Just managed to finish my read-through. An interesting take on the Realpolitik of the Pact in this ATL. And the two Ottos are certaining walking a very long and thin tightrope here, between high towers on a windy day and with no safety net. One fears for their ultimate fate in this dystopian menagerie of Nazi monsters.
Yep, life was cruel indeed for Rahn - an ewe joining the company of wolves. I can't make up my mind whether his death was a suicide or not.
I very much like the afternotes explaining either the in-game events or OTL backgrounds. It’s a clever way of giving the context without disrupting the narrative. Bravo.
The writer's notes were initially my way of pre-emptively justifying my narrative options, but sometimes I worry they also satisfy some need to say "hey, look how cleverly I tied it all up!". My only oh-hum excuse is that they also are a nice way of sharing my wonderment at little historical facts or might-have-beens.
Meanwhile, we approach the turning point where everything starts racing in earnest to the great bloodbath. Or will things be a little different in this ATL? I guess we will see in due course!
Indeed, that is the end of years of foreplay! I had a lot of fun with the pre-war intrigues, which were very much suited for a narrative AAR. I think the style of the updates will evolve somewhat to take into consideration that offensives, counter-offensives and naval battles will now take precedence over political moves, and individual drama will seem trivial as war engulfs continents. I wouldn't want you readers to have to go through dozens of almost-similar battle scenes (and I would probably not have much fun writing nearly-similar updates). I do have some ideas about how to mix both aspects in some chapters, though - ideas that came to me years ago when I started this AAR.