Oh...my.
First, thank you AllmyJames. I am truly honored.
When this award first started, I remember raising my eyebrow and thinking that this was an extra nod at narrative AARs - not that I objected, as I was in the middle of a huge narrative and they're hard work.
Well, history has proven me wrong. Many different kinds of AARs have seen their moment in the sun here, and I'm proud to have 'Tannenberg' and Michael von Anhalt added to the list.
Beyond Tannenberg is a history-book style AAR, and as James noted I put an effort into making each character, especially the grandmasters and their 'style' of play, as distinctive as possible.
I'm rather proud of von Anhalt, but much of his development goes to my readers. When the game generated a high administration/low diplomacy ruler, I thought "Brainy stereotype - smart but not good around people." Then one of my readers suggested he sounded autistic - so I did some research and nudged his personality in that direction.
Von Anhalt was fun. His single-mindedness actually served the Order well, but he never quite understood the realities of the situation around him, such as declaring victory after being thrashed soundly in a war. Strangely enough he found solace and peace as a scholar in an Orthodox city months before he died.
As James mentioned, the game ended when after a certain point in game (I never quite figured out why) the save files stopped loading. Still, I'm proud of the thirty-odd chapters I did get to write for the Teutons.
Thank you James, and thank you all.