EUII OscAAR Redux - Nominations for Best Completed AAR, Sept. - Dec. 2003

[coz1]

The Very, Very Old

In order to try and look at as many of the older AARs before the release of EUIII, we need to start moving along and begin the nomination process for the next round. Because there are quite a few AARs to look at, I want to give enough time for readers to peruse the list of eligable works without causing too much overlap with the previous period's nominations.

The OscAARs for January to June, 2006 will be coming up in August, and while we vote on those works, we can start taking a look at some of the long forgotten works of 2003. There will be names you recognize here, and names you do not. I urge you to try and take a look at as many of them as you can. You will not be disappointed.

If all works well, we will be able to have an OscAAR contest each month leading up to the release of EUIII at the start of 2007. I hope it serves as a mix of both retrospective of what we all have accomplished over the past three years and also a grand send off (in some ways) of the excellent game we know as EUII. I don't know how active this area will be once the third arrives, but we owe it to the grand old game to honor what she has given us over the years and honor the talent that provided some of the best work on the forum since late 2003. If you ever wanted a crash course in recommended reading in EUII for the past three years, this will be it.

Here are the eligable AARs for the September to December 2003 period:​

Auvergne: The Little Nation That Could by Amric

The Dutch Incumbence: Take what's yours by Right! A Dutch WC Attempt. by Anibal

UNN: Universalis News Network by Arilou

Ferdinand and the fly (a Bohemian myth) by Coen

By Iron and Blood: A Prussian-German AoN AAR by C.V. Mannerheim

Peter on the White Sea: A Russian AAR using the 1683 Scenario by C.V. Mannerheim

The Heirs of Lothair: 400 Years of Burgundian History by DanielMcCollum

Brand New and Playing Brandenburg by Farquharson

Carthage Reborn - the first Tunisian AAR by Farquharson

The Rise of Wallachia 1419-1810 by The Impaler

Novgorod the Great: An AAR by Judas Maccabeus

To Live by the Sword by Judas Maccabeus

Khaz and Effect by jwolf

A History of the Hellenic Republic(1419-1819):A Hellas AAR by LordLeto

History of the Eastern Roman Empire:A Byzantine AAR by LordLeto

The Heirs of Caesars: Habsburg AAR by nalivayko

The Coat on the Floor III: Tsared for Life by Paranoid Tsar

The Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary: Two Views on the Russian Crusades by Paranoid Tsar

An Croatian AAR--The votes are in and counted. by Singleton Mosby

The Blunders of America, Abridged. by Snow King

Pax Britainnica : Ascent of the lion by TreizeV

* * *​

And as I stated in the previous nominations thread, here is a note on what is eligable - Since I don't do the librAARy in EUII, I am/was not as familiar with the full range of work done here. And since I was looking at the backlogged AARs as well, I had quite a few to pour over. I tried to call completed work thusly: It was truly completed, it was ended from a technical error and good faith was made to end, it was abandoned but a sufficient ending was put in place during the eligable period. There is a good chance I may have missed something while going through the work, so if you spot any errors, or think something should be included/excluded, please feel free to either PM me or post here and we'll take a look at it.

Nominations will work like this: you each have one vote that you may use to nominate an AAR or to second, third, etc. if someone else has already nominated it. This nominations period will last until August 31. At that point, I will tally the nominations and the top 5 AARs will be placed in a poll to be run in September.

Like I said, the list above is long but well worth your time to investigate. I hope this provides the older members a chance to recall some of their favorite works and the newer members a chance to read some AARs they may have never heard of or overlooked. Hopefully this will be a fun project that takes us through the end of the year. Happy reading and let the nominations begin.

*Note: We will use the September start date because the previous EUII OscAAR contest was through August of 2003.

 

[unmerged(17581)]

Now that's old! I remember seeing some of those when looking at very old AARs years ago!

 

[Amric]

The Heirs of Caesars: Habsburg AAR by nalivayko

No doubt in my mind that it was a fantastic story. The man had a way with words and imagery that I am proud to say is astounding. For those who haven't read this story you should do so now. It's stellar work. I've read everything he's done and it's always high quality. I've written with him before and I've always lamented that he has vanished from here for the last 18 months or so. His style and quality are so excellent that there are little gems within each post that seems almost casually thrown in and yet later on become very integral to the storyline.

 

[CatKnight]

I'm going to be honest - this was very, very difficult .... not because of the time involved, which is before I joined the forums, but because of the quality of the work involved. There were easily four or five I would be happy backing as an OscAAR candidate, all of them better than 90% of what we see today. I think I have a new appreciation for why some people liked "the old days."

I've finally - reluctantly - chosen. As I said, this could split four or five ways fairly easy. Nonetheless, I nominate Pax Britannica: Ascent of the Lion by TreizeV. This prequel, more or less, to his current Vive L'Empeurer story is amazing!

 

[Farquharson]

I spent some time giving all of these at least a cursory look over (something I don't normally do!) and I too was impressed with at least half a dozen of them. It's hard to choose one over the others since there's also quite a variety of styles and formats. In the end I've decided to nominate jwolf's Khaz and Effect, since it engaged my attention (as jwolf's work normally does) and got me actually reading though more of it than any of the others!

 

[coz1]

I'd really like to thank those that have participated in nominating thus far, especially for taking the time to say a few words about the AAR they nominated.

I'd like to ask that some of the older members perhaps stop by, and even if uncomfortable with nominating (or not interested), at least say a word or two about some of the works listed above if they recall them.

I hope this project serves the dual purpose of rewarding older work that was skipped over, and also highlighting some of the best work on the forums over the past three years or so.

Remember that the nominations period lasts until August 31st.

 

[coz1]

3 nominations so far. Anyone else wish to offer their choice? Consider this a reminder. Just a little over two more weeks to make your voice heard.

 

[stnylan]

I had completely missed this, unaccountably so. Unfortunately it looks like most of them were from a time before I started reading quite so prolifically as I do. Clearly, I have some great times ahead of me before I choose!

 

[unmerged(59737)]

Nonetheless, I nominate Pax Britannica: Ascent of the Lion by TreizeV. This prequel, more or less, to his current Vive L'Empeurer story is amazing!

Seconded.

 

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"Dude, where's my country! (France with a touch of humour) by Jacko the Panda deserves a place.

 

[stnylan]

"Dude, where's my country! (France with a touch of humour) by Jacko the Panda deserves a place.

Look at the eligible dates for this round WM. Just a hint


Edit: Just a general note to any wondering how on earth they could plough through all those AARs coz1 listed, it is worthwhile noting many of these AARs are quite short by today's standards. Several are less than 5 pages, so it is quite easy to read through a good selection in a relatively brief time. Enjoy!

 

[coz1]

I'd also add to what stnylan mentions at the bottom that one does not have to read the entire AAR at the moment. Remember that this is only the nominating phase with the top five moving on for a chance to take home the gold.

And Walter - If you go back to the top post of this thread outlining what is going on here you would realize that the AAR you mention is neither completed or written during the time frame listed in the thread title. It often helps to read the rules and previous posts before commenting.

 

[stnylan]

Well, on the basis that I think I've read very few of the AARs coz1 linked to, and in the hopes of perhaps generating some discussion, or maybe just keeping this thead visible, or possibly even pointing people towards AARs they might themselves like to read I've decided to write a quick review of each AAR after I've finished it.

So, hoping that this will be useful, let me begin with LordLeto's A History of the Hellenic Republic 1419-1819.

This is quite a short, history-book style AAR, coming in at just 2 pages. The writing is clear and simple, and it is easy to follow what is happening the fledgling state. Unsurprisingly there is a lot of focus on the wars, and not much on the peace. There is a sense of an overall story arc however, and LordLeto finishes things off nicely with a good little epilogue.

 

[stnylan]

A Croatian AAR - the votes are in and counted

Singleton Mosby is now one of the more widespread authors in the forum. This work is his second offering. It is the AAR of Croatia, written in historybook format (apart from the first post) across all four hundred years. It runs to eight pages in total, but is actually shorter than you think as many of the updates are quite short - very short compared to today's posting trends.

An enjoyable read. The short updates give the impression of a quick pace. I also have to applaud SM for continuing when he had a relatively sparse readership. Can't figure out why, because the tale he tells is interesting enough. How Croatia rises to become a regional power, and then...

There are awkward moments, as one might expect from a relatively fresh author (as he was then). It was very interesting, however, to see where this writAAR comes from.

 

[stnylan]

Auvergne: The Little Nation That Could by Amric

This is one of the few AARs on the list that I could remember reading, and it turns out my mind was not playing tricks. A great AAR as I remember it, and I equally enjoyed the re-reading. The AAR itself covers seven pages, with comments spilling over into an eighth. It is a world conquest AAR starting with the little nation of Auvergne. Apparently a time traveller with his laptop travels back to 1418, and thus the Duke of Auvergne learns to his horrow that his Duchy is doomed. The strange traveller dies that winter, and his laptop is interred with him (having long since run out of battery power), but by that time the Duke has decided to DO SOMETHING. The AAR tells the tale...

It starts off in a style about a half-way house between logbook and historybook, but develops about a third of the way through into a first person gameplayer's narrative. This latter style is very engaging, and Amric's qualities as a writer come through even though this is not a narrative AAR (though there are one or two moments). His jaunty tone helps one over the general reptitiveness that all WC AARs suffer from to a greater or lesser extent. It prevents this AAR from being dull, which is all to the good. To finish it all, Amric has whipped up an epilogue.

 

[Rensslaer]

I must confess that I missed this, too! I guess if I saw it, I figured it was the OTHER nominating thread.

Further, I must confess I have never seen a ONE of these! I guess I have some reading ahead of me...

Rensslaer

 

[unmerged(18239)]

A Croatian AAR - the votes are in and counted

Singleton Mosby is now one of the more widespread authors in the forum. This work is his second offering. It is the AAR of Croatia, written in historybook format (apart from the first post) across all four hundred years. It runs to eight pages in total, but is actually shorter than you think as many of the updates are quite short - very short compared to today's posting trends.

An enjoyable read. The short updates give the impression of a quick pace. I also have to applaud SM for continuing when he had a relatively sparse readership. Can't figure out why, because the tale he tells is interesting enough. How Croatia rises to become a regional power, and then...

There are awkward moments, as one might expect from a relatively fresh author (as he was then). It was very interesting, however, to see where this writAAR comes from.

Thanks a lot for the kind words. I haven't seen this one for quite some time. Will take a look at it and see what happened to my writing skills in all this time. Thanks again.

 

[stnylan]

Brand New and Playing Brandenburg by Farquharson

Farquharson has many AARs to his name, but this was his first. All those who like his work today, I strongly urge you to take a look at this, his beginning. It is a short AAR - 4 pages. He is playing Brandenburg, and there is one update per monarch. The first part of the update is usually historybook, usually followed by a map, and then usually followed by a dialogue. Being Farquharson these dialogues are great comedy, little excuses for laughter. The whole thing reads wonderfully easily and smoothly. And not at all old. Read it, and be entertained!

 

[stnylan]

By Iron and Blood - A Prussian-German AoN AAR by C.V. Mannerheim

This AAR uses the Age of Nationalism mod, which covers the period 1820-1914. It is a short AAR - the actual AAR is covered in just two pages though comments overflow onto a third. It is mostly a log-like historybook style. Most of the pictures have fallen foul of the Red X, but those which remain speak well for those that are sadly departed. Fast-paced in reading back like this, it feels so very short - which of course it is. Still, I ended up being unsatisfied. It should have been longer, and certainly the writer showed potenital for more detailed work. Still, a good fun read.

 

[stnylan]

Carthage Reborn - The First Tunisian AAR by Farquharson

This is Farquharson's second offering in the AAR milieu, playing as Tunisia, and breaking new ground for EU2 AARs as it was the first EU2 Tunisia AAR. The AAR itself is a mixture of historybook and dialogue styles - the latter becoming more pronounced as the AAR progressing and approaching what I guess could be called "classic Farq". What I think is best about this AAR however is that it is, in many respects, an AAR full of failure. It is not a 'failed' AAR - Tunisia does end on something of high note - but by golly it was hard work along the way with plenty of downs to accompany the ups. Again, this AAR is relatively short, it lasts four pages with comments spilling over onto a fifth. Easy to read, and a source of constant humour, it was a delight.

Edit: By way of addendum there are also plenty of nice photos in this AAR that are still extant. The accompanying descriptions to some of them are, well, excellent