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A fitting end.

"Where are they taking us?" The King asked.

"Hull."

"Of course." The King nodded and looked back to the shore.
Even when we didn't think things could possibly get worse, once again El Pip saves the deepest, darkest twist for the very end. shudders :eek:

So as the Norwegian coastal defence ship of fate sails towards the fishing port of destiny, and the Herring trawler of time dredges up the last catch of eternity, I notice our work here is done and we have reached the end of the AAR.

The End
Well,

damn.
 
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So...yeah.

The nazis won.
 
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Such a sad ending. I wish you the best on whatever your next AAR shall be <3
In the surprisingly relevant words of Elton John "It's a sad, sad situation". Haakon leaving Norway was never going to be a happy event, even he could not manage to make a joke about it.

It is my opinion that King Haakon and the Fjords must be.... oh, wait, it's finished? Like... for real?

What?
I can well understand your shock, even in a year of crazy events me finishing two AARs is probably still in the top 10 odd occurrences.

And so ends another Pippian dark humor piece, and so all Proper Attention can be directed to the Magnum Opus, Butterfly!
That is certainly one possibility. Definitely a short period of focusing on Butterfly seems appropriate, but how long that will last is less clear.

A fitting end.
As is traditional.
DYAEiOu.gif


Even when we didn't think things could possibly get worse, once again El Pip saves the deepest, darkest twist for the very end. shudders :eek:
War is indeed hull hell.

Well,

damn.
Sums things up.

So...yeah.

The nazis won.
Technically I suppose.
...for now.
I am pleased you have returned for the end and have brought such defiant optimism with you. It is most welcome. :)

Until the epilogue in 10 years time, yeah.
He will, I suspect...see the fjords again.

:)
King Haakon might return, if I can think of a way to make a government-in-exile interesting. Given the game mechanics (you get no fuel or supply, and that's a hard coded 'feature') it would be Norway doing nothing and watching the AIs fight WW2, and I feel I've done my fair share of mocking bad AI decisions for the moment.

Maybe after a few years of building and doing nothing, you might be able to build enough partisans to launch an uprising in Norway and self-liberate, hoping that the Germans haven't garrisoned the place and are too distracted elsewhere to re-invade. But at that point the war will have been won or lost elsewhere so it would just be doing something for the sake of writing something, which I can't work up enthusiasm for. However if someone does have a suggestion of an interesting way for Haakon to once again see the Fjords, please let me know.
 
That is certainly one possibility. Definitely a short period of focusing on Butterfly seems appropriate, but how long that will last is less clear.

There is a massive backlouge of ideas and concepts in the cupboard. I know that. We've discussed a few over the years. Going to get a dartboard out or do you have a clear favourite?

Technically I suppose

I mean...Norway is occupied and this is HOI. If the player isn't running the show, the Nazis do tend to win. That's kinda the point.

King Haakon might return,

On Her Majesties Secret Service.

However if someone does have a suggestion of an interesting way for Haakon to once again see the Fjords, please let me know.

He has to go back! He has to fix this! He has to go back and stop Germany existing in the first place! He must KILL ALL THE KARLINGS.

Basically, the sequel that is a prequel of the sequel. The last hurrah of CK2 before CK3 walks it into the sea.
 
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King Haakon might return, if I can think of a way to make a government-in-exile interesting. Given the game mechanics (you get no fuel or supply, and that's a hard coded 'feature') it would be Norway doing nothing and watching the AIs fight WW2, and I feel I've done my fair share of mocking bad AI decisions for the moment.

Maybe after a few years of building and doing nothing, you might be able to build enough partisans to launch an uprising in Norway and self-liberate, hoping that the Germans haven't garrisoned the place and are too distracted elsewhere to re-invade. But at that point the war will have been won or lost elsewhere so it would just be doing something for the sake of writing something, which I can't work up enthusiasm for. However if someone does have a suggestion of an interesting way for Haakon to once again see the Fjords, please let me know.
Offhand, I could see something done in HoI3 done with some player setup to get to the proper point of departure. For example, the 1943 vanilla bookmark seems to be set for 1 Feb 1943, the point at which the tide is against the Axis but before the decisive turning blows of 1943 - Kursk, Italy, Tarawa, and so on. Depending how the GIE/partisan system works, Norway can form up a massive network of partisan cells in the northern part of the country with the intention of an uprising coordinated with Allied/British troops landing at Narvik in April/May once the port unfreezes...call it a result of Churchill's unrestrained obsession with a Baltic landing if you like.

Player modding would be needed to set up a British expeditionary force, a proper German defensive garrison/force as the GER AI will be too busy in Russia otherwise, and probably to prod along the Norwegian partisans to a suitable level. Should be doable, albeit an unusual premise for an El Pip AAR as we would have actual combat action as the focus for once. Is the world ready for this, frankly we cannot be sure.
 
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Offhand, I could see something done in HoI3 done with some player setup to get to the proper point of departure. For example, the 1943 vanilla bookmark seems to be set for 1 Feb 1943, the point at which the tide is against the Axis but before the decisive turning blows of 1943 - Kursk, Italy, Tarawa, and so on. Depending how the GIE/partisan system works, Norway can form up a massive network of partisan cells in the northern part of the country with the intention of an uprising coordinated with Allied/British troops landing at Narvik in April/May once the port unfreezes...call it a result of Churchill's unrestrained obsession with a Baltic landing if you like.

Player modding would be needed to set up a British expeditionary force, a proper German defensive garrison/force as the GER AI will be too busy in Russia otherwise, and probably to prod along the Norwegian partisans to a suitable level. Should be doable, albeit an unusual premise for an El Pip AAR as we would have actual combat action as the focus for once. Is the world ready for this, frankly we cannot be sure.

Hmm...no d day, no soft underbelly of europe. Churchill throws everything into Norway instead and surprised Hitler with a surprise attack of suprise. Ends up taking all of Western Europe, including Germany and Italy without Russian involvement, leaving only nasty Eastern European countries no amercian has ever heard of under Stalin's thumb. And Poland, but screw those guys.new golden age of europe follows, EU les by Norway and each country gets their own fjord island to bicker on. World peace established.
 
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I return to the story to find a veritable avalanche of updates (plus puns, defeatism and acronym based japes) - all too quick for my befuddled senses. The last scene was indeed sad, the fjord-pining has begun.

It would appear so. Congratulations on finishing another epic saga of hopeless and incompetent loss. Albeit with such indecent haste. ;)
 
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There is a massive backlouge of ideas and concepts in the cupboard. I know that. We've discussed a few over the years. Going to get a dartboard out or do you have a clear favourite?
By a complete non-coincidence I've just sent you a PM about that very subject.

On Her Majesties Secret Service.
I did write up a "This is the end of For King Haakon and the Fjords, but King Haakon will return in PINING FOR THE FJORDS" ending. But I didn't want to get anyone's hopes up in case it never happened, as seems likely.

He has to go back! He has to fix this! He has to go back and stop Germany existing in the first place! He must KILL ALL THE KARLINGS.

Basically, the sequel that is a prequel of the sequel. The last hurrah of CK2 before CK3 walks it into the sea.
I got close to doing an Inevitable Defeat pre-sequel with that very idea. Tiso sent back in time by Saint Cyril and/or Methodius to the time of CK2 to make Slovakia a mighty kingdom. But I've still not actually learnt to play CK2 which, given the typical start positions for the Slovak region, is something of a serious issue.

Offhand, I could see something done in HoI3 done with some player setup to get to the proper point of departure. For example, the 1943 vanilla bookmark seems to be set for 1 Feb 1943, the point at which the tide is against the Axis but before the decisive turning blows of 1943 - Kursk, Italy, Tarawa, and so on. Depending how the GIE/partisan system works, Norway can form up a massive network of partisan cells in the northern part of the country with the intention of an uprising coordinated with Allied/British troops landing at Narvik in April/May once the port unfreezes...call it a result of Churchill's unrestrained obsession with a Baltic landing if you like.

Player modding would be needed to set up a British expeditionary force, a proper German defensive garrison/force as the GER AI will be too busy in Russia otherwise, and probably to prod along the Norwegian partisans to a suitable level. Should be doable, albeit an unusual premise for an El Pip AAR as we would have actual combat action as the focus for once. Is the world ready for this, frankly we cannot be sure.
I can see how that would work, though I can see issues with stopping the German garrison from wandering off back to the Eastern Front. More seriously people don't read El Pip AARs for reports on action, or if they do they are bitterly disappointed, so it would be quite a change. Certainly I think the idea of an El Pip AAR that focused on combat is, like the tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.

Hmm...no d day, no soft underbelly of europe. Churchill throws everything into Norway instead and surprised Hitler with a surprise attack of suprise. Ends up taking all of Western Europe, including Germany and Italy without Russian involvement, leaving only nasty Eastern European countries no amercian has ever heard of under Stalin's thumb. And Poland, but screw those guys.new golden age of europe follows, EU les by Norway and each country gets their own fjord island to bicker on. World peace established.
The UK pushing on from Norway into the Baltic and thence to Berlin would be the obvious step. But at that point you are into a UK AAR, and if I was doing one of those I have other ideas I do first.

I return to the story to find a veritable avalanche of updates (plus puns, defeatism and acronym based japes) - all too quick for my befuddled senses. The last scene was indeed sad, the fjord-pining has begun.

It would appear so. Congratulations on finishing another epic saga of hopeless and incompetent loss. Albeit with such indecent haste. ;)
Thank you for making it all the way to the end and I hope you found it worth the (majestically-paced) wait. :D
 
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I can see how that would work, though I can see issues with stopping the German garrison from wandering off back to the Eastern Front. More seriously people don't read El Pip AARs for reports on action, or if they do they are bitterly disappointed, so it would be quite a change. Certainly I think the idea of an El Pip AAR that focused on combat is, like the tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared.
The Germans could, in theory, be prevented from wandering off by manually taking charge and adding a theatre HQ responsible for all of Norway, and nothing but Norway, and placing forces under its control. My general understanding is that the AI is not really able to transfer forces from one theatre to another very effectively, no I do not know what horrifying code kludge Paradox implemented to handle Germany swinging her troops there and back again (but I like to imagine the source file is called "red_book_of_east_west_east_west_march.cpp"), but otherwise this seems to be the case notably with every naval major with armored divisions looking for love on all the wrong islands.

Anyways, pending some testing that could actually be made to work, granted against Paradox's wishes but what else is new? Of course I don't mean to suggest that this ought to happen, as you say the world is nowhere near ready for an El Pip After Action Report (in which each update during a war covers one hour of one battle, from the perspective of the various arms manufacturers who developed sub-millimeter calibre differences for reasons which of course must be covered each time a new type of ammunition whizzes overhead). Merely to indicate that it may be plausible, as a curiosity if nothing else.
 
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I got close to doing an Inevitable Defeat pre-sequel with that very idea. Tiso sent back in time by Saint Cyril and/or Methodius to the time of CK2 to make Slovakia a mighty kingdom. But I've still not actually learnt to play CK2 which, given the typical start positions for the Slovak region, is something of a serious issue.

I could do it, but making you explain that game save would be a little cruel and unusual.

"Why is the Pope chained and locked in the basement?"

"Because if I let him run around, he eats my courtiers."

"Because he's insane?"

"Because he's a bear, El Pip. Everyone in my court turned into rabbits last week, remember?"

More seriously people don't read El Pip AARs for reports on action, or if they do they are bitterly disappointed,

T-shirt quote of the day.
 
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a complete non-coincidence I've just sent you a PM about that very subject.

Everyone may begin hyping the hype train. But not too much.
 
What a brilliant piece of literature, I can't believe I didn't get to reading this sooner.

I'm slightly disappointed the plywood didn't make a comeback after all. I hope, at least, that Haakon will have the chance to get some herring in Hull. I'm also wondering whether the Zeppelin was evacuated along with the 'special' forces. They could have just tied it to HMNoS Norge, or you know, a whale. Of course, it would have been pretty easy to spot for the Luftwaffe, so maybe it isn't such a good idea after all?

Anyhow, great to see where you started out in the comedy genre, before Inevitable Defeat.
 
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What a brilliant piece of literature, I can't believe I didn't get to reading this sooner.
I never expected this to be described as "literature", let alone "brilliant", but I am delighted it has been received as such. :)

I'm slightly disappointed the plywood didn't make a comeback after all. I hope, at least, that Haakon will have the chance to get some herring in Hull. I'm also wondering whether the Zeppelin was evacuated along with the 'special' forces. They could have just tied it to HMNoS Norge, or you know, a whale. Of course, it would have been pretty easy to spot for the Luftwaffe, so maybe it isn't such a good idea after all?
If I was to do the HOI3 Govt-in-exile , resistance cell based game then I would definitely have to bring back the Zeppelin and recruit some new 'special' forces for the resistance missions. And as you say Plywood would have to make a glorious comeback, along with Soviet MDF-machinations, poor Stalinist geography and lots of matches.

But fun as bringing them back would be, it is probably best they stay slumbering. There would need to be a few new ideas mixed in and right now that particular well of ideas is dry.

Anyhow, great to see where you started out in the comedy genre, before Inevitable Defeat.
Having been indirectly following your progress through the story (I get notifications from the likes) I am just glad you enjoyed it.

And there is of course the other work, which by some measures is my finest (that measure being awards), the missing link between Norway and Slovakia -Furious Vengeance '44. Not just the best Comedy AAR of 2009, the best HOI AAR of any kind of 2009. Truly my greatest days are a long way behind me. ;) (Also look at those voting numbers, 74 votes. 74! Different times.)
 
And there is of course the other work, which by some measures is my finest (that measure being awards), the missing link between Norway and Slovakia -Furious Vengeance '44. Not just the best Comedy AAR of 2009, the best HOI AAR of any kind of 2009. Truly my greatest days are a long way behind me. ;) (Also look at those voting numbers, 74 votes. 74! Different times.)
If you haven't got any better ideas for how to procrastinate Butterfly, fixing the pictures in this and other older AARs would be very welcome, given how essential they are to appreciate such a fine example of early-period Pippianism. :D
 
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If you haven't got any better ideas for how to procrastinate Butterfly, fixing the pictures in this and other older AARs would be very welcome, given how essential they are to appreciate such a fine example of early-period Pippianism. :D

Double procrastinate on Butterfly, since he has a side project trying to fix all the pictures and old chapters there as well.
Excellent work Comrade Slurpee.
 
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If you haven't got any better ideas for how to procrastinate Butterfly, fixing the pictures in this and other older AARs would be very welcome, given how essential they are to appreciate such a fine example of early-period Pippianism. :D
Double procrastinate on Butterfly, since he has a side project trying to fix all the pictures and old chapters there as well.
Excellent work Comrade Slurpee.
Sadly for procrastination fans I must report that all the early Furious Vengance pictures were lost when ImageShack decided to wipe the accounts of people who hadn't paid enough money and Young Pip didn't bother to keep any copies.

About halfway through I switched host and (for some reason) decided to actually keep copies of the pictures not just assume they were safe forever on the internet, so they are fine, but the early ones are gone never to return. Which is a shame because "early-period Pippianism" is a beautiful phrase and in some ways a beautiful thing.

Butterfly Redux remains a bad idea that I am still drawn to, but try to resist as I know damn well it is a bad idea.
 
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If you haven't got any better ideas for how to procrastinate Butterfly, fixing the pictures in this and other older AARs would be very welcome, given how essential they are to appreciate such a fine example of early-period Pippianism. :D
Amazingly this has now (sort of) been done. After repeated threatening emails from PhotoBucket about how I shouldn't use them for hosting, I have now shifted all of Furious Vengeance onto imgur and found a pile of previously thought lost pictures.

The first few pages are still missing, but after page 3 almost all the images should be there now. Also has Threadmarks, which is nice but perhaps may never be used?
 
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