The 2017 AAR of the Year is Before Plantagenet - A House d'Anjou AAR by JabberJock14

[coz1]

Here we come down to the final award and as we see above, the winner is once again @JabberJock14 for his brilliant Before Plantagenet – A House d’Anjou AAR in CKII! Picking up Narrative of the Year as well as Character and Newcomer, @JabberJock14 has most assuredly made his mark in this past year and there can be no doubt that this final award is truly well deserved!

Between 15 voters, a grand total of 36(!) AARs were listed in this last category and the nominees run the spectrum from CKII all the way to all three still active HoI areas and up to Stellaris as well as across all AAR genres. It is most certainly an embarrassment of riches that we have here and it is to our betterment to see so much creativity shared by so many truly gifted writAARs.

First, our other nominees listed in the order of their finish:

The Bold Prince [Book the Second on the House of Wessex] (CKII) by @coz1

Talking Turkey: Alternate History from 1936 (HoI3) by @Bullfilter

The Rightful King [Book the First on the House of Wessex] (CKII) by @coz1

The Wolves of Westseaxna-a tale of Wessex (CKII) by @Asantahene

L'Empereur est mort: A French AAR (Vic2) by @RossN

Blut und Schlacht (Blood and Battle): A Learner’s Saga (CKII) by @Bullfilter

The Empire of Albion (CKII) by @TheButterflyComposer

Entering the First Court: Kanem Bornu (EUIV) by @stnylan

Italian Ambitions: A Florence AAR (EUIV) by @JerseyGiants88

The Songs of Sheeran - A CKII AGOT Narrative AAR (CKII) by @EmpireofOne

'Odin' and Stalin's Secret Committee (HoI3) by @roverS3

The Butterfly Effect: A British AAR (HoI2) by @El Pip

The Thoughts of a (Hive) Mind (Stellaris) by @lifehole

Valyrian Steel: A Game of Thrones Mod AAR (CKII) by @Henry v. Keiper

Road of Queens - CKII India AAR (CKII) by @Eurasia

“UK Motorway” a Blitzkrieg-Scenario AAR (HoI3) by @markkur

Advance Britannia! - A Kaiserreich Restored United Kingdom AAR (HoI4) by @George_VI

Even Better Hautevilles (Stellaris) by @hjarg

The Presidents: The Vietnam War Edition (HoI2) by @Nathan Madien

The First Century: A United Nations Stellaris AAR (Stellaris) by @cookfl

Hindsight 20/20: a Dutch narrative AAR (HoI4) by @J_Master

The Calling of Nharr - Stellaris Succession Game AAR (Stellaris) by @Nikolai

Empire for Liberty: America in the Long Nineteenth Century (Vic2) by @volksmarschall

Hunter of the Sun (Stellaris) by @Dodge

Ætheling - An Anglo-Saxon CK2+ AAR (CKII) by @Andrzej I

Whiteshirts of England: A History of the Hvitserk Dynasty of Jorvik AAR (CKII) by @tpmcinty

The Eastern Vikings - Baltic Megacampaign Part 1 (CKII) by @RedTemplar

Lads on War - A UK HOI4 AAR (HoI4) by @stanonwheels

The Little Dux (CKII) by @TheButterflyComposer

Inevitable Defeat - Slovakia '44 (HoI3) by @El Pip

Forza Italia! (Vic2) by @Jape

Baltic Lightning: a Grand Campaign AAR (Vic2) by @Centurial

A Fools Luck - Imperial Russian Kaiserreich AAR. (HoI4) by @LTPugh

Res Gestae Gentis Lartiae - a Roman Restoration AAR (CKII) by @LudoOttavio

Meh, I Can Take 'Em — Hohenzollern HIP DisastAAR (CKII) by @Crushric​

To read through the list above is just insane such that we have so many amazing works being done here and that each and every one was voted upon as a potential AAR of the Year! I have not mentioned much on the actual numbers during the voting (though I have been accurate in the accounting) but our top three finishers were within less than 1 point of each other - Before Plantagenet finished with a score of 8, Bold Prince with a 7.6 and Talking Turkey with 7.3. That these numbers are not higher is simply seen by looking to the lengthy list above. The love was certainly spread around and we are all lucky for that.

Very many congratulations to not only our winner @JabberJock14 but to each and every one of you listed above for an outstanding year of incredible work done! We as readAARs thank you and I am certain that I may speak for all that found a vote here, those of us lucky to have grabbed your attention and support thank each and every one that takes the time to read and comment upon our work and perhaps even give a vote such as this. I hope some may take this chance to perhaps visit one of these works above and add to their reading enjoyment.

And with that...the 2017 Yearly AARland Year-end AwAARds come to a close. I do believe that we got our YAYA's out. A huge congratulations to all of the winners across the various categories as well as all of those works given nomination and a truly heartfelt thank you to all that took the time to participate and make this so special!

Well done, AARland!

 

[loup99]

Congratulations @JabberJock14 ! Impressive performance in these YAYA's!

@coz1, a lot could be said and you certainly deserve a lot of praise, but I will keep it short and concise and simply say a big thank you for hosting these awAARds! I'm sure that I'm speak for many others when I tell you how much I appreciated that you hosted this, keeping the tradition and the spirit of the AARland alive. Those that have been longer than me here will be able to remember when this started and compare with the very first edition, but from what I can tell from as long as I have been around, this has been a big success and I certainly look forward to seeing the next edition.

 

[Idhrendur]

Congratulations!

 

[markkur]

Very many congratulations to not only our winner @JabberJock14 but to each and every one of you listed above for an outstanding year of incredible work done! We as readAARs thank you and I am certain that I may speak for all that found a vote here, those of us lucky to have grabbed your attention and support thank each and every one that takes the time to read and comment upon our work and perhaps even give a vote such as this. I hope some may take this chance to perhaps visit one of these works above and add to their reading enjoyment.

Forgive me ladies and gents for taking the easy route...but coz1's sentiments says it all for me too.

Well done to all of you.

 

[stnylan]

Very many congratulations @JabberJock14

Really there is nought else to say.

 

[JabberJock14]

Wow. I am further humbled and honored to have been selected with the top AAR of 2017.

First, I'd like to show my appreciation once more for @coz1 for organizing these but also getting me into AAR writing in the first place with the Rightful King. I've mentioned that before, as well as the fact that I wouldn't have done as well in these awards this year had he not made the fateful decision to split his House of Wessex trilogy. But beyond that he was welcoming to me when I first arrived and has been fully supportive of my work throughout. I hope you find the time to catch up soon!

I'd also recognize the other nominees and of course, specifically the ones I have read.
@Asantahene - Took me a little time to get there and caught up, but your Saxons are a memorable group, beyond the great Queen. Always excited to read what you write and your screenshot captions are always a nice aside. Of course, I appreciate the comments you add in on my story.
@tpmcinty - Always a pleasure to read your Norse (rapidly turning Anglo-Saxon) rulers of Jorvik. Still looking forward to when they actually conquer all of England. Also always glad to see your comments as well.
@Eurasia - I'm a much bigger fan of narrative AARs than straight game-play, history book, but yours is the one exception I make. Funny asides, interesting rulers (and siblings, these days). I'll always have a fond place in my heart for the Despots dogs, even though I'm not a dog person myself.
@TheButterflyComposer - The Little Dux is/was excellent and I hope we see more of Cosma in the future. (Adult Cosma, navigating the medieval world, could be fun) Your commentary is always excellent, and have made me LOL in recent weeks with your blunt but usually on point readings.
@LudoOttavio - I always enjoy reading your stories, for the narratives are good but the characters even better. Now that you have your latest chapter up, I owe you a comment...
@jasondroth24 - Hopefully you return to CK2 in the near future as I could use a good rousing, descriptive battle scene!

All of the above have all endeavored to produce ace AARs during 2017 and are well worth your time if you have not read them.

I mentioned this in the writAAR of the year thread but @stnylan always endeavors to comment on every AAR regardless of size or stature. Always engaged, I could count on comment/feedback when my story just another AAR on these forums just as much as I can now when it's been well-received. Thank you!

Also @Bullfilter - I admit I did not know you were an AAR rookie! My apologies (I looked at your profile and assumed wrong) and I thank you for your commentary. I do need to check out your AARs as well.

Thanks once more to all the voters, whether or not you voted for mine, for helping to make these awards possible. And again coz, for organizing it. Hope for as productive a 2018 as 2017 was!

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

@TheButterflyComposer - The Little Dux is/was excellent and I hope we see more of Cosma in the future. (Adult Cosma, navigating the medieval world, could be fun) Your commentary is always excellent, and have made me LOL in recent weeks with your blunt but usually on point readings.

Currently reviewing and rewriting the framing device for the first book.
And yes...I've been busier and tireder these past few months so I'm not currently exercising my usual politeness and restraint. Especially because most of the AARs I'm following have been going through dark periods recently (not just CKII either). Now Bullffilters French game is done this is especially noticeable. The allies all banding together and saving pretty much everyone outside of Russia and south east Asia from tyranny is a far cry from most of the stuff on here.

 

[Nikolai]

My whole heartedly congratulations, @JabberJock14 !

 

[Asantahene]

I'd also recognize the other nominees and of course, specifically the ones I have read.
@Asantahene - Took me a little time to get there and caught up, but your Saxons are a memorable group, beyond the great Queen. Always excited to read what you write and your screenshot captions are always a nice aside. Of course, I appreciate the comments you add in on my story.

a marvellously well deserved win my friend. Your superb narrative and knack for storytelling an inspiration. Many thanks to you too for your support and commentary

 

[Macke11]

Well done @JabberJock14, many congratulations! Good job also by the other nominees!