'How To' AAR, but in the end, my vote went with the former for two reasons: one, it's the first AAR that really deconstructed how the AGEOD games work. And given how different they are from your 'standard' Paradox games, I think that's really valuable - that by itself is enough to make it the top choice for me. Second, while I appreciate (greatly appreciate) the more humorous tone of the WiA AAR, it is clear that Wars in America: a how to AAR could not have existed without Learning From Prussia. So that's where my vote went.

[Narwhal]

I chose "the White, Green and Blues", because of the quality of the writing, because it kept us wondering who would win until the very end, because for some reasons there were battles where I never see them in RoP, and because it was the first "well-written" AAR on the forum in my opinion. [Mine was useful, but my style in English is poor]

[loki100]

So one week and 15 votes is pretty healthy, with Learning from Prussia and Wars In America seemingly competing for the top spot ... so lets have some more votes, and don't feel shy about leaving comments

[now]

My vote went to Wars in America, simply because I don't have ROP and therefore some of the AARs for are not as powerful for me.

[De_Spinoza]

I went with the Wars in America: A How To AAR, simply because I think it is the best introduction to AGEOD's games. That AAR convinced me to try and enjoy these games, for one .

[loki100]

so two weeks in and a respectable 22 votes, with Learning From Prussia garnering 50% of the total and Wars in America snapping at its heels. Plenty of time for more votes and more comments though.

[loki100]

so, at the end of week 3, just 10 more voting days are available, and with 26 counted its almost neck and neck between Rise of Prussia and Wars in America, so lets have some more votes, and, as ever, don't feel shy about leaving a comment too

[morningSIDEr]

I've voted for WiA, a greatly enjoyable AAR, as I posted on the AAR itself the banter between both loki and Narwhal is as enjoyable to read as the gameplay on show.

[loki100]

so only 4 voting days to go and at the moment Rise of Prussia is just ahead of Wars in America .... so plenty of time for that to change and, as ever, feel free to leave a comment if you want

[loki100]

so one day left ... and almost a dead heat ... any more votes? or comments?

[loki100]

And, thats it folks.

Thanks to everyone who voted and especially those who left comments.

I, personally, think we have a very worthy winner in Narwhal's Learning from Prussia. Not least, for myself, not only is a great AAR of a great game but it gave me the confidence to actually start playing the AGEOD games (& to buy more ), so for that alone it deserves all the praise. Its also a rare AAR that almost 9 months after it completed is still receiving active comments.

So:

the Golden Aarthena goes to: Learning from Prussia
the Silver Aarthena goes to: Wars in America
and the Pewter Aarthena to: The White, Blue & Green

And congratulations to everyone who completed an AAR, its a level of commitment that is always worthy of praise from the AAR community.

[Bornego]

Congrats! These are worthy winners. And the tight race was a great way to introduce this new award.

[Qorten]

Congrats to Narwhal and loki100 especially for winning the first AARthenas, also many congratulations to everyone who finished an AAR and to everyone that voted in this first edition! 30 voters isn't bad at all for a first, but let's see whether we do better next year!