I guess that Tokio is happy to have the week over.
Thus they'll last longer in the updates.
Thus they'll last longer in the updates.
-
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I guess that Tokio is happy to have the week over.
Thus they'll last longer in the updates.
Hell! Of course they're happy. :rofl:
When will Australia be back a british colony?
We've also been trying out some new styles for the borders of the screenshots. Around Chapter 16 the style may change from plain imperial pink borders to something like these.
Oh, do you guys want us to shed some light on the current fleet compositions of the great powers in the Readers Group?
Oh, do you guys want us to shed some light on the current fleet compositions of the great powers in the Readers Group?
By the end of October, the Wehrmacht had managed to wrestle control of Seoul, as the German armoured divisions effortlessly smashed through the disorganised Japanese armies, forming dense pockets in the North and the South. Japanese forces resisted with valour, but were no match for superior German combined arms and British heavy aerial and naval bombardments. The sun was setting over Asia.
-------------------
Smaller update today, since a certain other individual already posted yesterday and today's updates
. Also, chapter "The setting sun" begins tomorrow. Muuahahahahahahahaahahahahah...-Vincent
indeed, WW2 ended up being the epic badass conflict that WW1 wanted to but never managed to be.
and your WW2 is even more epic and badass.
and your WW2 is even more epic and badass.
Oh, a look at US naval stats is up: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/group.php?groupid=207
-Vincent
-Vincent
GREAT! lets get it on... oh and make one uber epic update on the fall of Japan please...
@CaptRobau - thnx that i made your day ... that link is cool in its way...
Don't worry, we will...
And by the way, I think you made everyone's day with that link, thx
Thanks, and it's far from over
Too many pockets.
What? It's called "Blitzkrieg" you know
Yes it is, I guess someone will publish it today...
-Laurence
EDIT:
After all, we *are* Totally Random Productions
-Vincent
Last edited:
Real Blitzkrieg does not concentrate on building pockets, rather storming through enemy lines at the weak points and then striking from behind the enemy lines with swifter units when the infantry begins the assault from the front.
That's only the initial phase of Blitzkrieg. The final phase is the Kesselschlacht in which large enemy formations are encircled and either destroyed or captured. This is where the real damage is done.
Well, we've each developed a separate land doctrine based on our favoured ways of playing the game. Laurence his doctrine could be best described as the 'Smash, smash smash!'-doctrine: Very little INF, rapid-moving heavy-hitters combined in armies no smaller than 8 divisions, focus on armoured, motorized and mechanized divisions. His basic idea is to smash through enemy lines and move so fast the enemy has no chance to reorganize. This is his tactics when playing with a superpower. When playing as a minor, though, he wages a much more interesting form of warfare, based on the 'elastic defense' doctrine: the 'zero defense' doctrine
In the Channel Pact, the British ground army mostly relies on my elite Royal Marines, because the rest of my ground techs are rather meh. I never researched armour past the II if I recall correctly, because over three fourths of my armoured and mechanized divisions are manufactured by Laurence (Like mentioned in the very first update), and traded for British raw resources (my resources are endless
) and ships. So, to conquer an enemy I usually open a first beachhead backed up with German expeditionary forces, and after the enemy moves all his forces to defend the first location, I land my main force of attack somewhere further down the coast, often going for a four-pronged attack. This way I encircle enemy armies near the coast and drive them into the sea to face utter destruction . Examples of this can be found a bit earlier in the Siam front, where I landed on Bangkok to weaken Japan's position in Vietnam.-Vincent
Last edited:
November
On the 1st of November, a Canadian warfleet north of La Coruna intercepted a British ASW force. Completely helpless, a Kriegsmarine fleet was immediately sent to protect the destroyers
The battle resulted in heavy losses for the Canadians, and the French support ships.
In the meanwhile, the British empire had begun constructing nuclear test reactors in Northern Ireland. Grand Admiral De Nil believed there was great future in nuclear fission as a powersource, and remarked “If we can harness the power of the atom, who knows what the possibilities could be. We could use nuclear reactors to decrease our dependence on oil, produce more power, or even to power our ships...”
The naval wars continued, with heavy fighting across the Pacific and the Atlantic.
methinks that building reactors in northern ireland is nicht a gut idea. the IRA could take them over and use nuclear power to destroy all protestants
methinks that building reactors in northern ireland is nicht a gut idea. the IRA could take them over and use nuclear power to destroy all protestants
Or there will be an accident and a new race of super-protestants will rise from the ashes...
Yes, Ireland goes FalloutOr there will be an accident and a new race of super-protestants will rise from the ashes...
*coughs*
The trailer for Rise of the Crimson Banner is already on YouTube. Why didn't you announce this?
The trailer for Rise of the Crimson Banner is already on YouTube. Why didn't you announce this?
We've been Canonized !
We are proud to announce that...
We've also been featured in this month's AARlander, read it here.
Here's the full interview:
Greetings folks ! It's been a while but welcome back once again to You've Been Canonized! Which is making its return as the weekly interview segment at Timelines (and monthly at the AARlander !) . I'm your host , canonized , author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? and today's guests are Vincent and Laurence from TRP (Totally Random Productions) authors of The Channel Pact: Germany&UK Coop AAR . Let's get to the questions !
Part I: A Dynamic Duo
Let's get to know a little bit more about Vincent and Laurence .
canonized: First , both thank you for being on the programme ! First question I have for you guys is that people generally don't share an account like you two do: could you perhaps introduce yourselves for our readers ?
TRP: We are Vincent and Laurence, two random and adventurous Belgians who decided to label our work, which was always mostly collaborative, as to be able to present it as 'us'. This label was "Volstrekt Willekeurige Producties", or as you know it, Totally Random Productions
canonized: How did both of you come upon the paradox forums and what brought you both there ?
TRP: V: Well, I joined the forums about a year ago, mostly looking for some help on playing Doomsday. My profile, VinceDN, still exists and I still use it quite often.
L: I think I've been around for about the same time, with the only difference that I never registered but remained a lurker until we registered TRP, about four months before the release of the Channel Pact
canonized: Could you tell us a little bit about how you both met each other and why you guys decided to start the creative team that we know today ?
TRP: Well, we posted a short introduction about the history of TRP in our readers group a month ago. It explains the evolution from our original project titles 'Totally Random Projects' to the running-joke-became-production-house 'Totally Random Projects' today. About how we met each other before that, Laurence and I both live on opposite sides of the same town, and we're both frequenters of the local art academy, where we met each other and realized that we have a lot of mutual interests, both in traveling/mountain climbing as in art tastes. The decision to collaborate on a lot of works didn't come soon afterward. We've been good friends for about a year or six months if we recall correctly: we can never say for sure though, since one too many sleepless night and royal alcohol consumption tend to cloud ones memories
canonized: You both mentioned the art academy and it's no secret that the excellent graphics you guys present are an important part of your presentation . Would you please share with the audience what kind of artistic background you guys have had ?
TRP: L: Well, of us only Vincent actually studies art, and he is usually the creative backbone of Totally Random Productions, while I myself am a student electromechanics. We tend to combine our expertise in most of our projects, where I then represent the technical aspect of whatever we are making. For example, for The Channel Pact my job is to keep our Moomsday build up to date, write custom events (which will come later on) and work on the index and other more technical parts of the presentation.
V: And a mighty fine job he does . I am a student graphic design/illustration, with a personal taste for computer graphics and print design. For the AAR, I am in charge of most of the creative writing and designs.
canonized: You both also entered the HOI3 Short Story contest: what do you guys think of the contest and the upcoming release of HOI3 ?
TRP: Well, it's quite coincidental that we both decided to enter, but me and Laurence had a chat on HOI3 where I mentioned the contest, where he noted "My god, I could be the first person to write a Hearts of Iron 3 Comedy AAR. And I could use it to make fun of the French!" Ironically, half my family is French, a fact which Laurence never neglects to point out. Personally, I wanted to enter only if I could do something different with the AAR-medium, and I was just waiting for some inspiration. Inspiration which I quickly found, however, after listening to one of my favourite songs (I should point out that Laurence failed to be the author of the first HOI3 comedy AAR ever, as two other hilarious entries preceded him) bad luck to him. About HOI3, we remain cautiously optimistic. For one, the one feature that we wanted from Paradox for a next Hearts of Iron (a better peace negotiations system) seems absent, and we've even heard rumours that the peace system has actually been dumbed down even more. For alternative world map lovers alike ourselves, this is a disaster of unseen proportions. But, after all, we expect nothing but the best from Paradox Interactive. They've been doing this for a while, so we're sure they can pull it off. For Vincent and Laurence respectively, the improved internal politics and the improved land warfare system interests us the most in the next Hearts of Iron
canonized: Is there anything in particular about the WW2 era that attracted you both to write/play in that timeframe ?
TRP: Well, we aren't really the diehard history fans people have come to expect from AARlanders. We simply enjoy the possibilities a simulator like Hearts of Iron can offer in terms of ahistorical decisions. After all, history has been done, hasn't it?
canonized: And what do you guys think of AARland ?
TRP: A nice place, really. We enjoy the absolutely vast amounts of quality AARs on AARland, especially the alternative- ones of course.
V: Personally, I'm a fan of non-serious/comedy AARS alike the brilliant this is SpAARta or Emu's The Game.
L: For me, any AAR that contains a minor conquering the world backed up with excessive nuclear firepower is quality AAR
Part II: TRP on Timelines
What thoughts did the duo have to share?
canonized: Especially coming from the HOI2 sub-forum background, what were your first impressions of Timelines ?
TRP: Well intially, we were quite baffled by the epic volume of the Timelines AAR, but after reading the first updates and beginning to play EUIII ourselves, we realised that EU3 is simply less set-in-stone than Hearts of Iron, and the massive timespan simply requires a long and clear chain of events, something in which Timelines succeeds
canonized: What were your favourite aspects of Timelines ? Was it different between the two of you ?
TRP: V: I like the references to mythology and the adding of deus ex machinea that somehow affect the timelines, alike the mysterious Timepiece and it's keys.
L: I like the cliffhangers that typically end each post, and the general feeling of mystery, along with the powerful and detailed descriptions that are plentiful in Timelines.
canonized: It was a funny coincidence , as I recall , that both of our AARs ended up having cinematic trailers : what do you guys think of the graphical supplements used in Timelines ?
TRP: V: Personally, I'm liking the codes or puzzles you're putting in as header with the later posts. I'm not sure if they are simply graphical or have a deeper meaning, since I am a poor code breaker, but they still intrigue me.
L: I think that the footage used in the cinematic trailer fits with the general atmosphere of Timelines.
canonized: Have you guys found any favourite characters so far ?
TRP: Well, we like Cardinal Ximenez, an officer of the silent room. He seems to be traditional and tolerant at the same time, and of course, members of a 'shadow government' always get a plus up in our book. And of course, Tom Royce. He is one of the most important characters in the entire AAR to our feeling, and an AAR writer himself at that. We find it very fitting that in his timeline, Royce is pushed down the cascade of events by the simple urge to make speculative fiction. It starts out as an 'AARwriter gets into trouble' story, but becomes so much more as the story progresses
canonized: Ahh yes , Tom Royce . That's one of the things about Timelines is that we split up the updates into a component narrating the past and a component happening contemporaneously . What did you guys think of that aspect ?
TRP: At first, we couldn't make much sense of the interludes, but as you come to understand more of the story, you begin to see the... euhm whats the word
V: Overeenkomsten?
L: have no idea
V: Well, when something relates to something else
L: Help us out here
canonized: oh , I think I see what you mean by that: a correlation happening between the past and the present [haha, I had to ask Grubnessul to help me translate that word]
TRP: V: That would be it
canonized: Obviously Timelines is a lengthy work especially now that it's been going on for over two years . What would you have to say as advice for anyone who might want to tackle reading it especially if they're used to the HOI2 AAR atmosphere ?
TRP: Play EU3. You will understand
canonized: Any advice for those scared about its length ?
TRP: Well, skimming the first chapters and the wiki would be a good idea to start out and get a general feel of the universe, and will allow you to follow *most* of the more recent posts. That way the user can catch up and decide for himself if he wants to dive in and go for the big read
canonized: and the ceremonial last question: Any guesses on what the Timepiece is ?
TRP: We think it is some sort of Holy Grail, the source of everything and a device which can be used to manipulate the timelines
Part III: “This is the definition of badass” - trekaddict
canonized: So first , the obvious major attraction is the idea of an unholy anglo-german alliance . How did you come upon this premise ?
TRP: We wanted to go completely ahistorical within the Hearts of Iron timeframe, and we believe there is no greater symbol of ahistoricalism than an alliance between the two greatest foes of World War 2, the British Empire and the German Empire. As a novelty, we added representations of our character into the story, which also form the main pivot figures around which our timeline diverges. Much earlier, the alternative timeline begins when a French president is killed in 1800 by communist rebels and replaced by a staunch anti-British nationalist, leading to the ahistorical Anglo-French wars and finally the collapse of the Entente. The core story itself is very spread out, though, since we wanted a timeline that could play both sides of the reader spectrum: Lots of story mixed with lots of pictures
canonized: That choice to add yourselves as high ranking military officials and , then , later on as political figures provides an interesting interplay of narrative and gameplay: why this mix of the genres as opposed to purely gameplay or purely narrative ?
TRP: V: As in most of our projects, The Channel Pact is simply the sum of what we each want. I wanted a strong backstory, using several evolving main characters combined with 'disconnected' stories. These stories usually feature random soldiers/sailors or pilots, and are used to flesh out some of the important battles and convey a sence of total war: By land, by sea or by air they bring you closer to the battle, if you will.
L: Me, I wanted pictures, and lots of them. My main gripe with many AARs is that the story sometimes severs the connection between what is actually going on in the game and what the AAR is about. This is why, in The Channel Pact, we put in a lot of pictures and gameplay elements
V: Additionally, as I said before, this allows us to appeal to a wider group of readers: Those interested in smaller stories, those interested in epic tales, and those who simply want to see huge empires duke duke it out in a worldwide deathmatch
canonized: What appealed to me a lot about the story was the unique element of internal conflict mostly brought upon when your characters would chafe against historical ones . It keeps the audience on their toes . Did you guys plan all that in the beginning or was it just random sudden twists of fate ?
TRP: Well, one thing we decided on when we started the AAR was that every mayor historical character would die in our timeline. And since a normal death could not satisfy us, we gave each one a 'personal' approach. There are also some alternative scenes requested by the readersgroup which immediately became a large hit among our viewers, the most notable of which would be the knife fight between Van Geyte and Hitler on top of the Reichstag. These scenes are not actually a part of the story and not planned, but when Trekaddict said "I call knifefight on top of the Reichtag" how could we resist? There will be another one of those 'alternative' battle scenes for Hirohito, which should follow in the chapter we will begin posting now
canonized: What would you say has been your greatest challenge writing an AAR ?
TRP: A great challenge would have been spreading out the story and pictures evenly, and keeping the story believable even in a far-far ahistorical scenario. Our greatest challenge, though, would be fighting an unholy 3500IC nuclear-capable 1000+-divisions United States of America, backed up with it's equally beefed up friends Brazil, Canada and Mexico. Oh, the humanity
canonized: I was also quite surprised that not only were land battles given much care and theatre-wide operations developed but also naval battles are quite epic in your AAR . Tell us a little bit about these fun tidbits .
TRP: V: That would be mostly me. I'm a great fan of naval warfare, and carriers in particular. I wanted to portray De Nil in the story as the innovative mind the RN needed in 1936, and of course, nothing is more spectacular than the RN going to to toe with it's breakaway colony and arch nemesis the United States in a spectacular World War 2. I also feel ships are more unique than land divisions because of their characteristic names a ship can really build up history during a war, and even more so combined with the sink lists.
canonized: Do you fellows have any plans for future AARs after this one is finished ?
TRP: Well, we've been promising our reader's a new AAR project for this summer for a while now. When we heard the next canonized and AARlander feature would be about us, this immediately gave us a great incentive to come crashing down the door once again. So, as Laurence once said: Raise the Crimson Banner!
canonized: Excellent ! And definitely good luck on your projects: anything you'd like to add ?
TRP: We'd just like to say, thanks for this honor, and: Write on, for the glory of AARland!
We are proud to announce that...
We've been Canonized !!
We've also been featured in this month's AARlander, read it here.
Here's the full interview:
Greetings folks ! It's been a while but welcome back once again to You've Been Canonized! Which is making its return as the weekly interview segment at Timelines (and monthly at the AARlander !) . I'm your host , canonized , author of Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? and today's guests are Vincent and Laurence from TRP (Totally Random Productions) authors of The Channel Pact: Germany&UK Coop AAR . Let's get to the questions !
Part I: A Dynamic Duo
Let's get to know a little bit more about Vincent and Laurence .
canonized: First , both thank you for being on the programme ! First question I have for you guys is that people generally don't share an account like you two do: could you perhaps introduce yourselves for our readers ?
TRP: We are Vincent and Laurence, two random and adventurous Belgians who decided to label our work, which was always mostly collaborative, as to be able to present it as 'us'. This label was "Volstrekt Willekeurige Producties", or as you know it, Totally Random Productions
canonized: How did both of you come upon the paradox forums and what brought you both there ?
TRP: V: Well, I joined the forums about a year ago, mostly looking for some help on playing Doomsday. My profile, VinceDN, still exists and I still use it quite often.
L: I think I've been around for about the same time, with the only difference that I never registered but remained a lurker until we registered TRP, about four months before the release of the Channel Pact
canonized: Could you tell us a little bit about how you both met each other and why you guys decided to start the creative team that we know today ?
TRP: Well, we posted a short introduction about the history of TRP in our readers group a month ago. It explains the evolution from our original project titles 'Totally Random Projects' to the running-joke-became-production-house 'Totally Random Projects' today. About how we met each other before that, Laurence and I both live on opposite sides of the same town, and we're both frequenters of the local art academy, where we met each other and realized that we have a lot of mutual interests, both in traveling/mountain climbing as in art tastes. The decision to collaborate on a lot of works didn't come soon afterward. We've been good friends for about a year or six months if we recall correctly: we can never say for sure though, since one too many sleepless night and royal alcohol consumption tend to cloud ones memories
canonized: You both mentioned the art academy and it's no secret that the excellent graphics you guys present are an important part of your presentation . Would you please share with the audience what kind of artistic background you guys have had ?
TRP: L: Well, of us only Vincent actually studies art, and he is usually the creative backbone of Totally Random Productions, while I myself am a student electromechanics. We tend to combine our expertise in most of our projects, where I then represent the technical aspect of whatever we are making. For example, for The Channel Pact my job is to keep our Moomsday build up to date, write custom events (which will come later on) and work on the index and other more technical parts of the presentation.
V: And a mighty fine job he does . I am a student graphic design/illustration, with a personal taste for computer graphics and print design. For the AAR, I am in charge of most of the creative writing and designs.
canonized: You both also entered the HOI3 Short Story contest: what do you guys think of the contest and the upcoming release of HOI3 ?
TRP: Well, it's quite coincidental that we both decided to enter, but me and Laurence had a chat on HOI3 where I mentioned the contest, where he noted "My god, I could be the first person to write a Hearts of Iron 3 Comedy AAR. And I could use it to make fun of the French!" Ironically, half my family is French, a fact which Laurence never neglects to point out. Personally, I wanted to enter only if I could do something different with the AAR-medium, and I was just waiting for some inspiration. Inspiration which I quickly found, however, after listening to one of my favourite songs (I should point out that Laurence failed to be the author of the first HOI3 comedy AAR ever, as two other hilarious entries preceded him) bad luck to him. About HOI3, we remain cautiously optimistic. For one, the one feature that we wanted from Paradox for a next Hearts of Iron (a better peace negotiations system) seems absent, and we've even heard rumours that the peace system has actually been dumbed down even more. For alternative world map lovers alike ourselves, this is a disaster of unseen proportions. But, after all, we expect nothing but the best from Paradox Interactive. They've been doing this for a while, so we're sure they can pull it off. For Vincent and Laurence respectively, the improved internal politics and the improved land warfare system interests us the most in the next Hearts of Iron
canonized: Is there anything in particular about the WW2 era that attracted you both to write/play in that timeframe ?
TRP: Well, we aren't really the diehard history fans people have come to expect from AARlanders. We simply enjoy the possibilities a simulator like Hearts of Iron can offer in terms of ahistorical decisions. After all, history has been done, hasn't it?
canonized: And what do you guys think of AARland ?
TRP: A nice place, really. We enjoy the absolutely vast amounts of quality AARs on AARland, especially the alternative- ones of course.
V: Personally, I'm a fan of non-serious/comedy AARS alike the brilliant this is SpAARta or Emu's The Game.
L: For me, any AAR that contains a minor conquering the world backed up with excessive nuclear firepower is quality AAR
Part II: TRP on Timelines
What thoughts did the duo have to share?
canonized: Especially coming from the HOI2 sub-forum background, what were your first impressions of Timelines ?
TRP: Well intially, we were quite baffled by the epic volume of the Timelines AAR, but after reading the first updates and beginning to play EUIII ourselves, we realised that EU3 is simply less set-in-stone than Hearts of Iron, and the massive timespan simply requires a long and clear chain of events, something in which Timelines succeeds
canonized: What were your favourite aspects of Timelines ? Was it different between the two of you ?
TRP: V: I like the references to mythology and the adding of deus ex machinea that somehow affect the timelines, alike the mysterious Timepiece and it's keys.
L: I like the cliffhangers that typically end each post, and the general feeling of mystery, along with the powerful and detailed descriptions that are plentiful in Timelines.
canonized: It was a funny coincidence , as I recall , that both of our AARs ended up having cinematic trailers : what do you guys think of the graphical supplements used in Timelines ?
TRP: V: Personally, I'm liking the codes or puzzles you're putting in as header with the later posts. I'm not sure if they are simply graphical or have a deeper meaning, since I am a poor code breaker, but they still intrigue me.
L: I think that the footage used in the cinematic trailer fits with the general atmosphere of Timelines.
canonized: Have you guys found any favourite characters so far ?
TRP: Well, we like Cardinal Ximenez, an officer of the silent room. He seems to be traditional and tolerant at the same time, and of course, members of a 'shadow government' always get a plus up in our book. And of course, Tom Royce. He is one of the most important characters in the entire AAR to our feeling, and an AAR writer himself at that. We find it very fitting that in his timeline, Royce is pushed down the cascade of events by the simple urge to make speculative fiction. It starts out as an 'AARwriter gets into trouble' story, but becomes so much more as the story progresses
canonized: Ahh yes , Tom Royce . That's one of the things about Timelines is that we split up the updates into a component narrating the past and a component happening contemporaneously . What did you guys think of that aspect ?
TRP: At first, we couldn't make much sense of the interludes, but as you come to understand more of the story, you begin to see the... euhm whats the word
V: Overeenkomsten?
L: have no idea
V: Well, when something relates to something else
L: Help us out here
canonized: oh , I think I see what you mean by that: a correlation happening between the past and the present [haha, I had to ask Grubnessul to help me translate that word]
TRP: V: That would be it
canonized: Obviously Timelines is a lengthy work especially now that it's been going on for over two years . What would you have to say as advice for anyone who might want to tackle reading it especially if they're used to the HOI2 AAR atmosphere ?
TRP: Play EU3. You will understand
canonized: Any advice for those scared about its length ?
TRP: Well, skimming the first chapters and the wiki would be a good idea to start out and get a general feel of the universe, and will allow you to follow *most* of the more recent posts. That way the user can catch up and decide for himself if he wants to dive in and go for the big read
canonized: and the ceremonial last question: Any guesses on what the Timepiece is ?
TRP: We think it is some sort of Holy Grail, the source of everything and a device which can be used to manipulate the timelines
Part III: “This is the definition of badass” - trekaddict
canonized: So first , the obvious major attraction is the idea of an unholy anglo-german alliance . How did you come upon this premise ?
TRP: We wanted to go completely ahistorical within the Hearts of Iron timeframe, and we believe there is no greater symbol of ahistoricalism than an alliance between the two greatest foes of World War 2, the British Empire and the German Empire. As a novelty, we added representations of our character into the story, which also form the main pivot figures around which our timeline diverges. Much earlier, the alternative timeline begins when a French president is killed in 1800 by communist rebels and replaced by a staunch anti-British nationalist, leading to the ahistorical Anglo-French wars and finally the collapse of the Entente. The core story itself is very spread out, though, since we wanted a timeline that could play both sides of the reader spectrum: Lots of story mixed with lots of pictures
canonized: That choice to add yourselves as high ranking military officials and , then , later on as political figures provides an interesting interplay of narrative and gameplay: why this mix of the genres as opposed to purely gameplay or purely narrative ?
TRP: V: As in most of our projects, The Channel Pact is simply the sum of what we each want. I wanted a strong backstory, using several evolving main characters combined with 'disconnected' stories. These stories usually feature random soldiers/sailors or pilots, and are used to flesh out some of the important battles and convey a sence of total war: By land, by sea or by air they bring you closer to the battle, if you will.
L: Me, I wanted pictures, and lots of them. My main gripe with many AARs is that the story sometimes severs the connection between what is actually going on in the game and what the AAR is about. This is why, in The Channel Pact, we put in a lot of pictures and gameplay elements
V: Additionally, as I said before, this allows us to appeal to a wider group of readers: Those interested in smaller stories, those interested in epic tales, and those who simply want to see huge empires duke duke it out in a worldwide deathmatch
canonized: What appealed to me a lot about the story was the unique element of internal conflict mostly brought upon when your characters would chafe against historical ones . It keeps the audience on their toes . Did you guys plan all that in the beginning or was it just random sudden twists of fate ?
TRP: Well, one thing we decided on when we started the AAR was that every mayor historical character would die in our timeline. And since a normal death could not satisfy us, we gave each one a 'personal' approach. There are also some alternative scenes requested by the readersgroup which immediately became a large hit among our viewers, the most notable of which would be the knife fight between Van Geyte and Hitler on top of the Reichstag. These scenes are not actually a part of the story and not planned, but when Trekaddict said "I call knifefight on top of the Reichtag" how could we resist? There will be another one of those 'alternative' battle scenes for Hirohito, which should follow in the chapter we will begin posting now
canonized: What would you say has been your greatest challenge writing an AAR ?
TRP: A great challenge would have been spreading out the story and pictures evenly, and keeping the story believable even in a far-far ahistorical scenario. Our greatest challenge, though, would be fighting an unholy 3500IC nuclear-capable 1000+-divisions United States of America, backed up with it's equally beefed up friends Brazil, Canada and Mexico. Oh, the humanity
canonized: I was also quite surprised that not only were land battles given much care and theatre-wide operations developed but also naval battles are quite epic in your AAR . Tell us a little bit about these fun tidbits .
TRP: V: That would be mostly me. I'm a great fan of naval warfare, and carriers in particular. I wanted to portray De Nil in the story as the innovative mind the RN needed in 1936, and of course, nothing is more spectacular than the RN going to to toe with it's breakaway colony and arch nemesis the United States in a spectacular World War 2. I also feel ships are more unique than land divisions because of their characteristic names a ship can really build up history during a war, and even more so combined with the sink lists.
canonized: Do you fellows have any plans for future AARs after this one is finished ?
TRP: Well, we've been promising our reader's a new AAR project for this summer for a while now. When we heard the next canonized and AARlander feature would be about us, this immediately gave us a great incentive to come crashing down the door once again. So, as Laurence once said: Raise the Crimson Banner!
canonized: Excellent ! And definitely good luck on your projects: anything you'd like to add ?
TRP: We'd just like to say, thanks for this honor, and: Write on, for the glory of AARland!
Okay, that explains it thanks. Cool interview. Also the trailer rocks. Too bad you didn't put your own voice in that but otherwise awesome.
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