Wow, well what can I say other thank you stnylan! 
I'm truly amazed at recieving this award!
Taylor grew out of two things - firstly simply getting the Doomsday expansion with its system of espionage and secondly coping with the very different style of a HoI2 AAR. Most of my AAR's tend to focus on fictional (or at least fictionalised) monarchies - it's a style I enjoy as I can combine national policy with character writing. I'm proud of the Bonaparte-Romanov (Canada), Falconi-Falieri (Byzantium), Fitzgerald (Ireland) and D'Alema (Spain, North Africa, Egypt and so on) dynasties and I would say this is my most comfortable style - even my Tuscan republic AAR ended up being about an Imperial family!
A HoI2 AAR is very different. For one thing the politicians are, in most countries, not monarchies (removing the family intrigue aspect) and are well known historical figures which prevents the sort of character freedom in CK, Victoria and even EUII. So having historical leaders appear in the flesh - as narrative characters that is - is fraught with difficulty as it is so difficult to capture a character most of the audience knows just as much about, or even more than you do. Enter Taylor.
Having a 'street level' character is useful in some ways in that you can have him walk around the place and interact with people and places that just isn't possible with monarchs - I can't see Joséphine I, Empress of Canada and France (and Queen of Hawaii) wandering around turn of the century Montreal. Taylor can go anywhere in Dixie from Richmond to Jacksonville (Culiacán, Mexico in OTL). His job is not entirely dull either...
Anyone I would just like to say that I'm glad people enjoy this character as he was a real risk for me to write and I'm pleased to see it's worked.
Thanks guys!
I'm truly amazed at recieving this award!Taylor grew out of two things - firstly simply getting the Doomsday expansion with its system of espionage and secondly coping with the very different style of a HoI2 AAR. Most of my AAR's tend to focus on fictional (or at least fictionalised) monarchies - it's a style I enjoy as I can combine national policy with character writing. I'm proud of the Bonaparte-Romanov (Canada), Falconi-Falieri (Byzantium), Fitzgerald (Ireland) and D'Alema (Spain, North Africa, Egypt and so on) dynasties and I would say this is my most comfortable style - even my Tuscan republic AAR ended up being about an Imperial family!
A HoI2 AAR is very different. For one thing the politicians are, in most countries, not monarchies (removing the family intrigue aspect) and are well known historical figures which prevents the sort of character freedom in CK, Victoria and even EUII. So having historical leaders appear in the flesh - as narrative characters that is - is fraught with difficulty as it is so difficult to capture a character most of the audience knows just as much about, or even more than you do. Enter Taylor.
Having a 'street level' character is useful in some ways in that you can have him walk around the place and interact with people and places that just isn't possible with monarchs - I can't see Joséphine I, Empress of Canada and France (and Queen of Hawaii) wandering around turn of the century Montreal. Taylor can go anywhere in Dixie from Richmond to Jacksonville (Culiacán, Mexico in OTL). His job is not entirely dull either...
Anyone I would just like to say that I'm glad people enjoy this character as he was a real risk for me to write and I'm pleased to see it's worked.
Thanks guys!
