Victoria 2
By Avindian
Hello there! For those of you who may not know me, I'm Avindian. I've written several AARs and generally make a nuisance of myself on the forums.
Our dear editor asked me to contribute something on Victoria II for this edition of the AARlander, and after a couple of gentle reminders (sorry, Derahan!), I've decided to write on Victoria II AARs and the game in general.
Victoria II (and A House Divided) are very different from the average PDS game. The game's nearly infinite complexity, particularly the economics system, is almost entirely under the hood. One of the things that occasionally turns some people off of the game is that, at times, there's not as much for the player to do as there is in other PDS games. This complaint is particularly prevalent for AHD, as the new requirements to justify a CB lead to fewer wars. If you're looking for a war game, pick up Darkest Hour or HOI3 and its myriad expansions.
Why play AHD, then, I hear you asking? Because Vicky 2 and AHD aren't about world conquest; they're about watching your country grow from a largely agrarian power to an industrial behemoth. They're about carefully balancing risk vs. reward. Do you build that high tech factory, or is your industrial base too weak? Laissez-Faire or State Capitalism? Is anybody insane enough to play with a Planned Economy?
There's still war to be had, but it's even more strategic. As Prussia, when do you attack France? Do you wait until they're distracted or are you so confident you've built a better army that you attack them on day one? As the USA, do you focus on the Pacific, try to drive the British out of Canada (that's for burning the White House, you jerks!), or simply wait patiently until the CSA forms and take over? Does the Ottoman Empire take over Egypt, or just sphere it? With the addition of AHD, nearly every country is playable to one degree or another. (Okay, maybe not an OPM in Germany.) Your first few years might be a bit dull as an uncivilized nation, but you could always go after your neighbors.
Of course, the real strength of Paradox games, in my opinion, is the forums and community (take a bow, dear reader!), and specifically the AAR forums. Writing AARs for Vicky 2 requires considerably more imagination than any other PDS game I've tried, because the game provides you so little characterization. There are no rulers (except for the big ones like Queen Victoria, and even she's only introduced in an event) and only the generals/admirals have much in the way of traits to work with. For a gameplay AAR, that's no big deal, and there are some excellent Vicky 2 gameplay AARs. (For example, Avocado Aguila's superb world conquest as Krakow.)
For narrative AARs, which tend to be more popular (at least for me), you need to be much more careful. A rich understanding of the era's history, carefully crafted characters, and the ability to integrate events from both the player's country and the world at large into a story are all required to write a truly great Vicky 2 AAR. It can certainly be done, and done very well. Look at Dewirix's Japanese conversion AAR, Chilango2's Mexico AAR, or Fire and Ash's AAR of Afghanistan. (I'd offer my own AARs, but I'm much too humble.
)
I'd like to close my little piece here with a call to forumites who are less active. First of all, stop lurking! Remember, if you read and don't contribute, either with comments or your own AARs, you're stealing. (Okay, not technically, but you really should contribute.
) Second, it's something of a cliché that you never truly learn something until you try to teach it to somebody else, but it's true, and I've learned about and enjoyed PDS games far more since I started writing AARs. When I originally got Hearts of Iron 3, it sat on my bookshelf for six months, I even gave it to a friend, who also let it gather dust before I asked him to send it back. Then I read some AARs, wrote my own, and I've come to appreciate it much more. I'll almost certainly pick up Their Finest Hour when I get the cash. Third, if you're new to the community and new to PDS, welcome! Don't be scared off by the rather steep learning curve many PDS games have. They are incredibly rich and rewarding; definitely worth your time and energy, maybe even your sanity, if you still have any. Read the manual (it really does help), read the strategy guides, but most importantly, read AARs. There are some great tutorials: Misterbean's recently concluded HOI3 tutorial, gela1212's EU3 tutorial, and my own Vicky 2 tutorials (both with and without AHD) are all worth a look if you're mulling over a game.
Thank you for your time, and thank you to our superb editor for putting this little e-mag together! I'm a devoted reader, and you should be too.